Longtime barbecue restaurant quietly reopens on Sunset Road in Charlotte
After a two-year closure, Bubba’s Barbecue in North Charlotte has reopened — with a few changes.
“We have got the best customers in Charlotte, and a lot of them are coming back,” owner Ralph Miller told CharlotteFive on Wednesday.
The restaurant first opened in 1963 as Jackson and Spoon’s Barbecue (later just Spoon’s Barbecue) on South Boulevard. In 1987, Miller purchased the restaurant and the original recipes. He later renamed the restaurant Bubba’s Barbecue and moved it to Sunset Road, where it has been serving Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue since 1994. (The Spoon family, meanwhile, opened Bill Spoon’s BBQ on South Boulevard. That restaurant closed in September 2020.)
[RELATED: The full story behind the closing of Spoon’s BBQ. (It wasn’t the pandemic that did it.)]
Bubba’s had been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Despite labor challenges and food shortages, Miller reopened the 30-year old restaurant four weeks ago with a brand new staff and a simplified menu.
You’ll still find chopped pork, brisket and St. Louis-style ribs. Among the changes customers will find are food packaged to go and self-service drinks, although diners are welcome to stay to eat. Options include family-sized Q for a crowd to take home, or meal deals with a choice of barbecue, plus two sides and hush puppies.
Bacon broccoli salad and mac and cheese are new additions to the menu, and now there’s only one dessert: the fan-favorite banana pudding.
Original memorabilia still adorns the walls, including photos of customers in trademark Bubba Shirts.
Bubba’s Barbecue
Location: 4400 Sunset Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216
Neighborhood: Slater Road/Hamilton
Cuisine: Barbecue
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
