Restaurant Review: Hillbilly's BBQ & Steaks (Charlotte, NC location)

Sara and I ate dinner Saturday night at the new location of Hillbilly's BBQ & Steaks at 838 Tyvola Road, Charlotte, in what used to be Carolina Country BBQ Restaurant. The restaurant features an open pit, so the smell of hickory and smoked meat hits your nostrils as you get out of your car.

I had never eaten at this particular location when it was still Carolina Country BBQ, so I was impressed by the stained-glass windows in the place; very classy touch. The pit is visible from the dining area, so you can actually see the preparation of the meats.

The dining area features tables only, no booths, an advantage for fatsos like myself. The server was friendly and quick but not overly experienced, making several mistakes during service: had to be asked twice to bring non-sugar sweetener, did not provide small plates for eating hush puppies, and, worst of all, brought entrees and appetizers out simultaneously before Sara had even finished her salad.

Sara had a pork plate, I had a sliced beef plate (brisket). Sara said that her pork was dry, indicating overcooking; my brisket was also overcooked, but still quite flavorful and edible. I sampled some of Sara's pork after eating much of my own plate and found that the pork had almost no flavor compared to the brisket. Sara, sampling my brisket, said it was superior to her pork. I'll make a Texas BBQ fan of her yet.

Hush puppies are shaped like dog turds and are sweet, although the batch we ate were slightly overcooked. Hillbilly's serves their hush puppies with a hot tub of their wonderful tangy BBQ sauce; the sauce is so good that it makes otherwise mediocre food taste good.

We were able to get corn on the cob as a substitute for slaw; Sara said hers was cold, mine was warm; since I don't like corn on the cob blistering hot, that was fine with me. They were full ears as opposed to half ears, a nice touch.

I'll give Hillbilly's 4/5 on food and service. Wait staff needs more experience, but are attentive and polite.

We don't have enough BBQ places actually within the city limits of Charlotte; a few Sonny's locations, Spoon's (limited hours), Q Shack; most of the BBQ places tend to be on the outskirts of town, or out of town entirely. It's nice to have a quality BBQ restaurant actually in the city limits again. We'll definitely be making Hillbilly's a regular lunch or dinner stop.