text: We have had this venerable began operation in BBQ Joint on our NC Barbecue Bucket List for more than a few years now Last Tuesday we paid them a visit and it was much less than we would hoped for much less in almost every respect There is little here that represents the more traditional NC barbecue restaurant which does not mean it has to be bad but here it did mean thatnnThe building is beyond well worn the parking area seems a workinprogress hard to tell where the roadside ends and the parking begins The inside is dark almost brooding and not a great deal of light spreads out from the small faux oil lamp fixturesnnWe were seated promptly in the almost empty dining area drink orders secured and our food choices followed quickly We went with BBQ Chicken dark meat with Brunswick Stew and Baked Beans and a Small BBQ Pork plate with FFs Slaw also The meals did not come with HPs but rather with thick slices of Texas Toast the first of a number of things not traditional in NC BBQ restaurants You can buy an order of HPs for if you would like we did notnnThe food was out of the kitchen rather quickly and that was perhaps the highlight of the ensuing meal The BBQ Chicken was simply awful it was overcooked dry tasteless sans the sauce the skin tough and leathery the whole mess smothered in a thick sweet red barbecue sauce that quickly became cloying nnThe Brunswick Stew was pretty good though very different in texture and content from that normally served in this area The stew here is thicker and contains no lima beans and according to UNC TV food guru Bob Garner it probably contains stale bread which thickens the end product The Baked Beans also were nice with some pieces of meat in itnnThe pork is minced much like Stameys in Greensboro but the pork here is not cooked over hard wood coals so there is no smokiness to it at all The sauce is a thick red sauce rarely found in this area usually found farther west I like this style sauce on occasion but not this sauce and not on this meatnnThe service was very good until it came time to pay the check We waited over minutes at the register while several employees milled around apparently not authorized to operate the register Finally an unpleasant and rude man the owner or manager I guess came out of the back took my money without a I am sorry or a thank you nnWell I have a thought on the thanks part no thanks for this food this restaurant and this arse at the register