If you live in, or reasonably near, Randleman, North Carolina, head to Blue Mist Barbecue at 319 West Academy Street. (There is a sister Blue Mist on Highway 64 East in Asheboro, NC.) The business was established in 1948. Jeff and Robin Clifton continue the tradition of serving good country cooking and pit-cooked barbecue. On our recent visit there my husband Henry and I each had a BBQ sandwich with slaw. We opted for the chopped pork, served on a hamburger bun ($3.00, or $3.25 with sliced pork). The barbecue was excellent — not as smoky as some — more like pork roast, and fairly lean.
The coleslaw was a nice surprise. It consisted basically of finely chopped raw cabbage and vinegar. The attention-getting tang was a suitable contrast to the heavier pork flavor. I'd say that a person of German heritage developed the recipe, as it was more akin to sauerkraut….
The restaurant menu offers many kinds of sandwiches, salads, daily lunch specials, dinners, etc. Our son Jonathan ordered the Blue Mist Club sandwich on whole wheat bread. The he-man $3.99 sandwich boasted hearty, thick slices of roasted pork, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
Our daughter Sarah chose the homemade pimento cheese sandwich ($1.99), which was served toasted. The flavor of the pimento cheese was delicate and pleasing, “ten times better than commercial pimento cheese,” according to Sarah.
She also ordered a slice of the pecan pie, and all of us sampled it. It had a tender, thicker-than-usual crust. To me the pie filling tasted like a pleasing old-fashioned brown sugar pie (with some pecans on the surface). Our sweet waitress Heather said that the pie was made at a local bakery, and is like the pecan pies that she is used to eating at home and elsewhere around there.
Blue Mist is the sort of restaurant a community needs. Reasonable prices, a varied menu, pleasant service, and casual and interesting decor, make it a place locals can frequent and travelers can enjoy. (The Richard Petty Museum is located in Randleman.)
Chopped pork barbecue sandwich.
Pimento cheese sandwich.
Blue Mist Club sandwich.
Pecan Pie.
Fun old signage.
Copyright © 2006 Patricia B. Mitchell.