Best ribs in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary area? (King: appointed, house, restaurant)

[wkrick]

I'm new to Cary and I'm looking for good pork ribs.

I know that in North Carolina, BBQ is all about the chopped pork, but I'm not really into that and I'm hoping that there's someone who knows how to make good ribs.

So far, I've tried two places: Danny's BBQ and Ole Time Barbecue. At both places, the ribs were tough, fatty, and tasteless.

Here's what I see as possible problems...

1) The cut of meat. I want St. Louis Cut ribs. Both places serve "baby back" ribs. I don't want baby back. SLC ribs are higher quality without the gristly rib ends. I'm willing to pay more to get the good kind.

2) I don't think places are cooking them long enough. You should be able to bend the rack and pull the bones out cleanly. The fat should be mostly gone, melting down and flavoring the meat. There should be very little connective tissue left. So far, the ribs I've gotten are like eating a fried porkchop. When ribs are cooked for a very long time (like they should be), it's not like that.

3) Where's the dry rub? In order to get good ribs, you have to have a heavy spice rub on them. The spice rub mixes with the melting fat and really provides most of the flavor during the cooking process. You can always put a wet sauce on during the final cooking phase, but the dry rub is key.


The next place on my list is Smokey's BBQ Shack. I'm hoping they don't let me down.

I'm willing to travel a bit for good ribs, so if you know any places within an hour or so of Cary that serve good ribs, please let me know.

I'm also looking for a place that serves slow-cooked pork shoulder, not chopped or pulled. Again, if you know one, let me know.

Just for reference, the hands-down best ribs I've ever had were actually in (believe it or not) Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom, in a restaurant called "*** & Yeti". Unfortunately, it's a bit too expensive to fly down to Orlando just to feed my craving for ribs, so I have to find something more local.

[rory breaker]

Good question....frankly I prefer memphis ribs (SLC's, nice dry rub, smoked perfectly). The Pit is the best I've found around here.

Unless they have changed their recipe, you are going to be disappointed with Smokey's. They are SLC's but as I recall were not tender, instead the meat just peeled off the bone in one big long chunk versus being able to take decent bites that come off easily.

Still have a lot to try around here though...

[dhwilkin]

Originally Posted by wkrick

Just for reference, the hands-down best ribs I've ever had were actually in (believe it or not) Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom, in a restaurant called "*** & Yeti". Unfortunately, it's a bit too expensive to fly down to Orlando just to feed my craving for ribs, so I have to find something more local.

Can't help you with the ribs, but I'll second Disney's Animal Kingdom restaurant serving really good (suspiciously good, even, haha ) food. Had an extremely good steak and shrimp platter there.

[Streamer1212]

The Backyard BBQ Pit in Durham has wonderful ribs. They are on Hwy 55, about 1.5 miles south of I-40 on the right. Everything is homemade and flavorful. The pork comes a couple of different ways (pulled and chopped, I think) and they do a beautiful tender brisket. But those ribs.....

Ya gotta go. Everything's good.
I know what I'm talking about.

Regards,
Streamer1212

[bluecomet]

The Pit in Raleigh

[CHTransplant]

Bahama Breeze has the best ribs I've ever had anywhere.

I had the ribs at The Pit once and they were barely mediocre. Chewey.

[Rdanville]

I had some good ribs at the Ale House the other day. I was surprised how good they were.

[TheBigKahunaNC]

I like the dry ribs at Red, Hot & Blue.

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by Rdanville

I had some good ribs at the Ale House the other day. I was surprised how good they were.

I agree they are usually pretty good there, although sometimes they miss.

[superk]

Hilsborough BBQ. The BBQ is great, and so are the ribs.