Skylight Inn BBQ

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Skylight Inn BBQ
Restaurant information
EstablishedJuly 8, 1947 (1947-07-08)
OwnerJones family
Food type Eastern North Carolina barbecue
Location4618 S Lee St., Ayden, North Carolina

Skylight Inn BBQ is a barbecue restaurant in Ayden, North Carolina. Founded by Pete Jones in 1947, it specializes in whole hog barbecue.

Contents

Description

The restaurant is a brick building with a metal roof. The roof is topped by a wood and aluminum replica of the United States Capitol. [1] The Capitol replica was added to the restaurant in 1984, after a 1979 article in National Geographic declared the restaurant "the barbecue capital of the world". [2] Outside of the restaurant is a wooden billboard with a portrait of the restaurant's founder Pete Jones and the four tenets of the restaurant. [3] The tenets are that the restaurant is the barbecue capital of the world, that the men of the Jones family are its founders and statesmen, that they uphold a tradition dating to 1830, and that barbecue must be cooked with wood. [1]

The restaurant specializes in Eastern North Carolina style whole hog barbecue. [4] The majority of its hogs are purchased from meat processors in Ayden. [5] Unlike many restaurants, the Skylight Inn smokes its hogs with heads still attached. [6] The meat is dressed with vinegar, salt, pepper, and Texas Pete hot sauce. [7] The restaurant is known for smoking its meat over charcoals made by burning wood logs in nearby fireplaces. [8] It uses hickory and oak wood for cooking. [9] The restaurant uses a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. [10] The smoked hog is chopped into pulled pork. The pork mixture includes tenderloin, inner meat, and crisped skin, [9] which adds a crunchy texture. [11] [8]

The pork is served as a barbecue sandwich on a white bread roll or as a tray with sides such as coleslaw and cornbread. [12] [11] The only type of bread served by the restaurant as a side is cornbread, made with stone-ground cornmeal, water and pork drippings. [13] The cornbread is known for being denser and chewier than traditional cornbread. [14] It also serves barbecue chicken. [8]

History

The restaurant was opened on July 8, 1947 [15] by eighteen year-old Pete Jones. [2] The restaurant was often colloquially called "Pete Jones' Barbecue" by locals. [12] Jones built the restaurant while working for his uncle Emmitt Dennis at the City Cafe where he prepared whole hog barbecue. Jones offered beer and a jukebox to help the restaurant stand out from other barbecue restaurants in Ayden at the time. It was open late into the night and became popular with couples and rowdy crowds. At one point, Jones considered building an adjoining dance hall before changing his mind. The restaurant stopped being a late night establishment after the town introduced a 7 pm curfew to stop local unrest. [15]

In 2003, the restaurant received a James Beard American Classic Award. [16] Pete Jones died in 2006. [12] The restaurant is owned by the Jones family. [17]

References

  1. 1 2 Fertel, Rien (2017-05-30). The One True Barbecue: Fire, Smoke, and the Pitmasters Who Cook the Whole Hog. Simon and Schuster. p. 36. ISBN   978-1-4767-9398-6.
  2. 1 2 Reed, John Shelton; Reed, Dale Volberg (2009-11-30). Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-0-8078-8971-8.
  3. ↑ Pollan, Michael (2013-04-23). Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. Penguin. p. 28. ISBN   978-1-101-60546-2.
  4. ↑ Symon, Michael; Trattner, Douglas (2018-04-03). Michael Symon's Playing with Fire: BBQ and More from the Grill, Smoker, and Fireplace: A Cookbook. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. p. 46. ISBN   978-0-8041-8658-2.
  5. ↑ Ferris, Marcie Cohen; Hysmith, Katherine (2022-03-10). Edible North Carolina: A Journey across a State of Flavor. UNC Press Books. p. 83. ISBN   978-1-4696-6780-5.
  6. ↑ Walsh, Robb (2013-06-06). Barbecue Crossroads: Notes & Recipes from a Southern Odyssey. Univ of TX + ORM. p. 197. ISBN   978-0-292-74589-6.
  7. ↑ "Traditional N.C. barbecue restaurant says simplicity is key". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  8. 1 2 3 "Eastern North Carolina BBQ at Skylight Inn". Texas Monthly. 2015-05-04. Archived from the original on 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  9. 1 2 Levine, Ed (2011-11-01). Serious Eats: A Comprehensive Guide to Making and Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are. Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony. p. 202. ISBN   978-0-307-95331-5.
  10. ↑ Monahan, Sherry (2023-10-03). Signature Dishes of America: Recipes and Culinary Treasures from Historic Hotels and Restaurants. Simon and Schuster. p. 96. ISBN   978-1-4930-7265-1.
  11. 1 2 Williams, Ingrid K. (2025-07-02). "Searching for the Real Thing on the North Carolina Barbecue Trail". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  12. 1 2 3 Hauser, Ethan. "I Hopped a Plane Just for a Barbecue Sandwich. I'd Do It Again". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  13. ↑ "This Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Landmark Has Been Serving Whole-Hog Barbecue And 2-Ingredient Cornbread For Nearly 80 Years". Southern Living. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  14. ↑ Jackson, Drew (June 14, 2024). "Why the most divisive cornbread in NC barbecue is never leaving the menu". The News&Observer.
  15. 1 2 Jones, Sam; Vaughn, Daniel (2019-05-07). Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbecue with Recipes from Skylight Inn and Sam Jones BBQ[A Cookbook]. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. pp. 15–16. ISBN   978-0-399-58133-5.
  16. ↑ Auchmutey, Jim (2019-06-01). Smokelore: A Short History of Barbecue in America. University of Georgia Press. pp. 30–31. ISBN   978-0-8203-3841-5.
  17. ↑ Fertel, Rien (2017-05-30). The One True Barbecue: Fire, Smoke, and the Pitmasters Who Cook the Whole Hog. Simon and Schuster. pp. 56–61. ISBN   978-1-4767-9398-6.

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