Embers BBQ — Restaurant in Southern Pines

First impression, this should be really good food. I was disappointed.

I ordered the pulled pork and French fries. Generous serving of pork and fries, however, the pork was pretty flavorless and the fries were very salt forward. Not good for your blood pressure. The pork was a little on the dry side so I added the tiny condiment cup of tomato sauce to brighten it up. I read other reviews that said this is Lexington style sauce. Obviously, they have never had REAL Lexington style BBQ. Lexington style is vinegar based with a little ketchup, brown sugar and some red pepper flakes to awaken the senses. This tomato sauce was almost pure ketchup. No vinegar. The slaw came in the same size tiny condiment cup. It was poorly seasoned and just bland (needed pepper). My wife ordered the pulled chicken, sweet potato fries and mac & cheese. The chicken was tasty as were the sweet potato fries. The mac & cheese was just, well mac & cheese. I've had better out of the little blue box. Come to think of it, I've had better pulled pork out of a can. Now, add to this experience, it's 95 degrees outside and only slightly cooler in the restaurant. Not sure what was wrong with their AC but I hope they get it fixed soon. I don't like sweating while eating unless I'm outside or eating spicy food.

I'll give Embers BBQ another chance in the future. I know they have some bugs to work out. I hope the next time I visit the food will be more...

Good barbecue at a good price point. First off, I am a fan of barbecue and have been for decades. Doesn't matter what kind eastern western whatever. There's a dose of good barbecue in our area at this time. If you live in Southern pines or Aberdeen you'll have to go out of town. Well, no more.

Ember's comes in on the low end of what you charge for good barbecue but that's because the portions are not huge. Which is completely fine. I've been once and I had the brisket plate and a cheeseburger. I watched the man cook the cheeseburger and he did a good job. It was cooked just right, many restaurants now will intentionally overcook them so that they are tough or dry.

The real winner was the brisket plate. Just the brisket alone, without any sauce, has a tender velvety smokiness. The meat has just the slightest resistance while remaining very tender. I'd say that this is the best brisket that I've had in this part of the country. The mac and cheese needs a little bit of pizzazz, maybe a little blue cheese on it or something to give it more flavor. Now I also believe that the owners were there working while I waited for my food. That's usually a good sign in a restaurant. Highly...

This restaurant has stepped in to fill the loss of a long standing and much loved local bakery after that owner’s retirement. They big shoes to fill but only in the realm of customer service and cultivating relationships with locals. The food is very different for the most part. That said they do serve breakfast which is what I got today!

I ordered something I have been dreaming about since I heard they would be offering it. A BBQ brisket egg and cheese sandwich. I got it on the English muffin however there were some other choices which I have forgotten. I also got a sausage egg and cheese on the same muffin. They were both made from scratch and in a timely fashion. The staff was very nice and seemed to be educated on the menu. The sandwiches were both tasty and what I expected. I think next time I will ask for some BBQ sauce for my brisket sandwich because it was somewhat dry but very flavorful with good crust. The cost for both sandwiches was $13.91 total which is very reasonable but will probably change with the mass inflation the whole world is facing.

All in all it was a great experience and I am super excited to have reasonably priced breakfast option downtown again! I...