A Little Bit of Smoke Carolina BBQ

The name alone should have been enough to keep me away but they had banana pudding. So no, this is not a BBQ review, you wouldn’t want mine.
The banana pudding was overpriced and seriously it was like a decontructed banana pudding but all together. It was just off. Did I mention it was expensive? Oh yeah, and you get a teensy portion for that money.
I would have killed for black eyed peas but they were smoked so that pulled me out of the running. (not everything needs to have ham added or be smoked especially food that is flavorful enough on its own with just salt!)
Looking at other reviews, I might go back and try the pulled pork. Spencer T. makes me want to go now because his description sounds terrific.

Had pulled pork plate with black eyed peas. Good flavor to pulled pork with vinegar sauce. Portion didn’t contain a lot of bark (the best part!). Compared to what I had in Lexington NC (capitol of nc style bbq) a few years ago this was on par with that.

A Little Bit of Smoke makes solid Carolina barbecue. While their homemade sauce was good, I found myself wishing for more flavor and more food.
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with the Eastern North Carolina vinegar sauce. This kind of sauce can be hard to find, so I was eager to try it. Tangy and simple, it had a little chili spice to it, as well. The sauce was the best part of this sandwich, and I wished that there was more of it. The sesame seed bun was perfectly ordinary, kind of like a fast food joint’s. Maybe a nicer bun is in order, or maybe some bread instead? I can think of several carts that have their buns in good order, so this wouldn’t be difficult feat. The meat was plentiful and tender. It absorbed the sauce fairly well, though it could’ve used more of it. I found myself desiring more than a little bit of smoke in the flavor, as well. With either more smoke or more tang to the pork, I’d gladly give this cart another star. Likewise, if the sandwich had been bigger, I might’ve been a little more generous. It doesn’t have to be a feast, but for $ 7, I don’t want to leave hungry.
While the sandwich came with cole slaw on it, I elected to have it on the side, instead. This was a good call – the slaw was more creamy than pungent, and would’ve further neutralized the sauce’s acidity. For that matter, I wish this slaw had more dressing on it. Not bad, but not as good as the pulled pork.
My meal also came with a free miniature Moon Pie. What a nice finishing touch!
I might come back to A Little Bit of Smoke, but if I do, I’ll order extra sauce on my sandwich, or maybe just suck it up and order a platter. The quality is pretty good here. For the most part, all this cart lacks for is quantity.

Ugh I miss a little bit of smoke. Like, a lot. I stumbled upon this little gem of deliciousness while roaming around PDX and am SO SO glad that I did. I enjoyed the pulled pork bowl with slaw and beans. SO delicious! I can’t wait to go back and have another.

Had the Hogpile bowl, substituted the pork for smoked chicken; and have to say it was worth the 8 bucks! (1.00 tip added of course!)
I’ll be back for sure!

This is a great BBQ spot. Choose your meat, your sides and choose from 3 regional styles of BBQ sauce. The sweet potato salad is AWESOME.
I went for the «plate,» and found it was more than enough food. I’ll be having the rest at another meal. A «bowl,» while smaller, is probably the best bet for a delectable single meal. I’ll definitely be back.

Yes! I had the pulled pork sandwich and my wife had the chicken. We both enjoyed the sandwiches so much! We both got the mustard sauce which was really good. The potato salad was great too as it wasn’t the standard potato salad a lot of bbq places have. The staff was friendly and the food came out fast. Go! Go!!!

For street barbecue, it’s ok. Fairly damp pulled pork (steam table?) with almost no Mr. Brown (that crunchy part from the outside of the shoulder). It’s faster than 12 hours nursing ones own pork shoulder in a smoker, but not as satisfying.

This was an awesome find in the food truck land! I would definitely recommend this place for anyone with a hankering for some good old fashioned Carolina BBQ, the sauces included!
Portland has an amazing line up of food out in food truck land, so I’m stoked there’s a place to get some pulled pork with some red and vinegar bbq sauce options. Also, while the bbq is solid, the sweet potato salad was the winner for me. Seriously, check that out. That side is awesome. I could just eat that.

I went here because my kindergartner said, «BBQ! Let’s go there!» Awesome decision, Dude. We split the combo plate of chicken and pork with coleslaw and Brunswick Stew. (I could eat that stew by itself for a meal, it was amazing!). I couldn’t decide on the red or mustard sauce so the guy put in both for me, on the side requested my kiddo. We were both extremely happy and full after our chow down — this place is the real deal! The guy even threw in a couple moon pies for dessert for us. Pork-​perfect. Chicken– not dry, not watery, just perfect. After eating, my kid patted his belly and proclaimed, «we must return here soon. Can we go tomorrow?» Now, isn’t that really all you need to hear to try this place out?

I was really excited to have a tender, juicy, bbq-​ey pulled pork sandwich. Unfortunately mine was dry and bland. I got the vinegar sauce which maybe was the problem. Then they put slaw on my sandwich but it tasted mostly like slightly vinegary lettuce, not flavorful at all. The only thing I must saw about this place was I got the side of sweet potato salad and Mmmmm-​MM! It was so good, absolutely delicious. Totally redeeming and I would go back for it. But honestly, I wanted a BBQ pork sandwich and I just got a slab of pork on a bun :(Hopefully next time they’ll do better.

Walking back to our car and we spotted this Food Cart, specifically my eyes fell on the words «Homemade Vanilla Pudding/​Nilla Wafers and Whipped Cream», one of my childhood favorites which I have not had in several decades.
We got some to go and shared it, OMG it was flipping amazing, I will be back for more and to try the rest of their food, it smelled amazing!

Stumbled upon this goldmine over the summer, and what a treat it was! I love a good bbq joint like the next guy and have been partial to Russell St and Slabtown, but the pulled pork sandwich here, topped with slaw, was unbelievable and unbeatable! The tanginess of the vinegar-​based sauce, coupled with the tenderness of the meat made this champion of the pulled pork for me. Not to mention the sweet potato salad was a delicious surprise, and I topped it off with their banana pudding for dessert, and I couldn’t have asked for a better lunch experience. A Little Bit of Smoke is all it will take to bring me back down to the food carts, and this is now my favorite bbq spot!

very good bbq sandwich.
tried a sample of both pork and chicken and both are great.
the slaw on top went well with the meat.
they give you a choice of 3 sauces. these aren’t the usual bbq sauces you are probably used to (unless you’re from the Carolina area) a bit vinegary, a bit spicy. but, o so delicious.
affordable as well.

Yowza! I need to get back to Portland soon for another!
Hubs and I stopped by the food trucks on the way back to Seattle this afternoon and they pretty much had me at «Pulled Pork» and «BBQ». When I saw that the pulled pork & chicken sandwiches came topped with coleslaw, I was downright smitten.
I ordered a pulled chicken sandwich and happily paid my $ 6 cash. We then skipped (OK, maybe that was just in my mind) back to the car and I eagerly unwrapped my treat. My sandwich was so wonderfully saucy that I needed two napkins. The vinegary scent wafted gently up, beckoning.
First bite: Oh. Mama. The bread has just begun to sop up some of the sauce so it was almost melded to the coleslaw and chicken — sounds weird, but it was sublime. The vinegar tang balanced perfectly with the slight sweet of the slaw and my tongue did a zingy little happy dance in my mouth. Then *poof*, it was gone.
Did I just INHALE that entire thing??? Why yes, my brain told me, staring down disconsolately at the empty tinfoil square that held nothing but some sauce drippings, I did. Oh wait! There’s a little piece of chicken that fell out! Nom nom nom.

No exaggeration: this is the best and most authentic Carolina BBQ in Portland. That’s not to damn it with faint praise — there’s a lot of stiff competition around here, including Podnah’s and Russell St. BBQ.
I have been a fan of this type of BBQ for nearly 30 years and have actually driven around the backwoods of NC trying some of the legendary spots. The Eastern-​NC style BBQ sandwich here is among the best I’ve ever eaten and completely wallops the local competition, including the much ballyhooed Podnah’s.
(To clarify, Eastern-​NC BBQ is pulled pork with a vinegar-​based sauce. An «authentic» sandwich usually has cole slaw on top.)
I agree with other reviewers that they’re a little light with the sauce but you can easily ask for more, and they’ll give you a little container full.
The prices are reasonable and you get a free mini-​Moon Pie. Since it’s a food cart, there’s nowhere to sit but I’ve traveled 20 minutes with the sandwiches (wrapped in foil) and they were still excellent.
I hope they start an actual restaurant someday. I will be a regular.

Charming lil’ stand w/​good amt. of upside, and plenty of potential…
Had to go w/​the combo plate (Pork and chicken), ’cause, well, just ‘Cause! When Carolina is named in the mix, they are advertising pork, primarily, or so I’ve been told by more than one ex-​pat from that glorious bbq haven. So the q’ better be memorable, and it better be representin’ Cackalacky right proper! Of course there’s so much regional variation in Carolina BBQ, that’s almost a meaningless and intrinsically self-​contradictory statement …
I found «Little Bit’s» Chicken and Pork to both be super moist and tender and – indeed— both lived up to their billing and had a pleasing bouquet of «just a little» bit o’ smoke. Sometimes less is more, and all. The thing is, I found both meats to be surprisingly bland and lacking. Maybe this is deliberate, in as much as they are not trying to bury the meat’s true flavor/​quality in an overpowering sauce. «Little Bit» offers 3 different types of sauce, tru to the regional variations— Vinegar (East-​Carolina style), Red (Western), and Mustard (Dirty dirty Souf). I went w/​the hottest one (West) and found it to be weak tea, unfortunately. For what you pay ($ 9 for the platter) it’s a good value, and they don’t skimp on the meats or sides.
Speaking of sides, I went w/​the black-​eyed peas and was on the receiving end of a veritable mountain of them loamy lil’ legumes, yesirre. Their brunswick stew was highly reminiscent of some of the better non-​vegetyarian succotash I’ve had — their stew is a big bad bold medley of corn, butterbeans, taters, and smoked chicken.
Finally, I paid extra for an extra side, as I just had to try their diced sweet potatos — tender, moist, w/​o the usual marshmallow horrow show. Not too shabby at all…
It’s times and reviews like these that you’re compelled to remind yourself «Hey, 3 stars is not a terrible rating… it is, by definition, A-​ok. Still, it makes me feel like throwing the nice folks of «A Little bit a’ Smoke’ a bone,… maybe a big, succulent ham-​bone… or maybe I’ll just stick with: We promise to come back, and shall amende our star rating as is warranted…

I ordered the Hogpile ($ 6): a bowl of black-​eyed peas, pulled pork, tangy slaw, and their red Carolina BBQ sauce. And sticking with Southern fare, the meal came with a mini Moonpie! A Moonpie usually consists of two round graham cracker cookies with marshmallow filling. It’s relatively low in fat, but high in sugar.
The Hogpile was a very comforting, satisfying dish. The black-​eyed peas were cooked perfectly. It became a hearty meal when combined with the moist pulled pork and red Carolina sauce. The slaw added a refreshing crunchy component to the mix. I don’t need BBQ in sandwich form to make me happy. In fact, I like it if there’s more meat and sides to enjoy!
The Moonpie was a nice touch. Yes, I ate some of it. OK for what it is, but I guess I’m not a huge fan of processed sweet snack foods. I guess that means more Moonpies for everyone else, right? Don’t worry, I’ll be the dude by this BBQ cart eating all the meats and sides.
This cart had been on my list of places to try for a long time, and I’m glad I finally got around to trying them out. While I personally prefer the KC style of BBQ sauces, I still wholeheartedly enjoyed the red sauce (Western North Carolina roots). On my next visit, I’ll have to sample the other sauces and see what those are like.

I’d circled the block twice trying to decide where to settle. The owners were very welcoming, so really, I had no choice but to settle there.
I had the pulled pork sandwich with the spicy sauce. The slaw was crispy and the pork very tender. That, along with a Mexican Coke and the complimentary mini Moon Pie was all I needed.

Pulled chicken sandwich with slaw on the side and a sweet tea.
The bun was a standard sesame bun and I like good bread. The chicken and the BBQ sauce were tasty.
The slaw was simple and flavorful and it was nice that I got it on the side in a cup.
SWEET TEA! I love you and I would drink you all the time.