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Cooper's BBQ

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vampirefan
vampirefan
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
7
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Mmmm Good Q at Cooper's

  • November 8, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by vampirefan from Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina
Mmmm Good Q at Cooper's



When I was making our plans for trip, I actually didn’t make plans when we were in Raleigh. I knew that the Segway tour was in the City Market area and knew there were places to eat there. So we decide to wing it and wait until we arrived. When we got out of the truck and we noticed Cooper’s BBQ on a building.

For 70 years now Cooper’s has been serving Eastern style NC to the citizens of Raleigh. Eastern style BBQ (in case you haven’t read any of BBQ dissertations) is a vinegar based BBQ compared to the thick sweet tomatoes based BBQ of Western NC BBQ. And while the area around Cooper’s BBQ is growing and high rises are springing up everywhere, Cooper’s remains the same.

Like most of BBQ joints, the main focus of this place is good ole’ Q. There is BBQ pork and chicken. You can get it as a sandwich or plate. You can get the pork chopped or sliced. But true BBQ coinsures only eat it chopped.

John goes for a plate which includes fries and slaw. I go for the sandwich and a cup of Brunswick stew. Brunswick stew is a thick soup (kinda like Rachael Ray’s stoup) with a mixture of several meats and veggies and oh so good. The meal comes with pork skins, but I gladly let John have the basket. The slaw here is your typical may based and not BBQ slaw. It doesn’t take long before our meal comes out and oh my goodness. Mine and John's conversation stopped immediately and we sounded more like a pack of lions devouring their dinner.

I imagine this building has been here since 1938 as well. The inside isn’t fanciful, but as I have mentioned before, BBQ joints rarely are. We really aren’t here for décor. The place is kinda on the small side with a counter seating on one side and booths and tables on the other. Our service wasn’t the best, which is unusual in one of these places. Our waitress never gave her name and seemed very young and inexperienced. Most likely her first job. At one point she comes over and asks us if we need anything else because her shift is over! Overall our experience was still a great one.

They do have catering here and plenty of writes up from magazines and newspapers including the Yankee paper, The New York Times . The restaurant is in the downtown area and close by the City Market. There is parking in the paid lot around the corner and some limited on street parking. They are open from 10 to 6 pm and closed on Sunday. Prices are low and portions are generous. It was less than $15 for us both.

After your Segway tour you will need some energy to make it through the day and Coopers is the place to go.


From journal Where to Sleep and Get Brews & BBQ in Durham

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