Southern Q Barbecue Opens in Louisburg, North Carolina Behind Tar Banks Brewing
Some folks spend their whole lives dreaming about the thing they wished they’d done.
And then there are folks like Mat Griner.
Back in 2017, Mat walked away from a steady paycheck after 23 years working at a Caterpillar dealership. Good job. Reliable job. The kind of job your family tells you not to leave.
And he left it anyway.
Not because he had investors.
Not because he had some fancy restaurant waiting on him.
He left because somewhere deep down in Eastern North Carolina, between wood smoke and vinegar sauce, he believed barbecue could build a life.
So he started Southern Q.
At the time, he didn’t even have a single catering booking lined up.
Now most sensible people would call that risky.
But around here, sometimes faith smells like hickory smoke.
Mat grew up on Eastern North Carolina barbecue. The real kind. Whole hog cooked low and slow over wood until the smoke settles down into the meat like a family secret. Vinegar sauce sharp enough to wake you up and honest enough not to hide behind sugar.
The kind of barbecue that doesn’t need introductions because it already knows who it is.
He started competing professionally in 2012 and before long found himself cooking alongside some of the biggest names in barbecue. He became part of Myron Mixon’s world championship team at Memphis in May. Cooked with Jack’s Old South. Joined elite competition groups like Q Pine Nation.
You might know him from Discovery’s Moonshiners TV show, where Mat brought a little Eastern North Carolina Whole Hog and tradition to a national television audience.
But if you talk to folks around these parts, they probably know him another way.
They know the food trailer.
Because in 2020 when the world went wonky and catering jobs disappeared overnight, Southern Q didn’t fold up.
It pivoted.
Mat fired up the trailer and kept cooking.
And somewhere between those long nights, roadside stops, and smoke rolling through small North Carolina towns, people started lining up.
Top 5 BBQ.
Top 5 food truck.
Awards piled up.
But barbecue was never really the point.
Not completely.
Because the glow from that barbecue truck started pulling folks in like moths to a front porch light after church, ballgames and long weeks.
And now, behind Tar Banks Brewing in Louisburg, Southern Q is opening its very first brick-and-mortar restaurant, made of sweat and tears, from steel-and-aluminum.
A permanent home.
And maybe that means a little more in a small town.
Because every downtown needs people willing to bet on it.
Needs folks crazy enough to believe in what others can’t see.
Needs the smell of smoke drifting through the evening air while neighbors sit around talking about everything and nothing.
And somewhere tonight in Louisburg, North Carolina, there’s probably smoke rolling through the dark from a pit behind a brewery.
And a man who once walked away from security is finally opening the doors to something he built with his own two hands.
MEATS: Brisket, Bacon Brisket (Pork Belly), Baby Back Ribs, Pulled Pork & Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage
SIDES: Peach Baked Beans, Cheesy Corn, Sweet Potato Casserole & Homemade Slaw
Southern Q 🐖 (Behind Tar Banks Brewing) 🍺
Wednesday thru Friday 4pm till 8pm ⏰
108 N Main St, Louisburg, NC 27549 📍
