The Smoke Pit Opens Mooresville Location After Winning Best Barbecue Poll

The Smoke Pit threw open its doors on West Plaza Drive in Mooresville this Tuesday. People queued up a half-hour before the 11 a.m. start for what the eatery dubbed a training day.

The line snaked through the afternoon. At 2:30 p.m., most tables remained packed, social media manager Justin Sides told CharlotteFive.

"What an unbelievable response from the Town of Mooresville today during our training day!" the restaurant posted on Facebook around 3 p.m. "The support was incredible — we had to-go orders like 10 racks of ribs in one order and even a whole brisket in another. We sold out at a super fast pace!"

The eatery snagged top honors in the 2024 CharlotteFive Readers' Choice Best Barbecue poll. Co-owner Joey Graham launched this venture about 12 years back when he decided to leap from backyard grilling into running a restaurant he figured would empty its shelves by 2 p.m. each day, CharlotteFive reported.

This fresh spot brings the count to five across the Charlotte area. You'll find others in Concord, Gastonia, Monroe, and Salisbury.

Five smokers at each site can process 5,000 pounds of meat per day. Cooks heap plates so high that customers always head home with leftovers, CharlotteFive reported.

North Carolina-style pulled pork, Texas-style chopped brisket, and chicken rank among the proteins cooked at each site. Both styles show up on the menu.

The Mooresville spot now operates from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Management announced plans on Facebook to smoke even more meat after seeing how folks responded during training day.

Find the new place at 328 W. Plaza Drive., Mooresville, North Carolina, 28117.