This Hidden BBQ Gem In North Carolina Is Run Out Of An Old Gas Station

It's been described as "ramshackle," a "hole-in-the-wall," and one magazine noted its rotting brick exterior when it said the place "looks like it could fall over." B's Barbecue of Greenville, North Carolina, has also been described as having "arguably the best BBQ in all of North Carolina." Even Chowhound identified it as having one of the hands-down best pulled pork sandwiches in the U.S. However, if you want to see it for yourself, get there early. The restaurant, which opens at 9 a.m., takes its rib orders in the wee hours of the morning and closes when the food runs out.

The nearly 50-year-old restaurant was started in 1978 by farmer Bill McLawhorn and his wife, Peggy, in a nondescript brick building with a small awning and faded blue sign in what was either an old gas station or a convenience store (depending on who you ask). A barebones operation then, the restaurant is now run by the McLawhorn's three daughters — Donna, Tammy, and Judy — just as simply. There is no phone, no website, and the restaurant does not take credit cards. The pork is cooked overnight, tended to by a pit master who puts the pigs — approximately 35 to 38 each week — on at 10 or 11 p.m. the night before. Although it's considered a red flag if a barbecue restaurant doesn't have a wood-fired smoker, B's has always fired up its grills with charcoal.

By the time the restaurant opens at 9 a.m., the pigs are fully cooked, the ribs are sold out, and there is a line of people waiting to eat in or take out its other specialties, including hand-chopped pork and smoked chicken. Although the official closing time is 2 p.m., the restaurant often runs out of food well before then. As one Reddit user said, "the only place I've ever been to where if they run out of something, it's your fault. You should've been there earlier. The only time I've ever apologized for them being out of something."

Some say the secret to B's is the barbecue sauce. Barbecue sauce across the United States varies from place to place and B's vinegar-based sauce with red pepper flakes is typical in North Carolina. The full recipe, however, remains a secret. If you plan on venturing over, B's Barbecue shouldn't be too hard to find, despite its unassuming facade: It's located right on B's Barbeque [sic] road.