Speedy's Barbecue Inc: Pork Of A Different Feather
We recently took a trip to Lexington, North Carolina to experience some of what the "Barbecue Capital of the World" has to offer. For our final night in the town we went on a dinner tour, visiting three barbecue spots consecutively; the first was Speedy's Barbecue.
A little different from their neighbors, Speedy's smokes their barbecue on a rotisserie, as opposed to pit-firing the meat. The establishment is locally famous for two things: huge portions, and their barbecue salad. Determined to sample the fare at all three stops on our tour that evening equally, we tried just a sample of their salad, which was comprised of chopped iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, their chopped barbecue pork, grated American cheese, and choice of dressing (we went with ranch). It was a pleasure to taste the meat lightly coated in the locally standard vinegar-based sauce and paired with lighter accoutrements, as opposed to sandwiched on a bun or enjoyed on its own.
Looking around at the tables full of locals, anyone could see why Speedy's is known for their generous portions; plates were piled high with smoked, chopped pork. Rotisserie cooking their meat allows the restaurant to smoke it at a much higher rate than other local joints — the average smoking time of a shoulder there is just six to eight hours, as opposed to 10 to 12 hours in the other places we visited. So although they go against the grain in their method of smoking their pork, Speedy's still achieves great barbecue.
Kate Kolenda is the Restaurant/City Guide Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @BeefWerky and @theconversant.