Local barbecue from the Krazy Karpenter in Goose Creek

Krazy Karpenter BBQ is located in the old Lionel Willis country store on Neuse Road, just before the fork in the road, where it splits to go to Kennels Beach or continue to Arapahoe. The building once transitioned to a church and is now county’s newest barbecue joint. The restaurant is owned by Hugh and Judy Barnes.

This is good ol’ Eastern North Carolina barbecue—the kind with iconic vinegar-based red chili flake floating sauce. The kind that people like me continue to talk about after eating.

Hugh usually reserves his smile for barbecue talk. He is a tall man, with a gentle giant persona, wearing a black apron with ingredients off today’s menu gently rubbed into it. Instead of the smell of  cologne, Hugh’s aroma is that of smoke from the finest barbecue pits around.

The restaurant is the only one in Goose Creek, where there is no other restaurant in sight.

“There is good traffic that comes by here in the summer due to the camps in the area,” he told me, explaining why he feels his location is prime, despite its seeming isolation. During hunting season, too, hunters grab a quick bite and talk about their adventures. The rest of the year he relies on the locals in the area.

“The wife and I were riding around, heading home,” he said. “We live right down the road there. We noticed the place was for sale. I looked at my wife and told her we should buy it and open up a barbecue joint.”

That is exactly what they did.

Like a lot of other county locals, Hugh Barnes retired from the sulfate plant, Nutrien, after almost 31 years.  As a retiree, he was ready for what he calls his next “Krazy” adventure. He began fixing and raising houses to earn the money to pay for that adventure., and before long became known as the “Krazy Karpenter” who then opened a barbecue joint in the middle of nowhere. And that is how Krazy Karpenter BBQ got its name.

But the transition was not quick— the process took about three years to complete. Once he found the storefront, Barnes and his family stripped it down to its bare bones and rewired it. They started with the kitchen first because, Barnes explained, the kitchen is the heart of what makes everything else successful. He worked with the building and health inspectors to make sure things were done right. He said they made it tough, but they were ultimately a huge help in getting it to open.

They officially opened on May 5, 2024. Today, you can find Hugh Barnes behind the front counter, surrounded by that classically done woodwork. Knotty pine tongue and groove planks cover the upper half of the walls with brilliant shine keeping the natural look of the wood. A galvanized tin covers the bottom half of the wall, giving it that down home feel. Barnes, as a carpenter by trade, did the work himself, but he and Judy decorated the place together, with vintage tools, canisters, and even a classic water jug.

Barnes’s mom taught him how to cook (with help from the Boy Scouts, he noted), but it wasn’t until the last ten years that he began honing his skills in barbecue. Feeling that learning on his own would not be enough, Barnes decided to go to barbecue school. Not just any barbecue school— he attended Myron Mixen’s barbecue school in Unudilla, Georgia. Mixen is a five-time world barbecue champion, barbecue Hall of Famer, and has the most competition wins of any other man in barbecue. He is a barbecue legend in the culinary world..

Having learned from one of the best, Barnes, like any great barbecue cook, holds his recipes and secrets close and won’t divulge what’s in his classic vinegar sauce, or any of the other sauces he makes available. But, he said, he uses pits that he designed using masonry pits with steel grates and hoods, and  his process continues to improve.  As it does, he said, he continues to work on new items.

If you plan on visiting, it's good to know Barnes’s favorites on the menu are his butts and chicken leg quarters. He does whole hog barbecue but when prices are down he buys butts. He mentioned it's all cooked on open coals with pecan, oak, and hickory, also ingredients widely considered the best among barbecue chefs, which accounts for that smoky aroma that greeted me upon our introduction.

For those with a sweet tooth, the Pig Pickin’ Cake is a moist dessert with whipped frosting and mandarin oranges on top. And on Friday and Saturday mornings, they also have homemade buttermilk biscuits. A nod to the building’s rich history, his menu is that of a classic BBQ joint in style, with desserts that are church homecoming favorites.

Krazy Karpenter BBQ is located at 7282 Neuse Rd. Grantsboro, NC.   252-249-0351

Hours: Friday and Saturday 11:30 to 6:30 

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