Big Bob Gibson's- Monroe, NC

I don’t recall the first time I heard about Big Bob Gibson and the mayo based bbq sauce for chicken. It was probably on FoodTV. I know it was quite a few years ago. But I was intrigued. I love mayo. So I found a recipe, my husband grilled some chicken and we gave it a try. We enjoyed it. Over the years we have purchased BBG’s sauce from BBQ Galore. It was good. But I like my homemade better (less preservatives and other odd stuff). About a year and a half ago we heard BBG was building a restaurant in NC. We were excited. The restaurant has been opened a few months and we decided to give it a try last night. Even though it’s about 40 miles from our house, we were excited.

We arrived at BBG’s Monroe, NC location for supper. Looks like they cook the meat on premises, based on the wood stacked behind a fence hooked to the restaurant. Restaurant looked ok, the inside was a surprise. It more of a steak house feel (low lighting) than a BBQ joint. We were seated, pursued the menu and ordered. We started with a cup of Brunswick stew. For our entrée I ordered the combo chicken and pulled pork with slaw and potato salad and my husband ordered the combo chicken and brisket with vinegar slaw and fries. We ate our Brunswick stew and enjoyed it. I thought it was very good. After waiting a while the waitress returned and first said the chicken “didn’t look right” so they were not serving it but then said they were out. Either way we had to pick something new. We were both very disappointed, as this was the reason we drove out there to eat. But we chose the smoked turkey. Food finally arrived.

First impressions- for the cost of the food, you didn’t get very much. I like the smoked turkey. I thought it was good. But I was still disappointed about not getting the chicken. The pulled pork was ok. Not good, not bad. Tasted more like beef than pork. I did not care for BBG’s red sauces. The white sauce they brought to table tasted different than I remembered, I think it needed to be refrigerated. The slaw and potato salad were nothing special. My husband did not like his food. His brisket tasted like roast beef. The manager came over and apologized for running out of chicken. He offered a free slice of pie. The pecan pie was excellent. I’m not holding it against them for not having chicken. I understand that things happen. I think chicken must be their claim to fame.

So here are my final thoughts. Would I eat at BBG again? Yes I would. Would I drive 40 miles out of my way? No I would not. But we pass BBG when we go to the beach. So if it were lunch or supper time, I would stop.

I don’t claim to be a BBQ expert. I was born and raised on Wilber’s BBQ (Goldsboro, NC) and up until the last few years considered it the #1 king. Now I like my husband’s version of Eastern NC better. But I would not miss a chance to eat at any Eastern NC venue- Wilber’s, Parker’s, Scotts, or Allen and Sons. I’m also not a fan of ketchup based BBQ sauce.

If you are in the Monroe, NC area and want brisket. Drive a few miles to Elliot’s BBQ in Matthews.

My wife and I went to Big Bob Gibson in Monroe today . We had a very good experience. I ordered the chicken and thought it was excellent--perhaps the best smoked chicken I've ever had. The pulled pork was good but rather unseasoned. It seems like for the pork the red sauce provides the flavor. The red sauce was good but I tend to prefer fairly dry barbecue (with a glaze but not swimming in sauce). I would go back again for the chicken. I still prefer my own homemade Eastern NC style barbecue to any I have had in a restaurant.

The manager told us that they marinade the chicken in the sauce before smoking it. I'm going to make my own white sauce and try this method. I will report on the results.

My wife fell and broke her leg in the parking lot right after the meal but it wasn't their fault. She is upstairs stoned on painkillers as I write.

Ginger wrote:

Would I eat at BBG again? Yes I would. Would I drive 40 miles out of my way? No I would not. But we pass BBG when we go to the beach. So if it were lunch or supper time, I would stop.

Had lunch at BBG today, on the way home from the beach. Had the chicken. It was good. I like our homemade version better. The Brunswick stew is very good. My above thoughts still apply.

I purchased Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book when I first got into smoking. I've cooked several recipes from it including pulled pork, spare ribs, pork tenderloin and even Brunswick stew. Everything has been excellent.

After finding out there was a BBG in Monroe, I had to make a trip. Turned out I had business in Monroe. Worked out great I've had BBGs three times for lunch in the past two weeks. I left my company credit card on the second trip. So for the card pick-up third trip, I brought my wife, kids and mom and dad.

Overall, I've been satisfied with the food. The chicken is very good. I had a combo with chicken all three trips. I've had both the white and dark quarter chicken. Both were perfectly smoked. Very tender, very moist with a nice smoke flavor. You could tell they season under the skin. Being from NC, the white sauce was different, but I liked it. It appeared to be basted on top, not dipped as the book shows they cook it in AL. The white sauce on the meat tasted good. The white sauce from the bottle used for dipping was just ok. I liked dipping the chicken in it, but I wouldn't buy a bottle. I imagine they had to change the sauce significantly to mass produce it.

Before discussing their pork, just a little background on my pork preferences; Being from Gaston County, I grew up on Bridge's BBQ Lodge. The pork is served with sauce on top, but the meat is unseasoned. I believe with Eastern style the pork is seasoned with vinegar and seasonings and then you can add a vinegar sauce for dipping or dressing if you want more. In the red sauces I grew up on, primarily Bridge's BBQ Lodge, it's kind of a mix of the Eastern and Western style sauces. Vinegar is still a prime ingredient and depending on the sauce, more venegar may be included than ketchup. A sweet sauce with a nice twang and kick.

The pork at BBGs was in the Western NC style. It was tender and moist. The sauce served with it was not the bottled BBG red sauce. The waitress said it was a newer sauce and they have not started distributing it yet. I really like the sauce. It was a little different thant what I'm used to. Not quite as sweet, but still had the vinegar twang.

I had the brisket twice and it was a litte different each time. It could simply be the area my slices were cut from each visit. On the first visit, the brisket was not as tender as I expected. You had to cut a bit from the slices, but it had a good flavor and was fairly moist. On the second visit, it was fall apart tender. I ended up having to scoop peices of meat up with the fork. The brisket is served with au jus, but I prefer dipping it in the sauce served with the pulled pork.

The ribs are good. Very tender, basted with a sweet red sauce. I believe the ribs are basted with their bottled red sauce. It tastes good smoked basted on teh ribs.

The brunswick stew is very good. But, I believe it's very close to the recipe in the book. I've only made it once, but from memory, it tasted almost identical to what I had at the restaurant.

The service was excellent the first day, good the second and not very good the third. There were no major problems on the third day, just a little slow. We had to ask for our starter of Brunswick stew to be brought out and the food seemed to take a long time to make it out.

Prices are reasonable, though a little on the high side. The two meat combos are ~$12 with the rib and 1 meat combo around $14. But, I felt they gave plenty to eat. I had to stuff myself to eat it all.

Overall, I recommend it. Definitely worth the visit if you're in the area. I would probably drive 30 minutes for it, but not an hour.

I stopped by Big Bob Gibson’s yesterday for lunch and just thought that I’d impart my comments on my meal.

I had the “combo samplerâ€