Carolina Barbecue

a place · NCLexington Barbecue

also: Lexington Barbecue #1 · The Honeymonk · Honey Monk's · The Monk

A black-and-white postcard of a single-storey roadside restaurant with a stone-faced lower wall and striped awnings over each window. A sign along the roof ridge reads LEXINGTON BAR-B-Q; a tall pole sign stands at the right edge of the frame, and two petrol pumps and a vending machine sit by the right-hand door. A light-coloured car of the early 1950s is parked at the left. Houses and trees on a rise behind. Printed beneath the image: “The Original LEXINGTON BARBECUE — North of Winston Salem, N. C. — Hwy. 52 at Motor Rd.”
A black-and-white postcard of a single-storey roadside restaurant with a stone-faced lower wall and striped awnings over each window. A sign along the roof ridge reads LEXINGTON BAR-B-Q; a tall pole sign stands at the right edge of the frame, and two petrol pumps and a vending machine sit by the right-hand door. A light-coloured car of the early 1950s is parked at the left. Houses and trees on a rise behind. Printed beneath the image: “The Original LEXINGTON BARBECUE — North of Winston Salem, N. C. — Hwy. 52 at Motor Rd.” — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Public domain

The pork-shoulder pit on Smokehouse Lane in Lexington, Davidson County, that Wayne Monk opened in 1962 at 26 after working under Warner Stamey, and that he owns with his son Rick. Shoulders cook nearly half a day over oak and hickory coals under four brick chimneys whose white smoke shows from the road; the meat is served chopped or sliced with the 'dip', the thin vinegar-and-ketchup sauce of the Piedmont, and with red slaw dressed with the same. Locals call it the Honeymonk, after Monk and his early partner Sonny Hunneycutt. The James Beard Foundation named it an America's Classic in 2003.

🔥 Cooks over wood👪 Family-run
Written down by James Beard Foundation (2003) · True 'Cue (Campaign for Real Barbecue) · Our State magazine

When they are open

MMonday: closedTTuesday: openWWednesday: openTThursday: openFFriday: openSSaturday: openSSunday: closed

Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 9.

open closed not published · Cited · web-lexbbq-about · checked 2026-09-16 · why so many close Sunday

The story Cited · web-davidsonlocal-wayne-monk

Wayne Monk worked under Warner Stamey, the man who carried the Lexington method out of the Weaver and Swicegood stands of the 1920s, and in 1962, at 26, opened his own place with Sonny Hunneycutt. The partner left; the joined name, Honeymonk, stayed on the town's tongue, and DavidsonLocal, reporting Monk's induction into the NC Bar-B-Q Hall of Fame on March 1, 2024, tied the name to the two surnames. Wikipedia records the 1962 founding and the James Beard Foundation's America's Classic award of 2003, the same year the Skylight Inn in Ayden got one — the two North Carolinas honored together. Our State counts about a thousand customers a day. Wayne and Rick Monk own it together, and the restaurant's own page lists Rick as owner.

How it is done Cited · web-lexbbq-about

Pork shoulders cook nearly half a day over oak and hickory coals. The plate is barbecue — chopped, coarse-chopped or sliced — with red slaw, hushpuppies and fries; a tray drops the bread. The dip is thin, vinegar with ketchup, spices and sugar, and the slaw is dressed with it, which is why it is red. Onion rings and barbecue beans are on the board.

Today Cited · web-lexbbq-about

Open Tuesday to Saturday 10 to 9, closed Sunday and Monday, at 100 Smokehouse Lane, Lexington, per the restaurant's site in September 2026. OpenStreetMap lists Monday hours as well; the restaurant's own page is followed here.

Facts

stateNC
statusopen
founded1962
fuelwood
stylesLexington-style barbecue
regionThe North Carolina Piedmont
address100 Smokehouse Ln, Lexington, NC, 27295 · Davidson County Harvested · osm
where35.8341, -80.2675 (street) · OpenStreetMap · open in maps Harvested · osm
linksLexington Barbecue — official · Lexington Barbecue — Wikipedia · Murphy to Manteo: Lexington Barbecue — Our State
confidencehigh · updated 2026-09-16

Not to be confused with

Near here

Crow-flies miles; the road is always longer. The finder sorts every pit in both states from where you are.

Its kin

stylesLexington-style barbecuethe style, in the restaurant most often named as its standing example.and of this page it says: Wayne Monk's pit beside U.S. 29/70 since 1962, an America's Classic since 2003.the pitpork shoulderthe cut, half a day over coals.and of this page it says: cooks shoulders over oak and hickory coals and serves them chopped, coarse chopped or sliced, never pulled.saucesLexington dipits sauce, thin and reddened with ketchup, served at the table.and of this page it says: Wayne Monk's 'dark, rather thin' dip, neither too mild nor too fiery, in Bob Garner's description.dishesred slawon the plate, dressed with the dip.and of this page it says: where it is on every sandwich and in every tray.disheshushpuppieson the plate.and of this page it says: sells them by the small or large order.the pithickory and oakits fuel, burned to coals in the fireplaces under four brick chimneys.peopleWayne Monkits founder, at the pit since 1962 and in the state's barbecue hall of fame since 2024.and of this page it says: the pit he opened in 1962 and owns with his son Rick.peopleWarner Stameythe man Monk trained under, which makes this pit a grandchild of the Swicegood stand.and of this page it says: the pit of his pupil Wayne Monk, opened 1962.placesStamey's Barbecuethe Greensboro house of Monk's teacher.and of this page it says: the pit of Stamey's pupil, still cooking in Lexington.placesBar-B-Q Centerthe other Lexington pit on Main Street, ice cream and all.and of this page it says: the Monk family's pit across town, the other name visitors come with.placesCook's Barbecuethe small brick-pit house south of town, closed since 2022.and of this page it says: the Monk pit across town; Brandon Cook counts himself kin to half the town's barbecue families.placesSkylight Inn BBQthe eastern pit that received the same James Beard America's Classic award in 2003.eventsLexington Barbecue Festivalthe October street festival uptown that shares its name and cooks its style.

Who points back

dishes · says of this pagebarbecue sandwichwhere the sandwich is chopped or sliced, with slaw, and where a pork skin sandwich sits on the same menu.dishes · says of this pagebarbecue traythe pit whose menu fixes the words: chopped, sliced, coarse chop, tray and large tray.dishes · says of this pageCheerwineon the drinks list with Coke and Diet Coke, $2.90 cash in September 2026.dishes · says of this pageoutside brownwhere the brown is lifted off the shoulders and saved for special orders.dishes · says of this pagepeach cobbleron a dessert list of pies and cobbler, with no banana pudding.dishes · says of this pagepork skinswhere skins are sold as a sandwich with slaw.dishes · says of this pagesweet tea$2.90 cash in September 2026, unsweet on request.the pit · says of this pagebrick pitcooks over oak and hickory coals under a roof of smoking stacks; a new hand trains a year.the pit · says of this pagechopping blockchopped, coarse chop or sliced; never pulled.people · says of this pageBob GarnerWayne Monk's pit, which he wrote up for Our State in 2012: ten hours over oak coals, the brown set aside for special orders.people · says of this pageJess SwicegoodWayne Monk trained at the stand Stamey bought from him; the pit is his grandchild.people · says of this pageSid WeaverWayne Monk learned under Stamey, who learned under Weaver; the pit is his grandchild.words · says of this pagechoppedwhose menu lists Chopped, Coarse Chopped and Sliced BBQ — the vocabulary in one line.words · says of this pagedipa Lexington pit where the dip and the slaw come from the same kitchen, shoulders only, over oak and hickory coals.art · says of this pagePigs in the Citythe town's best-known pit, a mile from the pigs.stories · says of this pageHow to orderthe Lexington counter where all three textures are on the board.

Pictures

A black-and-white postcard of a single-storey roadside restaurant with a stone-faced lower wall and striped awnings over each window. A sign along the roof ridge reads LEXINGTON BAR-B-Q; a tall pole sign stands at the right edge of the frame, and two petrol pumps and a vending machine sit by the right-hand door. A light-coloured car of the early 1950s is parked at the left. Houses and trees on a rise behind. Printed beneath the image: “The Original LEXINGTON BARBECUE — North of Winston Salem, N. C. — Hwy. 52 at Motor Rd.”
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Public domain
Raw pork shoulders packed close in rows on the steel grate of a long masonry pit, skin side up. The pit's side is painted brick, red below and blackened above, with a heavy hinged steel lid; a flattened cardboard box rests across the open end. Smoke and steam hang over the meat.
Amy C. Evans; Southern Foodways Alliance · CC BY 2.0
A man in a blue apron works a long knife through a cooked pork shoulder on a red cutting board, holding the meat steady with his other hand; the crusted outside is dark and the cut face is pale. Two steel hotel pans stand in front of him, one heaped with pulled and chopped pork, the other holding larger pieces in their own juices. Two cleavers and a knife lie on a cloth at the left; stainless kitchen equipment behind.
Amy C. Evans; Southern Foodways Alliance · CC BY 2.0
A paper boat on a formica counter holding chopped pork with flecks of dark bark and red pepper through it, and beside it a heaped mound of finely chopped slaw. Behind, a second paper boat of hushpuppies, a bottle of sauce with a yellow and red label, and a printed card.
Amy C. Evans; Southern Foodways Alliance · CC BY 2.0

Sources

Where it came from: Cited a source we name · Harvested pulled from an open dataset · Tradition what the tradition says, hedged · Inference this project's reasoning · Field somebody stood there. This record as JSON.

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