Melton's BBQ, Rocky Mount, NC went out of business in the Year 1999, after a series of floods from hurricanes and other storms from 1996 through 1998 so severely damaged their original location that they were forced to move to a strip shopping mall in Rocky Mount and their loyal following didn't follow them to their new location.

Melton's BBQ, Rocky Mount, NC




Melton's has three-and-one-half things going for it: 1) a spectacular view of the Tar River from most of its large, spacious, airy dining room, 2) Brunswick stew which is equal to Bullock's in Durham, though it is a bit sweeter than Bullock's , 3) sweet tea with a unique taste because it's made from well-water drawn from a natural spring right on sight (which moonshiners took advantage of before Bob Melton opened his barbeque place up in 1924 and scooted them off) and 1/2) fine-to-medium chopped BBQ which is consistently better than average, not spectacularly great, but definitely better than most.

Being a river person, a water person, I will have to admit a shade of partiality of being able (especially if you get there before 5:30 or 6 weeknights or early Saturday afternoon, before they're taken) to sit at a table literally within a stone's throw of a smooth, calming, but current-kicking-flow river so close to the large perimeter windows that one wants to reach out and fly cast from the table and dine on pork and superb hushpuppies and scarf down helping after helping of Brunswick stew so well-balanced in flavor and textures and pleasant after-tastes that you honestly don't know how much of it you've eaten until you feel almost blindsided by the feeling of suddenly being almost too full, it's that good.

The BBQ itself is less whole-hog and more pork shoulders than a lot of Eastern-NC-Style, a lot less fat than you'll often find, which is a good thing, not a bad thing. There's enough fat for flavor, NC-BBQ is not for the perpetually cholesterol-obsessed in any case, but if there's such a thing as "healthy" barbeque, Melton's comes as close to cooking such as anyone. The texture is consistently fine-to-medium chop, enough larger pieces for chew-count enjoyment, but mostly smaller chopped pieces so you won't wear your jaws out masticating all night long. There is a certain blandness to it, though, a certain anonymity of taste that keeps me from giving it a four-pig rating. BBQ, especially NC-Style-BBQ, should have its own signature flavor, recognizable as such from being from such-and-such a place, whether that flavor is to your personal liking, or not. But if you can imagine a large fast-food chain trying to clone a recipe for Eastern-NC-Style BBQ that could be mass-marketed across the country, consistently tasty and good and pleasant all around but lacking a certain character which might offend some by being too pleasing others, a McDonald's Eastern-NC-Style BBQ if you will, Melton's would be it. That said, the entire experience of Melton's, the Brunswick stew, the excellent BBQ, the river view, etc., should put it on your list of must-places to try if you're doing an NC-BBQ circuit.

Speaking of fast food, coincidence or not, Melton's is just down the road from the world headquarters of Hardee's Inc., and at lunch you can tell who is sick and tired of eating endless perpetual taste tests of certain fast food product samples that are in developmental stages when litters of corporate pups in suits and ties spill out from late-model vehicles at Melton's parking lot. Their address is: 631 E. Ridge Street; from N. Church Street/Highway 301 Business, either coming from downtown or from the US 64 Bypass, look for the Tops gas station near the river and bypass, then turn left if coming from downtown or right if from 64 onto a street who's name I can't remember, go about half a mile, then look for Ridge St., make a right, follow it to Melton's. If it's your first time going there, you might want to give them a call at 919-446-8513.

P.S.: if you're canoeing that stretch of the Tar River above them, they don't mind if you leave one of your vehicles in their parking lot to do a shuttle with later.
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