October 21, 2005
Hursey's BBQ
Today the wife and I took a pleasant drive west on I-85 to J.R.'s Discount/Wholesale/whatever warehouse. Culturally, its kind of like a brief and amusing trip to NASCAR World. The main attraction of J.R.'s is its spectacular walk-in humidor of a cigar shop. I was there on one of my periodic re-stocking operations, while the wife bought perfume in a different department of the store. Believe it or not, J.R.s carries a perfume she likes. It's called "Poison" and, as she explained to me, it is a flavor of the moment, if only because it is in some sense or another "retro".
On the way back we stopped off at exit 147 to try Hursey's BBQ. Hursey's has several locations, and we tried the one at 1234 South Main Street in Graham, NC. I got the sliced and chopped Q sandwiches (no slaw so that I could focus on the meat) while my wife got a chicken and chopped Q platter.
The BBQ is still hickory smoked, and that earns Hursey's quite a few points in my book. I felt that the sauce on the chopped BBQ was a bit too sweet, and that that somehow overpowered the smoke to a slight degree. Overall, I remain an Allen & Sons (NC 86 just north of Chapel Hill) man. Allen & Sons pulled pork shoulder is simply a religious experience: it has a powerful, rich and manly smokiness to it, but it is also extremely controlled, smooth and assured. He uses aged hickory that is split fresh for the fires every morning. Keith Allen and his crew have steadily earned 5 stars (out of a possible 5) from me for their Q. They are truly craftsman in an age when the idea of craftsmanship is in trouble.
Hursey's gets 4.5 (against an average for all Q joints of maybe 3). Hursey's offers a very good, wood smoked Q that outpaces what you'll get at 95 out of 100 places these days. I found it to be a little sweet and not quite as compelling as Allen & Sons (the benchmark for everyone who knows what they are talking about). But you should really try for yourself. It is well worth the trip out of Chapel Hill. (In any case, Hursey's is about a mile south of 85 at exit 147. DO NOT mistake it for the joint just to the north of 85 off of exit 147.)
Where Hursey's gets 5 stars is their fried chicken. It was absolutely fabulous, easily earning its 5 stars (against an average of 2 for joints selling fried chicken). The chicken was very juicy, without being at all greasy. The skins were light and crispy. The chicken was very high quality and there was exactly the right presence of salt. Magnificent.
Hursey's is worthy of its reputation. No question about that. Overall score: 4.8 out of 5.
Posted by dag at October 21, 2005 03:40 PM
Comments
Mmmmm, Allen & Sons.....
Now THAT is some good quality Q. Damn you guys for turning me on to that.. :-)
Now I know what you're all thinking. Why is a Rabbi talking about pulled pork? Well, it's just that good. It definitely has my rabbinical blessing.
Posted by: The Good Rabbi at April 16, 2005 11:40 PM