Stephenson’s Bar-B-Que, Willow Springs, North Carolina

After our breakfast at Flo’s, John Shelton Reed, Allan Parnell, and I headed to Stephenson’s. I’ve reviewed Stephenson’s twice before (here and here), and it easily won a place in my list of the Ten Best Barbecue Places in Eastern North Carolina.

We were now in two cars with John leading me s we took the two-lane scenic route through some beautiful farm country. Then all of a sudden masses of subdivisions popped up out of the ground like mushrooms after a good rain, and then mixed-use developments. We came to a road that was closed for construction, at which point my blasé GPS told me that we were within a couple of miles of Stephenson’s. John’s GPS, however, went rogue and took us on an erratic tour of uncharted rural areas of Johnson, Harnett, and Wake Counties. It finally calmed down and we approached Stephenson’s from the rear. Perhaps this is a good time to note that Stephenson’s is at 11964 NC 50 in Willow Springs, a few miles north of the junction of I-40 and I-95, so you can keep a close eye on your GPS.

It was still early and we were able to sit with a view as we perused the menus.

I thought about ordering a pork and chicken plate — their barbecued chicken is second only to B’s – but I decided on just a pork plate with collards and slaw.

Then, while the plates were being prepared and as a dozen hushpuppies arrived, of which 10 were still around when I took a picture.

I decided to add a side order of fried gizzards. They took a few minutes, but were well worth the wait.

We’d been talking about gizzards, which I like, and I hadn’t had any in a while. These were good. John had stayed away from gizzards after having some that were gritty, perhaps from a chicken fed with a lot of sand. These were not gritty. The gizzards were chewy, as John and Allen noted, but that’s in the nature of gizzards. The attraction of gizzards is their flavor, which is as thigh meat is to breast meat, only moreso — a lot richer and more flavorful. The order contained some hearts, as usual, and they’re more tender and even tastier than gizzards.

Getting back to square one, John had ordered pork with slaw and fried okra — thus the few pieces of okra on my plate. 

Just look at that okra. See how lightly dusted it was? It was the best okra I’ve had in I don’t know how long, better than the excellent okra at Smokies and the Golden Rule. (I forget Allan’s order. I didn’t note it down or photograph it in all my excitement over my food and John’s okra. I believe he got pork and slaw, the core Eastern North Carolina foods.)

We all agreed on the grand quality of the pork. Who could dispute it? The collards, slaw, and hushpuppies were good, and the pork and okra were sensational, among the best. I did regret not ordering the chicken, too, but as subsequent posts will show, it was just as well I didn’t.

The tariff for the three of us, gizzards and all, came to $29.25, including tax. That’s as close to free as you can get, and Stephenson’s is another of the invaluable places well within the reach of working people. Stephenson’s is pure Old School, with 100 percent wood cooking and zero social media presence, much like B’s and Sid’s Catering, two other Top 10 places. Yet they still stay in business bu seeing some of the best barbecue around. You definitely should put Stephenson’s on your bucket list — and B’s and Sid’s, too. You’ll thank me.

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