If you're in Charlotte and looking for real pit-smoked BBQ, Lincolnton is close enough to make an easy day trip, about a 30-45 minute drive west depending on where in Charlotte you're starting from. We're a family-owned counter-service spot at 2613 East Main St, and we've been smoking pork shoulders over live hickory coals the same way since Steve and Becky Abernethy opened the doors on September 1, 1971.
A lot of Charlotte's own barbecue options are good, but they're not always cooked the old way, over live wood fire, in a restaurant that's stayed in the same family the whole time it's been open. That's the actual case for making the drive: not just that BBQ King has been around a long time, but that the way the pork gets cooked hasn't been simplified, modernized, or handed off to a faster process anywhere along the way.
The way the pork gets cooked hasn't been simplified, modernized, or handed off to a faster process anywhere along the way.
What you're driving out for: pork shoulders smoked fresh daily over real hickory fire, hand-chopped the same day, plus hand-pattied burgers from fresh ground chuck and onion rings hand-breaded in-house. Nothing frozen, nothing pre-made. It's the same order-at-the-counter, hollered-back-to-the-cooks system that's run here, unbroken, for over fifty years. There's no printed ticket between you and the kitchen, no app to download, just a person at the register hollering your order back the way it's always been done.
It's also worth knowing what you're not driving into: there's no wait for a table, because there are no reservations and no table service to begin with. You order at the counter, find a seat in the dining room, and your food shows up hot within a few minutes. For a day trip from Charlotte, that means the actual BBQ King stop can be a quick, efficient part of the day rather than something that eats up your whole afternoon waiting around.
We're open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 8pm, closed Sundays. No reservations needed, just walk up to the counter. If you're planning the trip, it's worth checking our hours page before you head out, especially around holidays, since we close on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and July 4th.