When it comes to North Carolina, the duo make it clear their preference for Eastern-style barbecue in these lyrics: “When my life is through, bury me in barbecue,” Rhett and Link sing, “but make sure it’s vinegar based, ’cuz you know that slows decay, and it’s a style from our home state of North Carolina.”

Eastern-style, a whole hog cooked over wood or charcoal and served chopped with a thin spicy vinegar sauce, is usually found east of Interstate 95, says Dana Hanson, state extension meat specialist and associate professor in the bioprocessing and nutrition sciences department at North Carolina State University. Western-style (aka Lexington-style), Dana explains, typically favors smoked pork shoulder served with a thicker, sweeter tomato-based sauce.

“Is it a healthy debate?” Dana questions. “I say, ‘Absolutely!’ because it pays homage to barbecue. I think whether you’re from Eastern North Carolina or you’re from Lexington, we can all say, it’s good. It’s the common thread that brings people together.”

“We specialize in pork shoulders,” says Nathan Monk with Lexington Barbecue restaurant. “They’re cooked over hickory and oak coals and brick pits and take anywhere between nine and 10 hours to cook. We still cook with a shovel. Every 20 minutes, we’re grabbing scoops of coal and putting them underneath there. What also sets us apart is our barbecue dip which is a thin vinegar sauce with ketchup, salt and pepper. Our slaw is different too. It’s a ketchup-based slaw, rather than the mayonnaise-based slaw you have Down East.

People’s preferences in barbecue are directly related to where they’re from and what they grew up on. It stems from pride and their traditions.

”Nathan’s grandfather, Wayne Monk, opened Lexington Barbecue in 1962, referred to as “Honeymonk” by locals. The restaurant was inducted into the North Carolina Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame in 2024, the organization’s inaugural year. When it comes to barbecue, Nathan is partial to barbecue cooked over wood.“If I see smoke coming out of the building, and it’s cooked with wood, I’m going to usually stop, just to try it,” Nathan says, “I like to try everybody’s. I like barbecue.”Even transplant pitmasters to the state find a preference of style. Shorties Drive-Thru BBQ was opened in Leicester nine years ago by William “Shortie” Barnes, originally from Oklahoma. The pork is smoked in a Coolshack Wood Pellet Smoker, using 100% hickory pellets from Minnesota. His homemade tomato-based sauce, made with brown sugar, cumin, garlic, ginger, molasses, onion and other (secret) spices, is considered Western-style.

“It’s a little bit of sweet and a little bit of heat,” Shortie says. “I love a nice, sweet sauce that has just a little bite on the back end of it. I think it complements the hickory so well. We [pitmasters] are very secretive about our sauces because everyone wants to be on top.”

Defending your own

Since 1986, Gerri and Steve Grady (pronounced with a short a), longtime members of Tri-County Electric, have been operating Grady’s BBQ in Dudley and were inducted into the North Carolina Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame and the Barbecue Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2024. People appreciate their Eastern-style chopped barbecue, mayonnaise-based slaw and green beans.

“We have them coming from all over,” Gerri says. “I’ve had visitors from all the states. I have a book that I get them to sign when they come in. ‘Sign your name and we’re so glad to have you.’”

“We’re just so thankful that people have responded to us the way they have,” Gerri says. “It’s been amazing.”

Gerri’s grateful for the people who have supported the business she and her husband have been able to operate for almost 40 years. When Steve taught cooking classes on the North Carolina Historic Barbecue Trail, they traveled across the state and met North Carolinians who grew up eating other styles of barbecue. Gerri never judges people for their preference, especially if it’s what they grew up eating.