ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – Allen Hancock, better known as Buddy, has BBQ in his blood. His great-grandfather was known for his Brunswick Stew, and Buddy’s first job was cooking hushpuppies for his uncle’s BBQ joint in North Carolina.
Year’s later, he opened Buddy’s BBQ in Rocky Mount. His love for BBQ and his recipes are, “Something I developed over the years, and my Pitmaster, Bootie, has perfected it for us.”
The smoking technique, like most BBQ joints, is to go low and slow.
“Butts generally from 8 to 10 hours, brisket is 6 to 8 hours depending on the size of the brisket and then the ribs are about a 6 hour process as well.”
It’s fall-off-the-bone goodness, as Pitmaster Bootie chops it all up and gets it ready to plate. The homemade sauces will make your mouth water, but they know how to add some flare to the ordinary styles of sauces.
Buddy tells us it’s, “North Carolina style BBQ with a Franklin County twist, and the Franklin County twist being the moonshine.”
The Alabama white sauce as well as the blackberry and apple shine have moonshine in them, adding a little kick to the meal. It’s really a perfect combination for the many platters put together here.
As you can imagine, awards line the walls and shelves. Still, it’s impressive given that Buddy’s has only been open less than five years. In two of the last three years, the team has taken home first place at Roanoke’s Wing Fest.
It’s this popularity and previous regulations during COVID that forced Buddy’s to make a change.
“We started out with a 35-seat restaurant. Then, this past July we moved to this new location where we expanded to 212 seats.”
Come fill some of those seats, and chow down on everything from pork to chicken, brisket to ribs, collared greens to mac n’ cheese, wings to green beans and hushpuppies to pig tails.
Or visit them on the go at their food truck. You can contact Buddy’s for catering by clicking this link too.