The Pit in Raleigh is a bit of a destination BBQ restaurant to us Expat visitors.  When friends and colleagues heard that I was staying in the area they all said that you have to try the Pit. It seems that everyone talks about it as a place to get good BBQ downtown.  It also piqued my interest as I had seen it on Man v Food too, I am such a food TV whore.

I checked them out on their website where they told me that:

“North Carolina is known for its legendary barbecue joints. We proudly continue this tradition by serving authentic whole-hog, pit-cooked barbecue at The Pit in downtown Raleigh’s warehouse district.”

This all sounded really good so I was happy to get the chance this week to finally make may way over there to sample their fare with a few colleagues and friends from work.

A bit of the menu

There are a lot of good options on the menu, mostly plates filled with BBQ,  but for a brief moment I was thinking of getting the “Halifax County Style Fried Catfish,” then I remembered that the mission was BBQ! Perhaps I will save that for a ‘Fish and Chip Friday’ style post

As my eyes are always bigger than my belly I found myself ordering the Triple Combo. This  is basically a BBQ platter with three meats and two sides, the meat choices were chopped BBQ, pulled pork, chopped turkey, brisket, BBQ or Fried chicken.

It was designed I imagine to give you a taste of as much stuff as possible. Well that was my interpretation of the deal as I drooled my way down the menu while supping my beer. I suppose it was too much to expect a dirty half dozen with all of them? Well a gluttonous fool can dream cannot one?

The Triple Combo

 

I picked the chopped BBQ having now learnt that this is your traditional Carolina style with the pork meat pulled apart gently and mixed with a vinegar based BBQ sauce and red pepper flakes. Officially this is “pit-cooked overnight, chopped and seasoned Eastern North Carolina style”. I have really started to dig this style

I also ordered a leg of the BBQ chicken, “pit-cooked chicken on the bone”, more out of curiosity than anything. This was pretty good but I am not sending any postcards home just yet. If I am honest I think I should have upgraded and got the ribs

For my sides I just had to try their Mac n Cheese which I totally love on any plate, and also their rendition of the Brunswick Stew which is also becoming a bit of a favorite as well. Both were pretty decent.

The highlight for me was the brisket “smoked slow and low until fork-tender, with our Western NC BBQ sauce”. I ordered this to make up the triple as this is one of my all time favorite styles of cooked meat.

The meat was every so tender and did fall apart as you cut it, forget fork tender this was spoon-tender!. I loved the sweet thick BBQ sauce that it was basted in. This really made the meat sing on my palate.

As well as the tasty food, The Pit also has some decent local beers. I tried “The Pit Wit” which was a Belgian style beer that came from a collaboration with Lonerider Brewing in Raleigh. It was a decent brew, a bit on the strong side and quite an interesting sideshow to go along side the BBQ

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Lets put the beer to one side for a moment and lets concentrate on the food. I loved that Brisket and I loved the Mac n Cheese, so maybe next time I should just get that?

I am quite tempted to just come in for a burger, but is that too boring? :

The Pit Bacon Cheeseburger – house-ground brisket patties with cheddar cheese, crispy onions, jowl bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and Western BBQ sauce on an artisan roll.

Having said that when you read the description on the menu, tt seems to be a pretty good idea to me to take a chance and just get that 🙂

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They are located in Raleigh or as they say ‘inside the beltline’

at

328 W. Davie St.
Ph 919-890-4500

 

Check The Pit out as well on Twitter and on their Facebook page