NC Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame inducts first class of pitmasters
The inaugural class of the North Carolina Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame was inducted on Friday.
The honorees included Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh, Skylight Inn BBQ and the Jones family, including Sam Jones, his father, Bruce Jones, and uncle Jeff Jones, who started these legendary barbecue restaurants.
"It's important to honor the old guard of this tradition," said Sam Jones of Sam Jones BBQ. "I've been blessed to have been able to travel all over this country as somewhat of an ambassador of North Carolina barbecue, which previously was looked down upon in the culinary community. It was not until Southern cuisine was elevated to fine dining that barbecue rose to being recognized as something special. The old guard had been working hard all these years with almost no recognition. I wish the people who came before me, like my grandfather Pete and his uncle, the man who taught him to cook barbecue, could have accepted this award instead of me."
The inductees list:
- Sam Jones of Sam Jones BBQ in Raleigh
- Pete Jones of Skylight Inn BBQ in Ayden
- Kent Bridges of Alston Bridges Barbecue in Shelby
- Steve and Gerri Grady of Grady's BBQ in Dudley
- Charles Hursey of Hursey's Bar-B-Q in Burlington, Mebane and Graham
- Wayne Monk of Lexington Barbecue in Lexington
- Charles Stamey of Stamey's Barbecue in Greensboro
"We wanted to honor these people who created North Carolina's authentic barbecue tradition and set the stage for the state's national reputation. They've been in business 80, 90 years - that's saying something," said Chuck Hursey, who helped organized the N.C. Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame event.
Hursey's grandfather, S.H. Hursey Jr. started Hursey's Bar-B-Q in Gibsonville in 1949. Hursey's father, Charles, was among those inducted on Friday.
A Hall of Fame event was held Friday at The Alliance Center in Burlington. It was followed by a concert by the Oak Ridge Boys. Hursey said a portion of ticket sales from the event helped raise $3,000 for Alamance County veterans.
