BULLOCK'S BBQ
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This website is no longer being maintained - please see the entry (with any new comments) at this website's successor, Open Durham:
Bullock's (on Open Durham)
Bullock's, 04.08.09.
No, Bullock's isn't in a particularly old building, or an otherwise striking piece of Durham architecture, but, as far as I can tell, it is the oldest continually-operated restaurant in Durham, and a core element of what makes Durham Durham.
Bullock's started around 1943 when Glen Bullock, who cut grass for the City of Durham, started cooking pigs on the weekend in a cooker behind his home at 611 South Alston Avenue. Glen would take the barbeque around to neighbors, giving them a free sample, and inviting them to order more from him for 35 cents a pound.
The former site of 611 South Alston Avenue, birthplace of Bullock's - now a parking lot., 04.08.09.
And order they did. Glen started by cooking one pig a week, and was soon up to two. The Bullocks had no refrigeration that could handle the increasing number of pigs, so Glen would take the 'dressed' pigs he would purchase from the butcher to City Cold Storage on Blackwell St., and remove them as he needed them to cook on the weekends. Glen's wife and son Tommy were soon helping, going door to door, taking orders and delivering barbeque; people would also come to their house to get barbeque.
By the late 1940s, the Bullocks had gotten permission to build a stand beside their house on South Alston Avenue; Tommy Bullock remembers building the stand with his father.
In 1952, they rented a building out on Highway 70 (Hillsborough Road) near Cole Mill Road, which became the first Bullock's Restaurant. Mrs. Bullock ran the restaurant, getting up at 4am to arrive at the restaurant at 5am. The Bullocks moved from South Alston to East Main St., then Rogers St. near Driver. By 1954, Glen Alston had joined his wife at the restaurant, and they cooked pigs at that location. By the 1960s, the Bullocks had moved their home out to Lasalle St. near Hillsborough.
Site of the 1950s-1960s era Bullock's, now Morgan Mitsubishi, 04.08.09.
Tommy began running the restaurant around 1965. He says that the location near Cole Mill Road was in need of repairs, which the landlord would perform. "The electric system couldn't handle the load," he says. "The lights would go out in the middle of dinner."
The Bullocks purchased land near their house at auction in 1968, and built a new Bullock's Restaurant there in 1970.
Bullock's remains a pillar of Durham today - per Tommy, the food hasn't changed much since the 1950s, and he prides himself on using fresh ingredients and making things the old-fashioned way - where a Brunswick Stew takes hours to cook. Food is served family-style, and the entryway is lined with photographs of the many interesting people that have passed through.
There are few places in Durham that can be enjoyed and experienced by multiple generations; places that provide some continuity between the Durham of the mid-20th century and the Durham of today, despite the myriad changes - good and bad - that have occurred in-between. Bullock's is one of those very few places.
Find this spot on a Google Map.
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17 comments:
When Bullocks was on 70, back in 1971, Mom and I used to go there for supper on Wednesday nights, after swim work-outs at Duke.
Now, I don't like to open this can of worms, but anyone who knows about Barbecue knows that once they stopped cookin' that hog over a wood fired pit, it stopped being barbecue worth eating. Allen and Son is the only place in the area that still cooks barbecue the old fashioned way. I'm a little surprised that you, as someone interested in history, didn't mention that. You're not from around here are you :)
Anyone who knows about barbecue should know that there is one and only one way to cook barbecue and that way shall never change until the end of time. That is, unless you move a couple miles over, and then it's a slightly different one and only one way to cook barbecue that shall never change until the end of time.
Allen and Son still has the best barbecue in shufflin' distance, but anyone who says Bullocks isn't worth eating, well, it's Easter Sunday. I best be kind.
Coming to Duke from California next weekend for my reunion. Was already on my list of "to-do's" but thanks for the historical write-up Gary!
Anon
Now, I'll spar all day on historic buildings, but you aren't going to draw me into a fight over what constitutes good barbeque.
GK
I've long told my spouse that even North Carolinians who can calmly differ on politics, religion, and basketball will come to blows over BBQ. (I did have to teach him that it is always a noun and refers to pig. Poor misguided soul spent too much time in Texas and thought it could be a verb and include other meats.)
I'll just say that, IMHO, the last few times I ate at Bullock's (in the 80s) it just wasn't the same, and that made me very sad.
Great post, though, Gary. My folks bought que from them from the early 50s. We were practically teethed on their hushpuppies. Definitely a piece of Durham food history.
Allen and Sons is way overrated and way overpriced.
You might also bit into some charred bits of Q when munch on it which I did not find all that pleasant
Bullocks might have changed but there is still a line out the door
I can't help but find this (architecture & food) so incredibly similar. Is it all aesthetics? Some find the old buildings tired, dirty, overly nostalgic. Some don't like the authentic bits of real char that comes from hand stoked hard wood fires. To each his own? Or, is there some truth in the slow, organic, grow your own food movement. Seriously, Gary, look a little deeper. Why did Bullocks, and almost all others, switch away from wood fired BBQ pits? Ease, convience, maintenance. Some of the reasons why people want to knock down and build new? Did BBQ resturaunt owners want to serve more people? make more money? have a more consistent product? Do modern materials allow cheaper construction, a more consistent product? I'm glad Bullocks has been locally owned and operated for so many years, but is it a model to promote?
Anon
Honestly, I don't know enough about it to make the "deeper" assessment you refer to. So it may be very valid, but I'm not a bbq expert. Superficially, Bullock's appears to provide a similar experience now to what it provided ~30 years ago, and maybe that's not true. It may or may not be authentic, or a model restaurant - I don't know. But I do know that, to Jessica T's comment above, there are very few multigenerational restaurants in Durham, and Bullock's is definitely one of them. Did the Little Acorn, the Palms, Amos and Andy, King's, AB Morris, Parker's, etc., die because of changes in patience and product, or because they were located in old buildings where their customer base wouldn't go anymore after they fled to North Durham? I tend to think the latter, because I know a lot more about buildings, landscape, and historical movement of demographic groups than I do about bbq. Bullock's, and those old buildings, are the meager threads that tie us to what Durham was 50+ years ago - that's my only point. We have a wave of restaurants from the 1980s onward that are still going strong, but so very few that actually cross our very own C-T extinction event, the 1960s.
GK
I'd suggest that anyone interested in learning more about traditional NC BBQ head on out to Hillsborough's Hog Day on June 19,20, and 21.
I don't think there is any one reason for why there aren't more older restaurants (in most cities, not just in Durham.) It's an extremely demanding business, one that someone who grew up in it often doesn't want any part of after watching their parents work so hard -- there are easier ways to make more money. There's shifting of population bases with the discretionary income to the ‘burbs. There's that it's hard to compete against the chains with their bigger marketing/ad budgets, volume, better buying power, etc. Eating out used to be a special event; now it’s almost a daily thing. You'd think that would translate to more profits for the restaurants, but not when the expectation becomes “Where can we eat the most food for the least money?” The likes of Cracker Barrel and Golden Corral have the volume and buying power to serve a lot of food cheap; mom and pop don't. And places like Applebee's depend on their bar to make the profit margins work.
But I think when you look at why some independents do survive for many years, you have to consider the human element. Bullocks may not have "the" best BBQ anymore, but the Bullocks have always been gracious hosts who were hands-on with their business. They understood that people respond positively to sincere hospitality and a strong work ethic. They, and their staff, made it a point to recognize their customers, call them by name, make them fell welcome. It’s not always about only the food.
Cool post!
I always thought the used car place at the intersection where Neal Road (?) splits off of 70/Hillsborough Road (next to the RR trestle) was the original Bullock's?
And, several years ago, UNC folklore students (including myself) did several "studies" (yes, it did include eating lots of bbq!) on families/individuals creating "neo BBQ," comparing it to old school (i.e. wood-cooked) BBQ. Some pretty interesting stuff...
Not to feed (no pun intended) the debate, but Allen and Sons (the north of Chapel Hill location) does have the very best (and authentic, according to historic NC BBQ "standards") BBQ in this immediate area that has been operating for awhile... even if it is a bit pricier compared to other wood-cooking-BBQ-ers further west and east. Gas and electric just don't cut it compared to hickory! There are a few small-timers, though, that are doing it right. They're just tough to find and usually don't sell what they create commercially.
Even if Bullocks gave up on their BBQ many years ago, their food and service is darn good...
Allen & Sons, Bullocks, Dillards, &, heck, the Q Shack all turn out darn good pig.
Each of the four have their pluses and minuses. It's purely personal preference. For me, Allen & Sons will move higher up my list the day they increase their focus on quality control. A man can only tolerate so many grizzly bits in his que.
On an unrelated note, Gary, how about noting the names of current businesses on historic sites? I noticed you referenced, "now the site of a Mitsubishi dealership." Actually that is Morgan Mitsubishi (a family owned business?). I see that in your historical perspectives you almost always note the actual business name of former occupants of a building -- rarely current ones unless they are somehow arbitrarily worthy of praise.
Good point, Tar Heelz - no agenda there, just focused more on the historic stuff, but I should be specific about what is there now for 'future history'. I've updated the post.
GK
For the record, Bullock's doesn't take criticism very well -- they threatened legal action (for libel) against one reviewer for posting a negative review. See details--including the threatening letter from Bullock's lawyer here: http://hkentcraig.com/BBQ1.html
i don't think i'll eat there again.
Chopped Q, a breast and a bowl of brisket plus baked beans for $8.45 out the door with a full meal worth of leftovers? I've been eating there since 1980, and it's still the same as ever...Now if only Parker's on the other side of town was still in business....
Adding to what Tar Heelz said about referencing current sites, the parking lot that was the original site of Bullock's BBQ belongs to my church, Russell Memorial CME Church (official address: 703 S Alston Ave).
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