College Barbecue Drive-In, Salisbury, North Carolina

Day 3 of my Ride through Hell Recovery Tour opened with an early drive to College Barbecue in Salisbury, just around the corner from Catawba College. College Barbecue is a classic 1965 drive-in, or was when it opened. The car hops are no more.

It’s dine-in and drive-through now. College’s interior appears untouched but beautifully maintained since it opened. College also smells delicious. There’s nothing like cooking with wood.

I arrived at 10:00 am while everyone was eating breakfast.

I glanced around the tables as I entered and noted some of the plates. I immediately thought of ordering a second breakfast, and wondered if they had country ham and livermush. (They do.) I realized, however, that a second breakfast at 10:00 am would explode not only my schedule, but my belt as well. I temporized and asked a server if they were serving barbecue. She asked someone behind the counter, he asked someone, and the answer came back: “Sure!” I took a seat, and ordered, you guessed it, a barbecue tray: chopped pork and red slaw.

I sat down and began deleting email messages. Then I heard beautiful music, music evocative of magnificence, of sweeping emotions. I heard the sound of cleavers chopping slow-cooked pork. I was going to get the first cut, the first chop of pork for the day, and the angels sang. Behold.

A lot of Piedmont barbecue places ask if you want a roll or hushpuppies. The server simply brought both.

I hate to waste food, so I improvised a couple of sandwiches with the toasted bun.

Wonderful!

My photo truncated the hushpuppies, I’m afraid. They had crust and an airy cornmeal interior enlivened by some ground pepper. It’s remarkable how many configurations of hushpuppies there are and how many are seriously delicious.

The red slaw was again the perfect balance to the richness of the pork, and the more red slaw I eat the more I like it. If you haven’t tried it before, hop in your car.

The pork, though, was the star. It lived up to the exalted expectations of the exquisitely sonorous chopping. It was warm. It was smoky. It was rich. It was succulent. Sometimes a meal hits a home run. I can’t find the receipt, but I think the meal ran about $8. That’s not much for one of the Ten Best Piedmont Barbecue Places.

My last trip to the Piedmont I missed College Barbecue, which was closed for some reason, and this trip took me through town on a very different path. I’m very glad it did, because I got to see a lot of Salisbury, and there’s a lot worth seeing. Salisbury was the first government center for the Piedmont and backcountry during the colonial period, and the principal center for years after. Andrew Jackson practiced law in Salsbury before moving to Nashville in 1788. There remain several substantial historic districts, and an impressive number of later mansions built with railroad and textile fortunes, and from the founding there of Cheerwine and Food Lion.

You should go to Salisbury and try to be there just after 10:00 am and get that first cut of barbecue. Or better, go there at 7:00 am for breakfast, then tour the historic districts until 10:00, and get that first cut of barbecue. You’ll want to thank me, but really, there’s no need. It’s my pleasure. It’s what I do.

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