The North Carolina BBQ Restaurant That Got Guy Fieri's Stamp Of Approval

Bar-B-Q King in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the quintessential type of restaurant you'd see on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." It's a humble family-run spot, with a mid-century sign that reads "Bar-B-Q King Curbside Service." Opened in 1959, it's held strong as one of the Queen City's best old-school drive-in restaurants, even as Charlotte rapidly develops around it as one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.

Unlike most barbecue joints in North Carolina, at this one, you pull up to a parking space, order through a speaker, and wait for a carhop to deliver your tray of food. The menu's filled with everything from burgers and hot dogs to fried chicken and seafood with hushpuppies, but it's the slow-smoked pork and sauce that brings people in. Both the pulled and sliced pork are drenched in a vinegary, house-made tomato barbecue sauce, whether it's on a sandwich with slaw or as a platter with fries. The pork shoulders are slow-cooked with hickory smoke with no seasoning added, so the signature sauce does all the work.

When Fieri featured Bar-B-Q King back in 2007, he couldn't help but dip a finger for extra tastes as they transitioned to the next scene. Nearly two decades later, that "wow" moment clearly stuck with him. His new Flavortown BBQ Sauce draws inspiration from that same tangy Carolina flavor, though he says he "brought it a little bit more to the center."

Fieri told Tasting Table that his mom was from Raleigh and Morehead City, tracing his roots to explain his lasting love for North Carolina's vinegar-based barbecue. It's a style that stands apart from other popular store-bought barbecue sauces, like the thick and sweet tomato-based varieties of Kansas City or Texas. North Carolina barbecue sauce is thin, tangy, and peppery, made with primarily a vinegar base and just enough tomato sauce to balance out the flavor.

That punch of acid and spice that warms your mouth is exactly what Fieri was looking for in his new Flavortown Carolina Barbecue Sauce, a collaboration with Litehouse that he hopes can contend with the very best Carolina barbecue sauces. He says he uses a more centered take that still has that vinegar tang with spices but is rounded enough to work with a variety of foods. "Seafood loves acid. ... Chicken loves acid," Fieri said, noting it even works on grilled vegetables like carrots.

Back in Charlotte, property around Bar-B-Q King — not the restaurant itself — was listed for sale for $4.2 million in 2023, with owner Gus Karapanoa saying they have about eight years left on the lease but aren't sure what happens after. For now, though, the old school neon glows in the evening on Wilkinson Boulevard, carhops continue running trays to parked cars, and people keep driving in from miles around for a saucy pulled pork sandwich and to see the oversized autographed poster of Guy Fieri taped in the window acting as the ultimate stamp of approval.

Static Media owns and operates The Takeout and Tasting Table.