WILMINGTON — It’s the brisket that’s catching the taste buds of most first-time diners to Heritage BBQ, a new smokehouse restaurant that opened May 9 in Monkey Junction, near adjacent to the Walmart Shopping Center. Owner Brandon McCallon said he is cooking six or seven whole briskets daily.
“I would say it’s about what 70% of customers are ordering,” McCallon added, noting the key is giving it a good trim so it’s not too fatty and not too dry, but also coating it in salt, pepper, garlic and a few other seasonings. “Then we take the trim and make it into homemade sausage and hot dogs or ground beef for our chili.”
Heritage BBQ taps into McCallon’s passion for smoking meats, but is also backed by a lifelong career in the restaurant industry. McCallon has operated Planet Smoothies in Wilmington since 2011 and still owns a location on Carolina Beach Road. He’s worked in the industry since he was a teenager.
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“It’s the fast pace of restaurants that I like,” he said, noting he went into the smoothie business after he and his sister wanted to move to the area from Greensboro and settled on opening the smoothie franchise, thinking it would be a good fit.
And it was.
Around the same time of relocation, McCallon bought a smoker and began toying with variations of cooking meat. He had first fallen in love with smoked brisket during a family trip to Texarkana when he was 16.
“And on the way we stopped in Nashville and I fell in love with the ribs there,” he said. “And I just developed a skill for it — though brisket is more challenging.”
As such, Heritage BBQ features flavors from multiple regions, including North Carolina barbecue, cooked over hickory and pecan wood. McCallon tempers the Boston butts for 11 hours, the brisket for up to 15 hours, and ribs up to four hours. Chicken quarters cook hot and fast to maintain that crispy skin, and he handmakes sausages and just began creating his own hot dogs as well.
They also sell burnt ends and pork belly, as well as barbecue nachos and stuffed cream cheese and bacon-wrapped jalapenos. He and his wife, Madison, created typical barbecue sides: mac and cheese, coleslaw, beans, and banana pudding.
McCallon said he planned to open the restaurant at the intersection of Shipyard Boulevard and South College Road but the lease on the location fell through earlier this year. His realtor pointed him in the direction of the former Monkey Junction Smokehouse, closed by Troy Knight, and outfitted with needed equipment.
So far, Heritage BBQ has been well-received with upward of 75 transactions a day, which comes out to roughly 160 people, served between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. most days, but the eatery is open later until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. McCallon fires up the smoker daily at 6 a.m. and attests Heritage BBQ’s popularity so far to the high quality of product he and his 10-deep team members put out on a daily basis.
Also he didn’t expect third-party delivery apps to make up around 25% of business. Normally third-party deliveries charge restaurants 30% of revenue, which is why restaurants often increase prices through the apps to make up for the loss. However, McCallon said he takes a hit of 5% as to not pass it all to the customer.
“The way I see it, I’m creating return customers,” he said, noting so far in recent daily transitions he’s seeing a 50/50 breakdown of new and repeat diners.
Menu items are priced anywhere from $3.99 sides to $38.99 for the sampler platter which comes with most meats and two sides. There are also sandwiches and smaller platters available.
Currently, McCallon is also devising a catering menu and wants to launch Heritage BBQ as a food truck to spread the flavor throughout other areas of the region.
“I’m going to try to get a truck within the next year,” he said. “I’d also like to start doing competitions. I have a huge smoker in my back yard from one of the best fabricators in the country to launch the catering wing and competitions. But for now, I’m working 95 hours a week.”
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