Shelby and the surrounding Cleveland County area are closer to Lincolnton than most people expect, about a 30-40 minute drive east. For real hickory pit-smoked BBQ, that's not a bad trip at all.
It's the kind of drive that's easy to underestimate simply because Lincolnton doesn't always come up on the list of nearby food towns from a Shelby starting point. But 30-40 minutes puts it well within range of a normal lunch or dinner outing, not a special day trip, especially for barbecue that's genuinely cooked the old way rather than just marketed that way.
BBQ King has been a Lincolnton fixture since September 1, 1971. The pork is smoked fresh every day over live hickory coals, no gas or electricity used in the smoking itself, then hand-chopped the same day it's served. It's the same process the Abernethy family started with, still run today by the same family, three generations in: Steve Abernethy who founded it, Keith Smith who joined at 15 and became co-owner, and now Keith's sons Jordan and Jared carrying it forward.
Beyond the BBQ, we're known for hand-pattied burgers and hand-breaded onion rings, both made fresh in-house daily. If you're coming from Shelby and barbecue isn't the whole draw for your group, that from-scratch approach carries through the rest of the menu too, nothing here is frozen or shipped in pre-made, whether it's the pork, the burgers, or the sides.
We're open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 8pm, closed Sundays, at 2613 East Main St in Lincolnton. No reservations, just order at the counter, and within a few minutes you'll have a hot, fresh plate in front of you, the same experience regulars in Lincolnton have had for over fifty years.