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Popular NC BBQ joint quietly closes its doors

Allen & Son Barbeque quietly closed its doors this week in Chapel Hill.

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By
Kathy Hanrahan, Out
and
About editor,
and
Bryan Mims, WRAL reporter
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Allen & Son Barbeque quietly closed its doors this week in Chapel Hill.

Owner Keith Allen was 19 years old when he opened Allen & Son in 1971. He had quit his job as a butcher at the A&P and borrowed a few thousand dollars to open the restaurant, which he named after the one his father owned in Pittsboro, according to Our State magazine.

The Pittsboro location will remain open on U.S. Highway 15/501. It is a franchise managed by Jimmy Stubbs.

Brown was famous for his hands-on approach to his cuisine, telling Our State, "Nobody's hands but mine touch my barbecue, until the customer's do." He would arrive at work at 2:30 a.m. to get the hickory pit going by 3 a.m.

"There is a finite few left of us that really have the desire to do it right and they're fading away," Allen said. "I'm afraid we're going to lose the culture entirely."

The restaurant's equipment, including smokers, catering vans and a mobile kitchen are being auctioned online.
Allen & Son has been a barbecue destination in North Carolina. The restaurant has been featured on numerous best barbecue lists and was named the fifth-best barbecue restaurant in the South by Southern Living.

"I kind of came here when I was 19 and didn't mention it to anybody. I was going to go out the same way - quiet and easy," Allen said.

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