When traveling U.S.70, pull over at Kings in Kinston

My mother-in-law was never shy about scheduling herself for a visit from Greensboro to our place in Morehead City. She calculated her travel time on U.S. Route 70 to arrive in Kinston around lunchtime for a barbecue pit stop. 

“I’m Gillie Baxter from Guilford County,” she would tell the crew at Kings BBQ Restaurant. “I’ve come for my ‘Pig in a Puppy.’” 

From her very first visit, Gillie was enamored by Kings BBQ’s legendary hand-chopped pork barbecue that is “sandwiched between two halves of a giant hushpuppy.”

 

Generations of tourists headed to the Crystal Coast beaches have being stopping at Kings on their way down or on their way home…or both…to get their fill of succulent barbecue.

 

The Kings BBQ website tells the restaurant’s story. In 1936, Frank King built a country store and filling station on his “small one-horse farm” in Lenoir County to bring in some extra money to help provide for his family. 

Upon Frank King’s death in 1938, his son Wilbur King took over the operation of the store. Wilbur added a poolroom with a pot-bellied stove in the back. Pool players ate makeshift meals by heating up canned goods from the store on the stove. 

In 1946, Wilbur started selling grilled hot dogs. Then in 1947, Wilbur partnered with brothers Lawrence and Victor to launch King Brothers Barbecue. The country store became a café with a grill in the poolroom, and hand-chopped barbecue pork was prepared by pitmaster Alonzo Hicks. 

By 1949, King Brothers Barbecue had become a popular local hotspot where teenagers could sip milkshakes, snack on barbecue and listen to the jukebox belt out hits. 

(This was “pre rock’n’roll.” One of the most-played records was Frankie Laine and the Muleskinners’ version of “Mule Train,” produced by Mitch Miller for Mercury Records. The tune reached the Billboard chart in November 1949 and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 1.)

 

Frankie Laine

The back parking lot at King Brothers Barbecue once enjoyed a reputation as the most famous “lover’s lane” in eastern North Carolina. 

During the 1960s, the King brothers remodeled and brought the seating capacity up to 275. The business continued to grow and Kings became famous for its varied menu, family atmosphere and down-home “folksy” service. 

In the early 1970s, the King brothers decided it was time for a major move. They broke ground in 1971 for what would become one of the South’s largest restaurants, with seating for more than 800 guests and hosting special events, reunions and high school proms. 

Ownership transitioned in 1981 to Wilbur King Jr. He launched a Kings catering business as well as “Kings Oink Express,” a nationwide shipping service, that is guaranteed to “put some South in your mouth within 48 hours.” 

In 2003, Wilbur King Jr., tapped Joe Hargitt, a loyal employee who had started working at Kings at age 17, as his successor. Joe had risen through the ranks from busboy to waiter to manager, so he was duly invested in the business. Joe had been groomed to take over the ownership and leadership of the company. 

The family traditions continue. You’ll probably be seated by Joe’s wife, Angie, at lunchtime. Their son, Kristopher Hargitt, who’s been working at Kings since he was a teenager, represents the fourth generation to carry the Kings’ banner.

 

Joe Hargitt

Today, Kings BBQ Restaurant serves 8,000 pounds of pork, 6,000 pounds of chicken and 1,500 pounds of collards every week.

 

If you go, save room for a serving of Kings’ legendary peach cobbler.

 

Kings selected co-champ in ‘Battle of the Bites’

 Brandon Davis of The Free Press in Kinston reported that Kings BBQ Restaurant was a co-winner of The Drew Barrymore Show Battle of the Bites BBQ Ribs competition on Feb. 1, 2021. 

“A side dish stole the show on national television,” Davis said. What was meant to be a feature on local restaurants’ pork ribs turned into an obsession from judges over Kings Restaurant’s signature collard greens.”

 

Baby Back Ribs from Kings

“The decision for collard greens to be on the show was made at the last minute by Wilbur King Jr. Kings’ owner Joe Hargitt said: “I wanted to send the mac and cheese, and Wilbur wanted to send the collard greens. So, I relented to the collard greens. I thought the mac and cheese would be more nationally known, but the collard greens were definitely a big hit.”

 

Other competitors were Charles Vergos Rendezvous of Memphis, Tenn., and Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que of Kansas City, Kan. Each contestant was required to send ribs, along with a side dish. 

King’s tied for first place with Joe’s Kansas City based on judges’ picks and Barrymore’s Twitter page votes, “but Barrymore, television personality Ross Mathews, James Beard award-winning writer Adrian Miller and two other judges couldn’t stop talking about the collard greens,” Davis said.

“I love collard greens,” Miller said. “I’m glad they threw this into the mix. This is a very soulful touch.” 

“What is going on in this? It is perfect,” Mathews said.

Drew Barrymore cast her ballot for Kings as having the best ribs.

 

Angie Hargitt, Joe’s wife, told Davis that Joe really wanted to do his grandmother’s mac and cheese, and everybody loves the mac and cheese. But Mr. King said collards go better with the ribs. He was here yesterday watching it with us, and he was all over himself. He said, ‘Look at them. They can’t stop eating it.’ You could tell they really liked it.” 

“The recognition has been awesome, and it’s also a very humbling experience,” Joe Hargitt said. “I’m glad I didn’t send the mac and cheese.”