The BBQ Lab — Restaurant in Raleigh

I excitedly anticipated The BBQ Lab's opening in North Hills as a way to have some great BBQ in walking distance, and visited for its opening lunch service today. Disclaimer: I have not visited the original Redneck BBQ Lab location in Benson as of yet, and this was my first experience with the brand. In short, the BBQ was good, and I look forward to continuing to try it as this location gets its feet under it and refines everything.

Starting with the basics - despite being homegrown in North Carolina, many people say the Lab's BBQ brand is more akin to Kansas City BBQ, an assessment I would agree with. They have KC-typical sweet sauces, an impressive variety of meats beyond pulled pork and beef ribs, and of course KC's claim to fame burnt ends. On my next visits, I would like to sample the other meats (sausage and chicken, namely) to really get a well-rounded, KC-esque experience.

The meat. I had pulled pork and burnt ends. The pulled pork was nice and moist (though I've had juicier), and did have the faintest vinegar note (unsauced) to call the NC heritage to mind. Flavor was great. It's pulled pork - you've gotta get it really wrong for it to miss the mark. The burnt ends were...fine. A traditional burnt end tends to be a quite fatty piece of meat. These were quite dry, and texturally reminded me more of carnitas than a fatty brisket tip. That being said, the bark and the overall flavor of the smoked meat were both great (though I could have gone for a bit more of that characteristic BBQ smoke. I heard the Lab doesn't wood smoke, which, if true, would explain what I'm missing). I see in the burnt ends a miss that can be overcome by a refined cooking process and perhaps a more carefully selected cut of meat.

The sauce (or, rather, "Sawse"). The Lab served their three signature sauces on the table: Competition, Grand Champion, and North Carolina. The Competition sauce is dead-on for a strong, sweet KC sauce. A little bit of it paired well with the burnt ends, but otherwise I found it too overpowering for any other applications (perhaps it would pair nicely on sausage). The Grand Champion was a sweet, tangy sauce that I felt strives more for flavor than a particular "style," to its benefit. I thought it a great all-purpose sauce, but be careful not to use too much, because it is still quite sweet. The North Carolina sauce was delicious, and takes this otherwise KC-style BBQ right back home to NC. I have had marginally better vinegar sauces, but for all intents and purposes, this one does the NC job perfectly on pulled pork. And, as an NC institution, the Lab also provided Texas Pete (hot sauce and pepper sauce) on the table as well.

The sides. I only had the green beans and the cornbread (the cornbread is freely served on every plate), and I would say I was "whelmed." The beans were nothing special and the ham didn't play as strong of a part as I expected it would - overall the flavor was lackluster. That being said, I was impressed with the selection of sides, and look forward to trying others in the future. The cornbread was good, but in the way that a frozen dinner roll slathered in butter is good. It's never going to touch granny's homemade cornbread. It's quite sweet (for those with strong opinions on the sweet/savory cornbread debate), a bit dense (rather than crumbly/airy), and the way it was cut reminded me of a portioned sheet pan of large-batch brownies.

Eventually they will have beer taps, which will be nice. Ultimately, my number one draw with the Lab is that I can walk there from my apartment, so on that account it's a big winner. Like I said, I will be coming back to try more and see how they improve over time. As for now, if you want good BBQ and live in the neighborhood, I recommend The BBQ Lab, but at this time I wouldn't say it's worth a big trip if you're closer to Raleigh's other...

I have been to RNBL many times over the past several years at their Johnston county location. But don't expect what you get in JoCo to be at North Hills. I have proudly used their food to cater events and family gatherings. But the food that I had Saturday night, around 6:00 PM, at the barbecue lab at North Hills could not possibly be from the same people that run the one in Johnston County. Upon entering the restaurant you could not smell any food. There were no delicious pork or vegetables smells that you get at the Johnston county location. The wait was not long, And the restaurant was not crowded. We ordered a pulled pork sandwich and a brisket poutine. When I watched them put the pork on the bread that was the 1st warning sign. The pork was chopped, Not pulled, And you could not see any moisture/grease On the meat. Instead The meat clumped together in a pile on top of the bread. It did not look appetizing. I took the tray of food to a table while my partner went to order drinks from the bar. My 1st few bites of the pork were just as I thought it looked— dry and cold. I took the bun top off and tried to add sauce but it did not help the flavor or the dryness. I really needed a glass of water as the bun and meat were sticking in my throat like someone might feel recovering from tonsillitis or strep. I ate about 1/3 of the sandwich before giving up. A few hours later the sandwich came back up...a very disappointing experience. I don't want to see this place fail because I know the quality of the JoCo location. But it has a very long way to go if it wants to be nearly as good. Right now it ranks as the dryest bbq sandwich I ever had...

First time ever trying Texas BBQ and OH MY GOD words cannot describe how good this was!! The brisket was flavorful and SO tender!! I know I'll get my NC card revoked lol But, it was better than North Carolina BBQ. Before coming here, I was going to go to another Texas BBQ place but they were closed for the holidays. Their brisket looked undone so I was kinda unsure whether to go in the first place so I searched other places that sold Texas BBQ and came across The BBQ Lab. I will never go anywhere else for brisket except The BBQ LAB! This food is so flavorful and so good it will touch your soul lol I'm not even joking tho...it's THAT DAMN GOOD!! I also got the St Louis Ribs. Very good and tender as well. Green beans with country ham. The flavor was delicious!! Baked Beans were phenomenal 😋 Cornbread was your typical southern cornbread, so you know it's already awesome! I got the smokey sauce to dip my brisket in but didn't really need it because that's how good it is on its own. Jalapeño Mac and Cheese was really good too and this is coming from a girl who doesn't really care for jalapeño flavored stuff. The staff were super sweet and friendly! If anyone gave this restaurant under 5 stars, they were either lying or mad at the world that day because this food is PERFECTION!! ☺️🩵 I think they got God back there cooking the food!! 😋😍 Anyways, came here b/c Chad Butler was my favorite southern artist (he was from Port Arthur, Texas-RIP) and I wanted to try Texas BBQ in memory of him! THIS PLACE DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! Highly recommend!! The BBQ Lab IS...