Review of Elliot's Barbeque 9949 E Independence Blvd Matthews, NC 28105 Phone:(704) 847-6000 Hours: Tue-Thur 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM Fri-Sat 11AM-9PM Sunday 11AM-8PM http://www.elliotsbbq.com by H. Kent Craig ©2006

Elliot's has two distinguishing features that separates it from the rest of the NC barbecue pack: 1) it is the further western-most outpost of Eastern-NC-Style BBQ, and 2) it is probably the roughest, most chunk-iest pulled pork barbecue I've ever had in any commercial restaurant and still found edible let alone actually liked let alone actually looked forward to going back time and again or I wouldn't be giving it my highest 4-pig rating.

While other establishments offer a high-quality rough-pulled pork, Smokey Bones and Park Diner coming to mind in particular, Elliot's has even more of a hand-pulled, backyard pig-picking quality to it. While it is large chunks with very little if any chop, it's some of the cleanest barbecue of any kind you'll ever find, with virtually no extra fat globules and no burned skin or anything else unpalatable to the eye or tastebuds.

The sides are average and ordinary, nothing to write home about, though their serving of thicker steak-fries with your barbecue is a little unusual and their hushpuppies also have more of an onion twang than many would be accustom to finding in a typical North Carolina barbecue joint. The sweet (and unsweet) tea is thick, syrupy and strong enough to stand up to the ice melting and diluting it.

Located in the eastern part of Charlotte, actually in a small town next to it called Matthews, it's about a fifteen to twenty minute drive from (the NFL Carolina) Panthers Stadium and is located in an otherwise non-descript strip shopping center and if you're not careful you'll go past it the first time visiting but there's several stoplights just past it where you can easily turn around to head back to it. Lunch tends to be nearly packed on the weekday and dinner tends to be slower though on weekend-nights there can be a small line and usually no more than a ten minute wait or so, but trust me, if you like rougher-pulled style of 'cue, it'll be worth your wait.




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