I decided to copy the Barbecue Bros and do my first Best Meals of the Year restrospective. I decided at first to do the five best, but cutting down the 2023 Best in Virginia list to ten really took...

I decided to copy the Barbecue Bros and do my first Best Meals of the Year restrospective. I decided at first to do the five best, but cutting down the 2023 Best in Virginia list to ten really took it out of me, and when push came to shove the five turned into seven.

The seven are dominated by North Carolina in part because of a few barbecue-eating trips I did to the Tarheel State which, after all, is nearby, and it boasts great vinegar-pepper sauces and hushpuppies � and more.

B�s in Greenville, North Carolina, has the best barbecued chicken anywhere, top 5 whole hog barbecue for sure, and first rate corn sticks. You�ll have to wait in line a while, even at 9:00 a.m., and it may be raining, but you will love it. The food and the time you spent chatting with Mr. John Cates who was there to get his one-year-old grandson, Oliver, his first taste of barbecue made for a sensational meal.

Wilber�s is back in its old place in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in all its former glory. There are a few changes, mainly additions to the menu, but it still has the same homey decor and a super-friendly feel (thank you, Tara!) that makes you feel like part of the family. The pork is superb, and their hushpuppies are as good as any I�ve eaten � and I�ve eaten a boatload. But you have to try their fried chicken, too, and the chicken pastry, and � everything else.

Rusty�s Bar-B-Q, in Leeds, Alabama, outside Birmingham, may be my favorite place in that barbecue-rich state. It�s been rated as the best family-operated barbecue place in the state based on ribs like you wouldn�t believe �easily the best of the year � and great pork cooked in a by-gosh pit. They also have greens cooked with Conecuh Sausage, filed peas, outstanding corn bread, and pies � oh, the pies!

Sid�s Catering, down in Beulavlle, North Carolina, is only open on Saturdays, and if you don�t get in line before 9:00 am you�ll have a long wait � a wait you�ll never regret. Sid Blizzard is a hog farmer turned pit master (he made more money cooking one than selling ten), and he produces standout whole hog. What really knocks it out of the park is that big square of pork skin on top. It�ll dominate your dreams for weeks.

McCabe�s Bar-B-Q is down in Manning, South Carolina, just a couple of miles off I-95. They offer a buffet with whole hog barbecue, hash, and fried chicken, all utterly superb, and world class vegetables � and you can come back for refills! I�d just eaten at Scott�s (in Hemingway) and was on my way to eat again at Hites, but McCabe�s beat both of the legends flat. Just thinking about McCabe�s makes me want to go back.

I went to Old Colony Smokehouse in Edenton, North Carolina, with the Godfather (John Shelton Reed), Dan Levine, and Allan Parnell as part of an intensive eating trip. We split an everything platter, and just about everything on the everything platter was everything you could desire�brisket good enough to serve to a visiting Texan, honest North Carolina Pork, nice snappy sausage, meaty ribs, chicken (get the dark meat), greens, slaw, and pimiento cheese � all shared with terrific people. Now that�s a meal.

My last pick for a best meal is a change of pace for me. I�m pretty traditional when it comes to barbecue, and I appreciate non-traditional foods when they are delicious. This delicious meal was one of many fine meals I�ve enjoyed at 2fifty Texas in Riverdale Park, Maryland, in the Washington suburbs. It was their pastrami sandwich, which I promptly christened, after months of sedulous research, the Best Pastrami Sandwich in the Washington area. 2fifty�s brisket is superb, maybe (just maybe) the best east of Texas, but that�s old news. 2fifty is stretching the field, trying new things from pastrami to brisket in Michelin-honored breakfast tacos. What will they do next?

Stay tuned. And two things � give each of these places a try. They�re all independent, not a chain in the bunch, and the little places need as well as deserve your support. And also, let me know about your favorite meals of 2023. I�m hoping for a big 2024.

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