Parker's Barbecue Restaurant - Greenville, NC

Parker's Barbecue Restaurant
3109 S Memorial Drive
Greenville, NC 27834
http://www.parkersbbq.com/

 

Parker's Barbecue Restaurant is all about old school Eastern North Carolina barbecue.  I walked in and was greeted by a dropped ceiling with florescent lighting, diner style tables and chairs and a welcoming and friendly staff.  A young black guy waited on my (looked like the local football star wide receiver earning his pay for a tankful of minimum wage.) and I was directed to any empty table.  A minute or so later, he came over asking for my order just assuming I knew what I wanted without looking at the menu. That told me that mostly they get locals. He was a bit surprised when I said I needed a minute.  (Kid thought I was a local...that made me smile).

Parker's has been around for 40 years or more and is well respected but very old fashioned. Notice the sauce.  That's vinegar based folks and you just sprinkle this on. Don't treat it like a tomato based sauce.  You'll likely get more than you bargained for.

Looking at the menu, I focus in on the following...

Large BBQ Plate
Small BBQ Plate
Large BBQ Dinner
Small BBQ Dinner

I ask my waiter about the difference in the plate and the dinner as I didn't really see the contents on the menu.  One had more sides than the other.  I said fine but what about the entree items..."Oh" he says, "They both have BBQ". I ask, "What kind of BBQ?". This is where he looks like me like I just asked him if this place was vegetarian.  He said..."...uh...BBQ".  I said..."But what kind of BBQ?"  He didn't understand.  I said, "It's pork right?". He said "yea..." Like...is there any other kind.  And I asked if it was ribs or loin or shoulder and he said "...uh...pork".  I said great....I'll get a Combination Platter as that has both pork and fried chicken.  A combination that I had been inundated with the last few meals while in Eastern North Carolina.

So It turns out, that in this part of the world, there is only one kind of BBQ (at least to Parker's) and that's roasting the entire pig and shredding it for consumption.  THAT'S what they call BBQ and it was tasty.  Nothing fancy here.  The green beans were old fashioned and over cooked by today's standards.  The fried chicken was fresh and hot and tasted more home cooked than restaurant prepared (and yes that's a good thing).  The beans were just average.  The cole slaw was too processed and fine in it's grain.  The color was off too...Looked processed.  The hush puppies were fresh, hot and tasty.

While Parker's may have kept things the same way for 40 years, that's not always bad.