Buxton Hall Barbecue — Carolina BBQ, Asheville
Buxton Hall earned James Beard nominations for doing what Carolina barbecue requires: the whole hog, the wood smoke, the patience to cook for sixteen hours, and the conviction that this specific tradition is worth the effort. Chef Elliott Moss has made Asheville a destination for serious barbecue pilgrims.
The whole-hog preparation — the animal cooked over wood coals for the full sixteen hours, pulled and mixed with the sauce that Eastern North Carolina developed over three centuries — produces the specific combination of smoke, fat, and tang that the tradition calls for.
The sides at Buxton Hall are taken as seriously as the pork — the hush puppies are made with heritage cornmeal, the collard greens are slow-cooked with smoked ham, and the banana pudding is the Nilla wafer version that the South invented and shouldn't change.
The converted skating rink setting — open ceilings, visible equipment, long communal tables — provides the democratic atmosphere that serious barbecue has always required. You eat here to eat the pork.
Best Occasion: Great for Birthdays
The whole-hog pork, the hush puppies, the banana pudding, and the communal long tables. Carolina barbecue as the birthday celebration format that Western North Carolina invented.
Best Occasion: Works for Team Dinners
Long communal tables, whole-hog pork, and the democratic atmosphere that the Carolina BBQ tradition requires. Team dinners at Buxton Hall produce the specific bonding that only communal pork creates.