Yeah, Raleigh has the momentum with these pitmasters recognizing that if they move operation 50-70 miles to the city their customer base increases 7 days a week.
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Where is this exactly? I’m too new to remember a Carolina Ale House in that area, and driving by there every so often, I can’t imagine one ever being on Creekside Drive.
In this old building, Its 200 yards east of Wake Forest Rd. and across the street from Thompson Cadillac
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Ed makes some good 'cue. Hopefully this project endures so recent history of abandoned / failed BBQ ventures doesn’t become his legend…
Wow this is #4 in the pipeline
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Y’all really started something with this… 
Michael Scott “IT’S HAPPENING” .gif
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Wow I feel like as we started talking about it a couple of announcements came in 
Can we compile a list of BBQ places that are currently open and more importantly have plans to open in DT Raleigh?
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N&O picked up on Ed Mitchell’s new BBQ restaurant on Creekside.
I feel like they are reading this forum as well:
“Mitchell’s return to restaurants comes at a time when Raleigh looks to be a barbecue capital in the making. Sam Jones BBQ, Longleaf Swine, Wyatt’s Whole Hog and Prime BBQ are all opening next year.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/living/food-drink/article237900364.html?fbclid=IwAR2bP0BA0XyYfN_maHYPS7_lR_rEUS9qyDeQfiurFyHgLN4KOYWwYPXox3Y
“I worked with Southern Food Alliance at The University of Mississippi where we connected farmers to the old-time guys, like myself,” said Mitchell in a release. “Now we are taking these protocols for breeding to NC A&T and NC State. The breed we will use for this restaurant will follow the specific diet I have developed for my recipes.”
-Awesome!
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The N&O would be stupid to NOT follow this community. If for nothing else, there are all sorts of story leads/ideas coming out of here.
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ITB insider is reporting a new BBQ restaurant has been announced for 303 N West St. Downtown. It’s the old Topps building where 5 Stars new location will be, they are calling it Friendship BBQ. At this point we would be foolish as a city not to capitalize on all the recent announcements and leverage ourselves as the BBQ capital city.
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Hmmm, I hope they bring in a pitmaster and cook it in North Carolina tradition. With Wyatt, Sam Jones, and Ed Mitchell’s new restaurant I think we have enough whole hog Wood-Fired pitmaster experience to leverage already in the pipeline, but this certainly helps solidify the momentum
Anyone care to create a quick Raleigh BBQ Map? That would be a cool thing to have, in the official sense, made by the visitor’s people.
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Let’s see if they all open and are successful first 
I’m not sure that there will be enough demand to keep all of these new BBQ restaurants in business.
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In Raleigh, North Carolina, USA? I don’t think there’s anything to worry about
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Valid concern. If the NC Pork Council, Downtown Raleigh Alliance, VisitNC, Raleigh Chamber, and any other tourism-promoting entities would really embrace and push this, it could go a long way in sustaining these business. That needs to happen IMO, cc @evan.j.bost
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I’m definitely with [whoever it was that said it] that the City should push a whole-hog BBQ cookoff to run alongside the IBMA bluegrass fest, and heavily market both together. I bet it would print money.
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Indeed; I sent a followup to Pork Council with the N&O article but have not received any response. If it is marketed as a cultural experience for visitors and new residents alike, I think they all can be successful (if they’re good). Perhaps @dtraleigh could share this idea with the DTR Alliance contacts, or VisitRaleigh (whatever the tourism advocacy is called) to see if it resonates.
@Jake, the whole hog bbq championship already happens each year during the IBMA with a $7k cash prize. That’s how I found the NC Pork Council, as they sponsor the cookoff. I could definitely see this all dovetailing together nicely, with the Raleigh BBQ Trail, several events throughout the year (CueGrass, Brewgaloo, etc.) with guest appearances by Ed Mitchell et al, culminating with the championship during the IBMA.
I feel like it’s already all there, someone or organization just has to connect the dots and formulate a strategy to truly make it a Raleigh branding campaign.
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