The Pit Authentic Barbecue — Restaurant in Raleigh

We ended day one of our Elizabeth City Roadtrip late on a Saturday night by checking out the The Pit in Raleigh. If you live anywhere around NC you've probably already heard of The Pit and if you haven't been there you really need to make a pilgrimage to the world famous BBQ joint. The Pit is known for its iconic pit-cooked eastern NC style whole hog BBQ as well as Texas style brisket, baby back ribs, smoked turkey, triple-battered fried chicken, grilled meatloaf, and a lot more.

After looking through the menu for a couple of seconds and taking a few suggestions from the best waiter ever (Ashby) we decided to start the night off with the Bacon Bruschetta and the Fried Pimento Cheese. Its not often we get to name something as "The Best Ever" but we are more than happy to bestow that title to the Bacon Bruschetta at The Pit. The Bacon Bruschetta is made on crispy ciabatta bread and topped with house cured jowl bacon, spinach, caramelized red onion, and goat cheese. Words can't accurately describe the bacon and goat cheese inducing flavor orgasm that the bruschetta immediately caused. This is easily and without a doubt The Best Bruschetta We Have Ever Eaten!

The Fried Pimento Cheese was served over a spicy pepper jelly and left us feeling a little guilty. We're not the healthiest eaters in the world but we do try to eat somewhat healthy and take into consideration the food we put into our bodies. Pimento cheese on its own already leans a little on the guilty eating side... then you ball it up and deep fry it. Well now its definitely way over the line on the guilty eating side but we loved ever single bite of those delicious fried pimento cheese balls.

We really... really... really wanted to try the brisket but by the time we arrived they had already sold out so for our entree we decided to split a double combo with chopped pork, meatloaf, baked beans, and macaroni. Unfortunately, this is where the night fell flat. The baked beans might have been some of the worst we've ever eaten and the only good thing about the meatloaf was its honey, tomato, and bbq sauce glaze. The macaroni was good, but after eating the Bistro la Bon macaroni everything else falls flat on its cheesy face. Now comes the chopped pork... the highly acclaimed and world famous chopped pork.

Guess what? We didn't think it was all that amazing.

I know this is going to garner its fair share of hate mail but its just plain true. We had just left a wedding in Elizabeth City and Bodean's Catering served one of the best plates of pork we had ever sank our teeth into. I know this is going to really blow some peoples mind but... I think either the pork was a little off for the night or maybe... just maybe... a little bit more hype than anything else.

We couldn't leave without trying something a little on the sweet side and after a highly convincing recommendation we went with the carrot cake. Earth Fare's gluten free carrot cake ranks #1 on our list of Best Carrot Cake but the carrot cake at The Pit nearly toppled the reigning carrot cake champion. The Pit makes its carrot cake with candied pecans, an addictive molasses cream cheese frosting and bourbon ice cream. The cake was super moist, incredibly tall, and left us wondering if they would UPS it to Charlotte.

We didn't fall in love with our entree but between the carrot cake and the bruschetta we fell in love with The Pit. North Carolina BBQ is regionally diverse and often a very passionate subject wherever you go in the area. We may not have loved the chopped pork, the baked beans, or the meatloaf at The Pit but with TV appearances, multiple awards, and being ranked as the #1 Restaurant in Raleigh, NC obviously there are a lot of...

First of all let me say that any past experience I had with the pit is not a reflection of the review I'm about to leave. I threw my husband a surprise birthday party at the pit last night because prior to yesterday it was one of our favorite restaurants. We had 20 people in attendance 15 adults and five children. It was a surprise celebration so the guests arrived at 6:00 my husband and myself arrived at 6:30. We were immediately asked for our drink order which was taken and that was the most useful our server was all night. There were dinners that were ordered that never arrived, there were dinners that were ordered that were undercooked, there were dinners that were ordered such as my husband's whose chicken wings came out the color of a Good Year tire. My appetizer came out 20 minutes after my dinner. We never received hush puppies some guests ask for their food to go because of how long it took which we were not concerned about because we were enjoying each other's company and ordering a significant amount of drinks. Our beverages were never refilled. It was much to my surprise that the food was as horrible as it was for the time that we arrived which is prime time for dinner. When we left and got back to the hotel I realized that I had left a box that I put his birthday cards in. I immediately called and they said that there was no box they could not find anything in the trash so I went back to the restaurant myself and told them that I was more than happy to look. I noticed there was a camera and ask for the camera to be ran back because it was right above the section in which we were sitting. I was then informed that there had been a box but that it had been broken down by one of the bust boys who was not there anymore. The manager comes back gives me one of the party favor bags with two cards but they had been opened when in fact I put them in the box and they were sealed. She told me that the recording only showed the bust boy dumping the box and nothing else but I was not able to see the video myself. For all of the hassle before we left the restaurant the manager gave us the appetizer free and she gave us a $25 gift card and replaced my husband's wings however those cards were from family and had sentimental value and regardless they did not belong to Spencer the bust boy who busted the table so Monday I will be going to speak to the general manager Roberts to demand to view the video and get back the gift card that was in one of those cards. Terrible experience and after we use the gift card that we were given by the manager we probably will not be returning to patronize this business any further.

Edit: I called back and spoke with Robert today and not only did he deny me access to view the video but try to insult my intelligence when I asked him if one of his employees did not steal the card and gift card who did Casper and he said perhaps so. He stated something about several people in my party walking out without paying however myself and my husband were the last people to leave and nobody brought that to our attention and I personally have my receipt. This sheer ignorance and unwillingness to be accountable is...

I have to say I wasn't impressed with the flavor of the BBQ. The restaurant at first glance was very fancy and nothing like a typical BBQ place. This threw me off. I thought I was under dressed. But this isn't a bad thing just odd to me for a place called The Pit. The waitress and staff was friendly and quick to seat us. The prices were basically mid range high, nothing that would break the bank but if I was a local I could understand coming here once a month or for special occasions.

I came with 3 friends and we all ordered double combos that ranged from pulled pork to the fried Catfish. I personally wanted to know what The Pit was known for so I asked the waitress to make me a double combo with whatever meats she thought I should try. I received a plate that had brisket and pulled pork with Mac and cheese and coleslaw. At first glance I was not impressed and it didn't stop there, the brisket looked like sticks and had more fat pieces than protein. Then the pulled pork had about a scoop of meat but there was one massive chunk of fat that took most of the dish. I pushed most of that to the side and ate the rest. The Brisket tasted better than the pulled pork, the pork didn't have a Smokey flavor and just tasted plain but it was tender. The Brisket was thin and tender and had BBQ sauce over which gave it some flavor. That was okay. The Mac and cheese was creamy and delicious. The coleslaw was nothing to write home about, it was good just nothing that caught my tastebuds. Now if your a drinker you must try their Ole fashion. This drink was delicious and a great mix while eating BBQ, it really brought out the flavor of the sauces.

My friends liked their food but they weren't impressed with the flavor. We all expected more flavor from the dishes. The prices were okay, we were just expecting more of that heavy BBQ smoke flavor than a fine dinning flavor.

But in the end, BBQ is a personal flavor and some people may not like their style or may rave about it. I just wasn't impressed but that doesn't mean you won't be. It's a clean and fancy environment and the service is excellent not to mention they have a great sense of humor when it comes to COVID. We can't all be serious all the time. We have to eat and we all need a good...