The Pit BBQ--run, don't walk! (Raleigh, Wilson: how much, house, closing)

[raleightransplant]

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know about a GREAT BBQ place that opened in the Warehouse District in downtown Raleigh (where Nana's Chophouse used to be). The place is called The Pit--and it opened up this past week. Wonderful menu that combines traditional BBQ offerings with some "city-fied" things as well. Really good selection of local and non-local beers, as well as great cocktails and wines. The pitmaster is Ed Mitchell of NC BBQ lore. Neat location and the BBQ was the BEST I've EVER had!! And I've sampled quite a bit! You must check this place out!

If you've had the chance to try it (or plan to), add any comments here!

[pgtrnr]

NC bbq only or other kinds too?

[epattridge]

I see a bar b que battle a brewin in the horizon...LOL Seriously, might have to check it out. Us being from Texas, we are partial to beef. Dang, now I'm hungry..lol

[dcgrl]

Thanks for the review! Do you know if there's any fish on the menu?

[NewUser]

I did a little Googling and found this on a website. I cannot vouch for it's accuracy. Looks a little pricey to me. For example, smoked brisket and 2 sides for $16? That's about double what I would expect to pay somewhere else, so hopefully the portions are VERY large and you can take half home in a doggie bag for lunch the next day. Their website is not up yet, so bookmark it for later:

The Pit Whole Hog Pit-cooked Barbeque- coming soon to Raleigh

Appetizer

BBQ Shrimp Cocktail $8
Beer and cumin poached shrimp (6) with BBQ cocktail sauce and a hint of horseradish and lemon.

Brunswick Stew with Jalapeno Cornbread Crackers $5
House made with local beans and vegetables in a rabbit broth

Fried Green Tomatoes $5
With roasted red pepper chutney

Smoked Turkey Fritters $5
House smoked turkey and country ham fritters fried to order served with whole grain mustard broth

B.B.L.T. $5
Romaine lettuce, tomato, and house cured barbeque bacon on a fresh made biscuit

House Smoked Chicken Wings $8
Slow smoked chicken wings with choice of three house sauces for dipping

Salad

Classic Caesar $7
With parmesan reggiano and cornbread croutons

Wedge $7
A wedge of Bibb lettuce with blue cheese dressing, house cured bacon and cooked red onion

Chef’s Bean Salad $5
A unique salad of seasonal beans prepared by our chef

Marinated Tomato, Cucumber and Onion salad $7
Tomato slices in herb marinade with greens and thin sliced onion and cucumber, drizzled with balsamic and served with house pulled Mozzarella

Poached Apple Salad $8
Wine poached apple slices with toasted pecans and aged gouda served over winter arugula tossed in a roasted shallot vinaigrette

Entree

Mother Mitchell’s Fried Chicken $12
Served with mashed potatoes, gravy and a biscuit

Smoked Pork Chop $18
Served with a whiskey peppercorn glaze, sweet potato home fries and red russian kale

Grilled Ribeye Steak $25
Served with twice baked potato, roasted Brussels sprouts and braised mushroom sauce

Herb and Blue Cheese Crusted Beef Filet Mignon $29
Served with sautéed winter squash, roasted potato rounds and a red wine demi-glaze

Roasted Half Chicken $16
Pan seared and roasted, served over a white bean, tasso ham and rosemary ragout, with a warm vegetable ‘slaw’ and natural pan jus

Crispy Fried Tilapia $14
Served with cilantro rice, grilled corn rounds and spicy chili mojo

Grilled Salmon $18
Served with roasted new potatoes, peppers, corn and spinach
drizzled with salsa verde

Pit Cooked: All selections are served with a choice of two sides

Chopped Whole Hog $12
Pulled Pork Shoulder $12
Baby Back Ribs (½ rack or whole rack) $8/$14
Ribs 3 ½ Down $16
Beef Brisket $16
Chopped, Smoked BBQ Turkey $12
Combo Plate choose 2 of the above $19
Combo of 3 $21
Family Style – a sampling of everything from the pit $30
Pig Pickin’ – ½ hog or whole hog

Sides

Candied Yams
Corn Bread
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Collard Greens
Hush Puppies
Black Eyed Peas
Steamed Cabbage

Country

Potato Salad
Mac N Cheese
Coleslaw

City

Blue Potato Salad
Ricotta Ravioli
Horseradish Slaw

[sarobison]

The Pit sounds great. Honestly I don't care how much the brisket is since (being from NC) barbecue means pork, pork, and pork. The only exception would be chicken, which is then called barbecue chicken.

I worked in Wilson for a year and ate at Mitchell's several times prior to its closing, and wow, the food was always great. I should probably hide after saying this next thing....I think it was better than Parker's and certainly better than Bill's.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by sarobison

Honestly I don't care how much the brisket is since (being from NC) barbecue means pork, pork, and pork.

Yeah, that may be so, but the pulled pork is $12 Not much better, huh?

[lolligrump]

Originally Posted by epattridge

I see a bar b que battle a brewin in the horizon...LOL Seriously, might have to check it out. Us being from Texas, we are partial to beef. Dang, now I'm hungry..lol

I couldn't agree more on the beef and TX! Gotta love it! I will try this place though - it sounds very nice.

[Desdemona123]

Originally Posted by NewUser

Yeah, that may be so, but the pulled pork is $12 Not much better, huh?

I think their point was that it wouldn't matter if the beef brisket was free, for them BBQ is pork and nothing else, so they just don't care what price the brisket is...not that the pork is cheaper, per se.

I am not an NC native (from Ohio)...but I share the bias....beef barbecue seems odd to me....it needs to be pork.

However, we are a house divided...I like eastern barbecue, while hubby prefers western (however, he has learned to eat (and sometimes like ) eastern) and our daughter prefers her pig plain.

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by Desdemona123

I think their point was that it wouldn't matter if the beef brisket was free, for them BBQ is pork and nothing else, so they just don't care what price the brisket is...not that the pork is cheaper, per se.

Yes. I realized that. Thanks Des.

My point was that the pork on the menu wasn't cheap either. $12 for a pulled pork dinner with 2 sides sounds about double what going rate is for that too. Even if you would never consider letting your taste buds wander to the dark side and ordering brisket, you're still forking over a pretty penny for the pork.