Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge

Pretty good Q, really friendly service. Felt very welcome and like a regular. Slaw is great, NC BBQ isn’t my favorite

We hit this place on the way back to Asheville from a Charlotte Knights game. It’s fantastic! All four of us ate our barbecue in a veritable frenzy. For someone used to Chicago prices, this place had more food than I’ve ever seen for $ 10, and the ordering system is simple and straightforward: meat, sides, sauce. Speaking of the sauce, it’s vinegar heaven. Our eyes were practically watering.
If you crave a level of authenticity so extreme that it smells just like your grandma’s basement, Red Bridges is as good as it gets.

The friendliest BBQ joint I have ever been too. Awesome service and food was off the hook! The red slaw is crazy good. The pork with the sauce they give is dynamite. If I’m in the area again, this will be first stop! Oh the sweet tea will put you in a sugar come! Go with half and half…

I really wanted to like it, but it just didn’t live up to the hype. The service is great and the food isn’t bad, just not as good as I expected based on the reviews.

The Red Bridges lodge just smells right. You read that right — the place just gets it when it comes to the smell of the place. I seriously doubt that they pump in that smell, but I’ve heard of stranger things in my time, so I wouldn’t put anything past them (or anyone, really). You walk in and it just feels right — then you take a deep breath and you know you have arrived.
As with many such places, there is little to nothing to get hung up on here. You just sit down, order and eat (most, if not all, of the menu is also available to go, but it’s much better to just enjoy while you’re there rather than put off the enjoyment of your meal).
Staff is very friendly, though if you’re there at mealtime, instead of a bit early or a bit late where they have a chance to take a breath, be warned that it might seem a bit rushed. They are that busy.
If there is any complaint, it’s that you need to be a regular before feeling really at home. It’s not that they are rushing you along, or that anyone is looking down on you, it’s just that if you want to order to go, they don’t offer you a menu and expect you to know what you want when you get to the front — little things like that. Not bad by any means, just a bit different is all. If I lived anywhere nearby I would be on the fast track and have no problems with it at all.

REAL NC BBQ, cooked over wood as God intended!
Thankfully, Bridges Barbecue Lodge has not lost their way and allowed the gas line (or electric wire) to come into their pit. They are still cooking over wood to give it the flavor that only wood-​fired pit cooked BBQ can have.
In the article linked below, Our State magazine says that only one in seven of the BBQ establishments in North Carolina still use wood. A sad statistic.
Every opportunity I’ve had to eat at the lodge has been good. Food, service, the entire experience. Highly recommended.

Good BBQ joint. Had the half chicken plate! BBQ has awesome flavor! Wanda rocks!!! Big portions served here. You can share a platter! Great lemonade!

Best BBQ around. Normally, we try to get here about once or twice a month and it is worth the drive. I live about 30 minutes away but I would make the drive if I was 2 hours away. Great Food and even better people.
Bubba

This marks stop #22 on the NC Historic BBQ Trail. This place oozes of southern hospitality. Family owned and operated, Red Bridges is probably one of my favorite places on the trail. We stopped in on a Sunday while we were headed to Charlotte for a Panthers game. The clerk at the counter, probably the grandson of Red, greeted nearly ever customer & talked to them like they were family.
Their BBQ is served minced, chopped or sliced. I had the chopped. It came sauced on a plate with baked bean, fries, red slaw & hush puppies. Delicious! My wife had their half chicken plate. She enjoyed it as well.
After our meal I was wondering the grounds taking a few photographs when one of the cooks saw me and offered to give me a tour. He showed me their pits, the process & a chest full of shoulders resting. What a treat!
This place is definitely worth checking out if you’re ever in Shelby or just passing through.

Love the Bbq here! The sauce they use is the vinegar base and it goes well with the slaw. Hush puppies are also good but if you are up for a sweet tea make sure you brush your teeth afterwards because it is super sweet! The servers are very friendly and makes you feel right at home. I always get the chopped tray or the sandwich!

I stopped here for a to go lunch. I got the sliced pork with bbq. The sauce was excellent. Wish I bought a bottle. But the pork was on the dry side. I am betting it would be better eating in. Will give another shot when I am back in the area.

YUM!
My husband and I were heading from Asheville to Charlotte last week and I made my man slam on his brakes to stop here! I’ve heard so much about it and had driven by a million times and have never had the time to stop in!
We ordered some food to go since we were in a hurry and wow was it freakin delish.
We ordered 2 of the BBQ plates (I think) and the most amazing hush puppies I have ever eaten with the biggest teas I have ever drank. If you ever happen to be in Shelby or driving through I highly recommend stopping in!

There is something so very right about Red Bridges Barbecue.
Maybe it’s the fantastic location right off the 74 which makes it easy to stop at whenever I’m heading from Asheville to Charlotte.
Maybe it’s the absolutely perfectly smoked chopped pork… which is consistently moist, succulent, and adorned with the perfect amount of smoky sweetness.
Maybe it’s their extremely well balanced BBQ sauce… red, vinegary, but thickened with tomato… spicy, and more tart than sweet, a lovely blend of WNC and central NC BBQ traditions…
Maybe it’s the BBQ slaw, because who needs all that mayonaise?
Maybe it’s the lovely interior, with classic green vinyl booths, where pictures of family members, pig statues, and decade old newspaper stories about Red Bridges pepper every open space.
Maybe it’s the fact that everyone here is family, from the staff to the first time customer. There are smiles and stories for all.
Maybe… or maybe the thing that makes Red Bridges the most right is the fact that they have mastered the hushpuppy. That’s got to be it. There is no better hushpuppy in the world. Red Bridges pumps out the imperical example of what hushpuppies should be. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Un-​freaking-​believable.

My wide and I made our first visit to Red’s. Normally we go to Alston Bridges but they closed on Sunday. I ordered a sliced plate but received a plate with pork rhat looked like big pulled chunks. The meat did not have a lot of flavor even with the sauce.
The service was good and the prices were reasonable.

5-​stars is absolutely for the food alone. A small country type set up where you seat yourself and service comes when they can get to you. The place was packed when we were there for lunch but the food arrived hot and was absolutely delicious!
Do not pass this place over based on looks alone. Be patient and sit back and relax. The wait is well worth it.

I really, really wanted to like this place. It is old school as it gets, and I had heard so many good things. So when we finally passed through Shelby at mealtime, we decided to give it a try. The wait was over!
Verdict: the BBQ was a-​ok. Not great. Just good. It was well prepared and correctly chopped, and the servings were generous. But there wasn’t much smoke or character.
Would I eat there again? Probably. But it’s not a BBQ destination as some have claimed. I’d rather go up to Lexington and hit BBQ Center, my personal favorite. Lexington #1 is pretty good, too. But Bridges fell short of those icons.
Please don’t be upset, anyone! I know people get wee-wee’d up about their favorite BBQ. This place wasn’t mind-​blowing or anything, though a cut above your standard BBQ joint. I guess I’d give it 3.5 stars if we were allowed to, but this one gets rounded down, not up. Just doesn’t quite reach such rarefied air.

I’ve said once before on Unilocal,out of my 300+ reviews, that I wish, just once in a long while, that Unilocal would allow me to give out 6 stars just once a year, so that I could truly recognize a place that I think goes well beyond even the most outstanding of reviews. Tonight, I found a second one of those places. Sit back, and let me tell you a story of the best customer service that I have ever received.
We do not live in Shelby. We live in Asheville, nearly an hour and a half away. But after hearing some very positive reviews in the recent past, we decided to make a Sunday evening of this, and drive the 70 miles to Shelby for the sole purpose of eating at Red Bridges.
To make sure our drive wasn’t a waste, I called as we set off to make sure that they were in fact going to be open, and I was assured that they would be.
So imagine my surprise when, 45 minutes later, I saw a 704 phone number pop up on my screen as my phone started to ring. I picked it up, and it was Natalie, soon to be third-​generation co-​owner of this establishment, calling me *back* to not only tell me that someone had just bought out nearly all the meat they had left for the day, but to take our order in *advance* to ensure that there would still be some meat left when we got there 45 minutes later.
To recap: Upon realizing that the restaurant was about to have to close early, two of the employees scrolled back through their Caller ID to find my phone number, then called me back in the middle of their dinner rush to ensure that our long trip wasn’t wasted. That is unparalleled service in my book.
But luckily the experience didn’t stop there. Upon arriving, not only were we treated to some of the most plentiful, fantastic, wood-​smoked barbecue we’ve ever had, but we managed to get to know the staff of this restaurant over the next hour.
I am someone who truly values experiencing everything a town has to offer. I try to make it a rare occasion that I eat at the same restaurant twice when I’m traveling, but this place has earned my loyalty and business for as long as I walk this planet. This was, without reservation, the best restaurant experience I have ever had.
As Red Bridges passes onto another generation, it is comforting to know that with people like Natalie and Karen behind that counter, it’s in very good hands for another 40 years.

A «LOVE LETTER» TO RED BRIDGES BARBECUE.
Visiting Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge is like meeting up with an old friend that I haven’t seen in a long, long, time.
There’s very little that I don’t love about Red Bridges BBQ. I don’t like the prices and the crowds, but that’s about all.
I usually order a small SLICED tray, which comes with red barbecue coleslaw (tangy) and hush puppies. When I am particularly hungry, I add in a «half» order of fries. I have never ordered anything other than their fantastic iced tea to drink, and I never will.
What stands out to me?
The interior. Let’s face it, this restaurant is only slightly larger than a double wide mobile home inside, but oh that interior. I LOVE the wood paneling and the ridged parkay wood ceiling, which adds such beauty and character. The walls are tastefully decorated with awards — many, many awards, magazine photos where the restaurant was featured, and mementos of sixty years in business.
The table tops are decorated with photos of three generations of family. I really miss Momma B., Debbie’s mother, who used to make an occasional appearance in the restaurant.
Debbie is now the matron of barbecue in the Carolinas. Her son and daughter are following right in the family’s footsteps, and the fourth generation has been born.
Yesterday, I ordered my usual, which I listed above. It was SO GOOD, that I ate as slowly as possible, savoring each and every bite and sip. I’m sure that it took me at least forty minutes or more to finish my meal, and what a meal it was.
(And «NO,» Mrs. H., it wasn’t better than JD’s. LOL!)
The sliced pork barbecue was excellent, tender, lean, and delicious. It only gets better with the HOT tangy, vinegary barbecue sauce that Red Bridges provides with every meal. I have been coming to Bridges Barbecue for so long, that I can remember a time when one had to ASK for extra sauce on the side — now it’s normal.
The only thing missing is the pronounced smoky taste that is rarely found in some Lexington and eastern NC, wood burning barbecue restaurants.
Speaking of history, all of the waitress have been here since I started coming to Red Bridges back in the late 80’s. That tells me that (a) they are well treated by the owners, which speaks well for the restaurant, and (b) they make great tips due to their outstanding service and the excellent BBQ.
The white haired gentleman manning the counter, phone, and cash register simultaneously is Doug. Say hello!
Reflections on Iced Tea.
Lord help me, I drank TWO entire pitchers of Red Bridges iced tea yesterday. Yes TWO! Granted the pitchers are small ones, but two of them… well, that adds up. Why did I do this? Was I «crossing the Sahara» thirsty? Actually, no. It was just THAT damned good — maybe the best iced tea that I’ve ever had. It was surreal.
Three gentlemen at a adjoining table joked with «my» waitress that they intended to take their pitcher of tea home with them. That said this three times. I thought that they were slightly deranged… until I took a sip. OMG!
My «first» pitcher of iced tea was exceptional, and then my waitress asked if I wanted more… so I said, «sure.» The second pitcher was twice as dark as the first. It swirled darkly as it mixed into the remains of the original. It was the nectar of the gods. I have a to go cup in my refrigerator as I write this — it won’t last long.
Service?
Just. Simply. Amazing.
Price?
My bill was $ 12, slightly expensive in my book, but… for the experience — worth it.
Debbie’s son said that they were having a contest asking patrons to vote on which barbecue restaurant was better: Red Bridges Barbecue or Lexington #1 (Honey Monk’s). That one will be too close to call. The young man said that he would feel no shame coming in second to Lexington #1. If that turns out to be the case, I have to agree. (BTW, Lexington #1 is not at the top of my BBQ list in Lexington NC. See my barbecue list for details.)
As I was leaving, I noticed Debbie around back tying flowering runners to a trellis which led to their smoke pits. She looked happy and serene, so I didn’t disturb her. After an amazing meal, I knew the feeling.

Must have been an off day
This place has a great reputation and when I ate at it a couple of years ago, it was good indeed. This time, not so much so.
Ordered a large BBQ tray with fries, and Red Slaw. The meat was dry and very fatty and did not have a good smoke flavor. The fries were on the soggy side and could have used a little longer time in the frier or the frier should have been turned up a couple of degrees to seal in the moisture and give a crisp texture. On the other hand, the Red Slaw was some of the best that I have found as were the Hushpuppies.
Service was adequate but not outstanding and the server kept apolgizing that they were short handed that day and everyone was gone.
In any case, based on this visit, can not give it a rating greater than a 2 but will give them another try down the road. Afterall, a couple of years ago based, on that trip I would have given them either a 4 or 5 so for the time being, I’m just going to have to make a point of stopping by the next time through.

One of the 2 venerable, Lexington style BBQ joints in this town, this one has been around under the control of the Bridges family since 1946. Like so many of the good Lexington style BBQ joints this one is tied to Warner Stamey, since Red Bridges learned to cook this style of barbecue under him, and his daughter, Debbie, is in charge now, and still serving some of the very best Lexington style BBQ around, still cooking with wood.
The chopped BBQ Plate ($ 10) comes with HPs, FFs, BBQ Slaw, and Baked Beans, and there is a nice portion of BBQ on this plate. The pork is, indeed, chopped by hand, and the texture is excellent. The pork is tender, moist, with some nice smokiness to it — and this is about as good as this style barbecue gets — in fact there are less than a handful of BBQ joints who do it as well, and only one or two who do it better, imho.
We tried the BBQ Chicken ($ 10), which is ½ BBQ Chicken, Slaw, and a side items. This was a huge amount of tender, juicy chicken, with a nice, spicy sauce with some heat to it. This bird is not slathered with any sweet, tomato-​based sauce. This BBQ Chicken is as good as anybody’s, and the sauce is special.
The Hushpuppies are lond, log-​shaped, with a crusty exterior, but are lite, moist, and exploding with flavor. The FFs have a lite batter, and are only awesome! The red BBQ Slaw is also excellent — in fact it is my favorite version of this item — it supports the taste of the pig, it does not smother it. The Baked Beans were rather ordinary.
The service is fast and friendly — like the food, about as good as it gets. I’ll be back, and real soon! Gonna have a Devil Egg Sandwich, and probably the homemade Pimento Sandwich, as well. Of course, I’ll bring home some barbecue, and chicken too.