Family feuds and naming confusion aside, Greenville Parker’s Barbecue is a great place to bring family to experience eastern North Carolina style barbecue. Truly a no-frills establishment that focuses on good traditional food and a sense of community. Stop in and enjoy some simple pleasures in life.
Wait I Thought It Was Over There?
Parker’s Barbecue has a few locations between Greenville and Wilson. At the time of writing there are 3 locations in Greenville. We went to one of the older locations in Greenville off of Memorial Drive. We will write about the other locations as we get the opportunity. Normally I shy away from anything with multiple locations but Parker’s seems to still be a local phenomenon.
Two Parkers Barbecues
One thing I realized while initially researching this article is there are two different Parkers Barbecue restaurant groups. No, I am not referring to their multiple locations but there are two separate sets of eastern BBQ restaurants owned by two different parts of the same Parker Family that both sport the exactly same name but are not affiliated. The original was established in 1946 in Wilson while the second was established in 1971 in Greenville. For sake of simplicity, we will refer to the Original Wilson location as “Original Parkers Barbecue” and the one that started in Greenville as just “Greenville Parkers Barbecue”.
This appears to be the root of some family disagreement that I am sure a book could be written about. Original Parkers Barbecue was established by two brothers in the 1940’s. A 3rd brother and his son established the Greenville Parker’s Barbecue int the 1970’s. I have a feeling that the decision to not link the restaurants while still bearing the same name was the topic of many a thanksgiving of the Parker’s Family.
If you know more about the Parker’s Vs Parker’s story, please reach out. We would love to know more. For this article we will only be talking about the Greenville Parker’s
Memorial Dr Location (Store #1)
Is This a Dealership?
The very larger parking area of this location is hard to miss. Right off of Memorial Drive in Greenville, just look for the simple yet iconic sign. I was confused as to why this place needed such a big parking lot but after visiting I completely understand. The main entrance is also easily identified by the large overhang and additional “Parker’s” sign. A wheelchair ramp is incorporated into the front entrance nicely.
I have to admit this location looks similar to the Wilson Parker’s Barbecue location.
Vintage 1971
I expected to order at the counter and sit down after we got our food but was pleasantly surprised to find they do table service at this location. The building appears to have had few improvement made to it since it was opened but this suites the historic aura of this location. The simple furnishings are not intended to inspire but to just serve their function. Everything was well maintained and clean without exception.
We came for dinner on a weekday so the place was not very busy. All the same, we could see that there are significant additional seating areas to either side of the front area. As long as there is enough staff, I would be surprised if you can not find a seat here even on busy days.
The staff was very kid friendly and played into some of Madilyn’s silliness while we visited. I could easily see us bringing friends and or family here for a big meal.
Greenville Blvd Location (Store #2)
Coming Soon!
Arlington Blvd Location (Store #3)
We have not been here yet but this is the ONLY location with a drive through currently.
More Coming Soon!
Greenville’s Barbecue Menu of Choice
If you’re not familiar with Eastern NC Barbecue, it is a whole-hog style of Pork barbecue. Some referred to it as using everything on hog but the squeal. Sauces are vinegar based with no tomatoes used whatsoever.
To be upfront, a lot of people who are not local to Eastern NC are turn off by the vinegar based sauces. Greenville Parker’s takes a good approach to this by providing their home-made traditional vinegar sauce on the table. I found the barbecue entirely enjoyable without any sauce at all. If you like the sauce, you can add as much as you like (I also really liked their sauce). This was actually Madilyn’s first barbecue experience ever and she loved it.
Greenville Parker’s has a fair variety of food for a barbecue restaurant in general. They offer dinner plate options and also the lighter “tray” option. I found the most interesting option to be the family style option. If the entire table orders the family styles they serve the food as such. They do not allow for take out trays if you do it this way so I am assuming you get more food rather than just ordering normally. I was absolutely stuffed with just a barbecue dinner plate. I am not fan of coleslaw anywhere so I can not offer a fair opinion of theirs, though I did try it.
Something I have not seen on many other menus is the “Bulk” menu. Basically you can order multiple different items by the pound if you have a very big event. The entire culture of whole hog barbecue is community with friends and family. By offering these options for family style and bulk ordering, Greenville Parker’s fulfills this part of the tradition.
Overall
The Greenville Parker’s Barbecue restaurants are well kept local gems that preach the eastern NC Barbecue gospel to masses 7 days a week. If you are looking for a great example of whole-hog barbecue, this needs to be on your list. Truly a no-frills establishment that focuses on good traditional food and a sense of community. Stop in and enjoy some simple pleasures in life.
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