Skylight Inn BBQ — Restaurant in Ayden

I wish that I could report something better with our experience at the skylight Inn BBQ. I'm not a pit master by any means, and I've screwed up more than not when I smoke meats.... (I'm a terrible critique of myself). But my daughter and I were pretty disappointed with our meals today at the reportedly 4th best BBQ in the nation! We were close enough on a 21st bday trip to say that if we didn't try this BBQ place, we would be stupid. Where to start? Unassuming? That is quite alright by me. BBQ isn't supposed to be fancy. If you have to have fancy, you are making up for something. Lack of choices? Again, quite alright by me! Find what you do best and stick to it.... simple? Well, that's just tasters' choice. Let the wood talk! Fine by me. Let the seasonings sing, again fine by me! But today's experience just left me questioning what you are trying to say with this BBQ. The pig was minced so finely that it was mushy and underwhelming, to say the least. Why in the world do you go through all the hard effort of whole roasting a hog, only to destroy all the wonderfully different textures and taste that a whole pig has to offer??? The "wood" fire? What wood are you using? I couldn't tell it was even smoked over live wood coals. WHAT A SHAME! that is what BBQ is all about! The sauces are exactly what I expected with NC BBQ. Very good in their own respect. I missed a mustard sauce as that would have given the minced meat a little more pleasure to eat. The sides were exactly what I expected, as I have a little more knowledge of BBQ than my 21-year-old daughter. But she was not impressed at all. She got 1/4 chicken with baked beans and potatoe salad. Beans were simple and unassuming. Again, it's low country BBQ. Let the beans talk to you. No problem with that. The potatoes salad was terrible! It was worse than that crap you get at a Walmart! Enough said! The chicken was cooked ok but drenched in a sauce that if there was any smoke flavor from the "all wood" pit, you would never know it. On to my meal. I ordered the small pork tray. Minced pork, corned bread, and one side side (coleslaw) in my case. I've said enough about the pork, just disappointed. Corned bread,,,, hmmmmm, how do I describe this "cornbread". It is nothing like I've ever had before. It was very simple to say the most. Not terrible, not wonderful either. I was fortunate enough to get a corner piece! The crispy edges were what I enjoyed the most! Ok, now to probably the most troublesome side dish of them all... I loved and hated this coleslaw most of all the items before us. The coleslaw is so simple, yet so complex! Its ingredients are simple yet, when executed, make every bit of difference. This cabbage was either ordered ground to a pulp or produced ground to a pulp on site. The dressing was light and refreshing. Not too sweet, not too sour. In my opinion, the one thing that this establishment got 100% correct! Then it's downhill from there. I just wish I had better things to say about this place. But, I truly think that establishment America was the winner here. And I'm not anti-establishment! I hope all this makes a difference in your expectations...

9-30-23

It's been maybe 20 years since I had been to Skylight until the date above. Has a dine-in side to the restaurant itself, and this is a counter order setup. Clean and well maintained dining area.

Skylight Inn is an institution. It has national and state-wide recognition. The stuff on the wall is just a snippet of said accolades. It's been around since 1947 and has stayed in the family. The longevity is impressive. What they do is extremely simple, yet works. The number of patrons, even at non-peak times, is indicative of this. Love the wood pile out back, and the wood smoke aroma as you arrive will have your mouth watering.

The BBQ is obviously the star here, and rightfully so. It is chopped finely relative to other BBQ joints. Has skin in as this is whole-hog. Yes! You can buy by pound or part of a small, medium, or large plate. Got a large plate, which is around $10 and comes with bread and a side. The BBQ can be sauced with a sweet sauce or their signature NC Eastern style vinegar zing! I love this (the latter) sauce. The amount of 'cue on a large plate is worth the $10 by itself. Excellent portion and taste.

The sides are where they lose me a bit. The accompanying cornbread is a flat piece. It is more custard-like in consistency and is extremely wet. I am not fond of this. A soggy blah. Limited side choices of potato salad, slaw, or baked beans. None of these do anything for me. I am probably in the minority in that Skylight really does good business, and their simplicity is effective. But the sides really are disappointing.

Simply, the BBQ is an outstanding version relative to other well-known BBQ joints, particularly in closer proximity. It really is great. Stick to that and their aforementioned Eastern sauce, and you...

I heard great things about this restaurant, so my family and I decided to go about a month ago.Matter of fact it was the 6th of July on a Saturday. Once we entered i was a little shocked at how little the options were on the menu. When we get to the counter to order they told us that they were out of BBQ chicken and baked beans. Now mind you it was around 2 p.m. so I was confused on how could you run out of food do early especially when you only had basically 4 or 5 things that a customer could choose from. What made it worse was half my family ordered what they wanted but the other half only had the options of pulled pork BBQ and potato salad. After all of that I was disgusted mainly because I hadn't eaten anything up to that point. I just made up my mind to basically sit there and watch one half of my family eat, because they had already paid for their food and were at the table by the time the rest of my family got the news that a few items were off the menu for the rest of the day. I asked my sister to just order a banana pudding for me, and as I was going to sit down she informed me that they were out of that too!!!!!!! My response was a loud of course they are smh. We were coming a good ways from out of town just to visit the place, and to say we were greatly disappointed would be an understatement. I called a few days later to speak with the owner and a guy informed me that the owner wasn't there and asked me what did I want to talk with him about. I told him it was something personal, and he kind of chuckled almost like he knew it was a complaint. He asked for my name and number, and I knew that as fast as he took it he couldn't have written it down. Needless to say I never did hear from the owner. I wouldn't recommend that place...