Lucky. Wish I was going for 'cue in Nawth Ca’lina. I’d rather have that than Mary Brown’s.
That mustard heresy, as you call it, is the ONLY proper BBQ sauce, and I will fight to the death for it.
Off of I-85, take 153 (Easley/Anderson exit). Drive to the intersection of 153 and Highway 81/Anderson Road. Turn left on Anderson Road, and drive until you see Brushy Creek BBQ on your left. Thank me later.
Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone. I’ll see what fits into our schedule. Maybe I can convince the wife and family to try more than one on our way.
I feel like Allen & Son is not an ideal representative of Eastern NC 'cue, although it is good. Their pork is very, very smoky and not as vinegary. I actually prefer the vinegar flavor.
Not saying don’t go to A&S, but something to consider if you do.
OK.
Stone the heretic!!!
You really should. There is no food on earth so regionally variable as barbecue and you’ll get totally different thing in, say, the Piedmont versus anywhere in SC.
Bring it. 
This is absolutely true. BBQ is incredibly variable in style, and while I maintain (apparently to silenus and Maus Magill’s disgust) that mustard-based is THE BEST EVAR, there are other styles that are good. Not AS good, but good.
I agree that it isn’t pure Eastern BBQ, but only because I don’t think they cook the whole pig. If you don’t think it has enough vinegar, just add more of the vinegar sauce.
True Eastern NC barbecue is cooked over a hickory fire, which is exactly what they do there. It’s getting harder and harder to find places that still do that, which is why A&Sons is so special.
As a neutral party not from the Carolinas, I fully support mustard-based barbecue, and fail to understand why it illicits so much controversy. Actually, well, I do understand: it’s just the nature of barbecue to argue about everything.
Mustard and pork are made for each other.
Where are you starting from in Virginia?
Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill would be in my top five Eastern Carolina style BBQ joints. I have friends bring me back a quart 2-3 times a year when they travel. I make my own vinegar based sauce.
The great Western Carolina joints in the Greensboro/Lexington are good, if you like having that tomato based sauce. Good in a pinch. Their meat is great.
Just remember–slaw belongs on the BBQ.
I’m starting around Richmond then driving down the Interstate until Atlanta with a trip through Charlotte on the way.
The mustard BBQ is mostly in the central part of South Carolina. In the upper part of the state, Lexington-style is more common.
I asked because possibly the best BBQ in VA. is in Williamsburg, about 50 miles East. Equal to Western Carolina Q.
I grew up in the upper part of SC, and I can assure you that the mustard BBQ was at least as common, if not more, than the vinegar-based style.
I was wondering how in the hell somebody out in Denver, CO came to know about Brushy Creek BBQ.
I eat there every time I go back home