The Honeymonk (aka Lexington BBQ #1), Lexington, North Carolina

After a magnificent lunch at Red Bridges, where do you go that won’t seem like a pale comparison? The answer is clear, especially as I was heading toward the Greensboro and Winston-Salem area for the evening. naturally I set my GPS for Lexington Barbecue, which is know throughout North Carolina as The Honeymonk — except maybe amongnrecent immigrants around growing areas like CARY. 

I discovered that you have to enter “Lexington Barbecue” rather than “Honeymonk” into your GPS or Apple Maps because GPS and Apple Maps don’t speak North Carolina, and for barbecue that good, you do what you need to do.

Wayne Monk and Sonny Hunneycutt opened Lexington Barbecue in 1962, and thus the name. Sonny dropped out before long, but the name stuck. Wayne had worked under Warner Stamey, the originator of the Lexington Style, and clearly was an attentive student, and his barbecue was and is a tremendous success. The Honeymonk building kept adding on dining rooms to meet the demand. 

Wayne Monk, like Lyttle Bridges Cabaniss, was inducted in the Barbecue Hall of Fame, and the two elevated that group by their induction.

I entered and presently was seated with water and that classic, a barbecue tray. And, of course, hushpuppies.

That’s a little out of focus, so let’s zoom in.

The pork was so good. So tender and moist and perfectly sauced and such a lovely blend of inside and outside, white and dark meat. And that red slaw is delicious, absolutely delicious.

Lexington #1 is, of course, one of the Ten Best Piedmont-Style Barbecue Places, indeed, one of the top two. I keep thinking that I’ll finally decide which is the very best barbecue place in North Carolina west of the Fall Line. On this day, I went to Red Bridges and left thinking that it’s the very best. Then I went to the Honeymonk and realized that I’ll never decide. And why should I? Life need not be a competition. Why not just celebrate greatness and enjoy it. Why not just rejoice and be glad in it?

It was getting into the late afternoon and time to leave. Rick Monk was on site and I told him how much I’d liked it and always have liked it. He’s a very genial fellow, and an asset to his restaurant and to the community, and to everyone who drives up to that beautiful white building on the hill.

Go to The Honeymonk.

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