Sonny's BBQ- Concord, NC

Well, well, well.....I finally found a BBQ joint in North Carolina that I can prove does some real smoking. Where's the proof? It's all in the pinkish ring on the edge of the meat cuts. That tells you immediately that the BBQ was wood-smoked.

For my pre-race meal (I enrolled in the Jeff Gordon Racing School at Lowe's Motor Speedway), I ventured over to Sonny's in Concord, NC. As you would expect, the walls were covered with old-time NASCAR pics. Pretty much mandatory when you're based in the real home of stock car racing.

I ordered a combo plate with pork, BEEF, chicken, and ribs. I also threw in some mac 'n cheese, slaw, and cornbread. Before I go on, I have to give big props to Sonny for his cornbread. It had pieces of corn in it and was very tasty.

On to the meat. First, no sauce....good work. The beef brisket was very lean and looked almost like the pork. The chopped pork was pretty tasty. The chicken was moist but didn't have a very strong smoked flavor. The St. Louis cut ribs were nicely smoked and fairly tender. All the meats had a very nice pink ring and there was no remnants of a vinegar-based sauce or marinade.

Despite my normal habits, I did try Sonny's sweet and sizzle sauce on the meats. I'm glad I did. It is one of the best BBQ sauces I've had in a long while. It really complimented the meats. And sorry NC BBQ lovers, it was not vinegar based.

Sonny's is definitely "the different family" in the North Carolina BBQ neighborhood. It felt a tad like a chain restaurant....very similar to a Famous Dave's. But all in all, a nice way to fill my belly before I hit the track for some redneck racin'.