I have eaten at Lexington BBQ several times but wanted to try another place. Rode to the other side of town and ate at the The Barbeque Center. It was not a mistake! The parking lot was packed and the smell of smoke met you as you walked to the front door. Reminded me of a bbq contest on Saturday morning. You can tell the old building used to be something else and has inherited bbq. Once inside the old paneling and low-slung popshop style counter added great character to the joint. Had the wife and parents, so we planted ourselves in the first available booth and ordered.
First of all, I eat bbq for the meat; sides, hush puppies, deserts and drinks are all secondary to me. We ordered the trays, which includes slaw and hushpuppies. We also ordered the sweet tea. The chopped bbq was not too fine, but could have been a little thicker chop. The course chopped was more like chunks. Did not try the sliced. Pulled was not on the menu. I found the meat at The Barbeque Center had a good depth of smokey goodness. Smoked over white oak, the meat was very tender and moist. You could tell it was slow cooked. All the fat was rendered and the chunks broke apart like moist nuggets of bbq heaven. After two bites I declared it better then any other Lexington places I have eaten at. It was just that good!!
The slaw was typical fine shredded red slaw you find in Lexington. The hushpuppies were a disappointment; dry and overcooked. Even soaking them in the bbq sauce did not help them much. The sauce was served hot. It was a thin, light tomato-vinegar base sauce that Lexington is famous for. Complements the meat very well. The sweet tea was really good, if you like the southern specialty. If you don’t, there is something wrong with you.
Now the surprise was the banana splits. We didn’t order one. It was too scary! Way more ice cream then any one person should consume in one sitting. It looked like two bananas, three scoops of ice cream the size of Boston butts, a shovel load of nuts, enough chocolate sauce to make Mr. Hershey another million and so much whipped cream they had to use a hose from a tanker truck to finish it off. I didn’t see any cherries on top, but I sure they would have use the tree if they had it. Every time they made one I said an individual prayer for the person who ordered it. I prayed they would not explode or get the diabetes. It was unbelievable! It is deserving of a thread all to its own. For $5.95, it was the best value on the menu.
Final verdict…The Barbecue Center is my new favorite place in Lexington, NC. I recommend you stop and give it a try. Just beware of the banana splits.
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