We Mourn Two More Losses –Smiley’s BBQ and Rick’s Smokehouse

When sorrows come, they come not as single spies but in battalions. Two more invaluable North Carolina barbecue places have died. Smiley’s BBQ in Lexington and Rick’s Smokehouse just up the road in Welcome are no more.

The death of Smiley’s BBQ in Lexington was long foretold. The dread North Carolina Department of Transportation put out a contract on Smiley’s, and after that it was only a matter of time before Smiley’s, like Wilber’s, succumbed to their depredations. And while I don’t have details, I suspect that Rick’s died of COVID restrictions and low labor force participation.

The two places had a lot of good things in common. Both cooked True ‘Cue — pork the way God meant for us to cook pork, directly over a wood-fired pit with the pork fat dripping down on the coals and sending up bursts of pork fat smoke. Both were simple places, unencumbered by frills. Rick’s —

and Smiley’s —

Both were tied to their locations. Smiley’s walls were graced with NASCAR photos and a “Final Ride” memorial to Dale, Sr., much as a photo of Bear Bryant graces many an Alabama barbecue place. Both featured the iconic North Carolina barbecue tray. Here’s Rick’s tray, shown on my poor car seat —

Both had great food. Although I had a full lunch before visiting each of them, I cleaned out the tray and ate all eight hushpuppies a Rick’s, and at Smiley’s I added a pimiento cheese sandwich to my lunch.

Another thing they had in common was low prices. The food was inexpensive enough — maybe $6 for a tray — that just about anyone could eat there, and it was good enough to attract people who could afford to eat anywhere they liked. You don’t see that often any more, and that’s a shame.

I’ll miss Rick’s and Smiley’s. They’re irreplaceable in a way. New barbecue places, including very good ones, are popping up, but they just aren’t the same. Usually set in cities, poor folks are priced out — way out. Hope springs eternal, and perhaps Rick’s and Smiley’s will, phoenix-like, rise again from the ashes, like the new Wilber’s. I feel inspired to head South and support some in hopes that they’ll be able to stay in business. I hope you will, too. Go taste some great barbecue.

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