There is so much good food in Asheville, but I made room for one more meal.


12 Bones is a BBQ restaurant that features ribs, as well as other smoked meats.


We put our orders in at the counter and found a sweat in the dining space.


While waiting for our food to be delivered, I helped myself to samples of the different sauces.


My ribs were unbelievably good.


Smothered in sauce, then dipped in a sauce of my choosing, the ribs were tender and fall-off-the-bone.


With sides of cornbread, cornbread pudding, and mac & cheese, this plate was top notch.


Sweet sauce, savory smoked meats, creamy mac & Cheese, spicy corn pudding. It just doesn't get any better.

Huntington is home to a few BBQ joints, but Buddy's All-American BBQ is one that I've been wanting to try for some time.



While heading out of town, I called in an order. And as soon as I arrived, it was all packaged up and ready for me to go.



And I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with slaw, mac & cheese and potato salad.



This was some of the tastiest slaw I've had in some time! And I don't think I've ever had potato salad where the potatoes were cut in strips - but it was tasty.

Buxton Hall BBQ is well-known in the foodie community.


It has been named a "Best BBQ in the South in 2019" by Southern Living.



"Come to Pitmaster Elliott Moss’ Asheville Valhalla for the Carolina-style, whole-hog barbecue and stay for James Beard Award-nominated pastry Chef Ashley Capps’ rotating selection of pies."


So, not only is the BBQ unbelievable, the desserts are to-die-for.


The BBQ here has a few different sauces: East Carolina Vinegar, Red Sauce. XX Vinegar and XX Red.


I've not had a lot of great experiences with vinegar bbq sauce, but this perfectly accented the pulled pork.


It wasn't overpowering and just added some nice flavor. Very good.


And, I had to try all of them, of course.



I was excited they even had a white bbq sauce - which I would eat every day if I could!


The sides here are also not to be missed. The mac & cheese was so creamy, that cornbread was a delight, and potato salad added some tang.


For dessert - the best banana cream pie I've ever had. Nilla wafers, bananas ... just, wow. Maybe the best dessert I've ever had.

If you ask anyone in the Charleston, South Carolina, area what they think the best BBQ is locally, they will likely say Rodney Scott's.


Rodney Scott's is known for smoked whole hog BBQ.


"Smoking meat is an overnight process at this acclaimed North Central destination for pulled pork prepared over live coals in the regional style, plus Lowcountry favorites like slabs of ribs, pit-cooked chicken and fried catfish. The laid-back, light-filled counter serve has both booths and communal seating inside and a few picnic tables out front."


There's outdoor dining and indoor, as well. I ordered at the counter and had a seat. After a few minutes, I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich and macaroni & cheese in front of me.


It is truly, really delicious. Like, you don't even need sauce it's so good.

Sweatman's BBQ was a whole different kind of bbq for me.

They do a buffet or a one-time plate. Since I was on the go (as always), I just went with one plate.

But clearly the buffet is popular - look at that line!

My plate was so, so good. There's the pulled pork, slaw, pork rind, rice hash...

And there's Carolina gold bbq sauce!

I don't even know what this rice hash was, but it was divine. And the Carolina gold? Amazing. To cap it all off, I had some banana pudding that was out of this world.

To round out my BBQ tour, I went to Scott's BarBQue to experience some whole hog bbq.


I ordered some pork, slaw, and potato salad.


This pork is characteristic of others in the area. Smoky, and the peppery & vinegary bbq has some kick to it.

Hill's Lexington BBQ spearheads another Carolina-style BBQ: Lexington.


“Started by Joe Allen Hill in 1951, Hill’s Lexington Barbecue in Winston-Salem is the first to have the name “Lexington Barbecue,” thus their claim to being the “original” Lexington barbecue. At the time they opened there were a few small side street barbecues in Lexington operated by Stamey, Beck and Swicegood. But none called their barbecue place “Lexington Barbecue.”

Joe Hill, who came from Lexington, conceived the idea to bring Lexington-style barbecue cooking to Winston-Salem. Joe, along with his wife Edna, started the business on its present site.
The sauce is hot, peppery, spicy, thin (Gene says it penetrates the meat better), light reddish brown and has a strong finish by itself, but not so on the meat. It just fits.

The chopped barbecue consists of generous pieces that are not basted while cooking. It’s very lightly sauced in the kitchen. It’s a good mix of outside brown and has a good smoky taste, a rich flavor and nice texture. It’s perfect with sauce and slaw. (SOURCE)"

I ordered chopped pork BBQ, potato salad and hush puppies.

First, look at these weird lil hush puppies.

And my entree came out with some white onion that was pickled a bit and the potato salad in the middle.

The BBQ was already very seasoned and tasty, but I got some more of the peppery, vinegary sauce to add to it.

And you can't finish a meal without banana pudding.