Big Ed's Chicken Pit

105 West Peachtree Drive, High Point, N.C.
This place has no web site!
Note: Cash only
Two Thumbs Up

Jon's Take
This is what I thought it would be like when I moved below the Mason-Dixon line. First, it's called Big Ed's Chicken Pit. Second, it lives up to the name.

Big Ed's Chicken Pit has a homey atmosphere and great food, and it's a great value. There are no frills here. The outside is pretty plain. The inside is all wooden and brick (real wood and brick, not paneling) and it's decorated with antique farming equipment, old photos, license plates, neon beer signs, and -- for good measure -- there's a stuffed rooster and a stuffed boar on the wall. There's also a covered deck but nobody was using it in the rainy weather.

To start with the value factor, I just have to say that Big Ed's offers $1.50 Miller High Lifes every night. Other domestics are just $2.25 and imports are $3.25...also a deal, but let's face it, why would anyone be ordering those when they could be livin' the high life for $1.50? By the way, this is not a bar at all. They only serve beverages with food orders. We started off the food order with Chili Cheese Fries ($5.49) and they were pretty solid.

Now let's get to the meal. This is probably the best barbecue I've ever had. I didn't grow up in the south, but I can't think of any barbecue I've had that was better than this. I ordered the half chicken with a roll and two sides for $7.79. There are few places, if any, in town that can match the quality and quantity for this price.

When I ordered, I thought I was just getting 'barbecue'. In the north it's just barbecue and I think it's usually just sauce out of a bottle from the supermarket. I wasn't prepared for the choices...first I faced "barbecue, buffalo or teriyaki?" I've never had the option of getting a half a chicken buffalo style. I ordered barbecue. Then another three choices: "mild, medium or hot?" I didn't know there would be any difference. I ordered hot. There was also a wide variety of sides; I ordered potato salad and hot chips. Another interlude from being a northerner...hot chips are so fantastic, why don't restaurants in the north make these? They are so great and just about every restaurant in North Carolina offers them. I also got a side of ranch for the chips (an extra $0.60, but the portion is diesel).

I found out what "hot" barbecue sauce was when I took my first bite of chicken. It's not hot like buffalo style, the only way I can think to explain it is that it has bite. If I had a stuffed up nose, I wouldn't have had it by the time I finished. The chicken was excellent and the potato salad and chips were also very high quality. The portions of each were very good. The best part of it, I paid for the appetizer and was still out of there for just 20 bucks. This is my kind of place.

The wait staff all works together, so the service is very fast and friendly. We were able to flag down one employee and asked a few questions. It turns out the Big Ed is just a mythical character...it just was the right type of name for a barbecue chicken place. They do have a chicken pit in the back though.

Jason's Take

Big Ed's Chicken Pit is nestled in a gravel parking lot in a nondescript building near the bowling alley on North Main Street.  Because it doesn't have any road frontage, there is a security company blocking the view of Main Street, it is what I consider on of the best kept secrets in High Point.  When you walk into the place you  enter an atmosphere that is best described as a mix between Cracker Barrel (because of all the stuff adorning the walls) or the kitchen of the family farm (with a few tables added).  The place is decorated with farm equipment and old pictures, as well as 2 neon beer signs and most importantly 3 magazine articles that the Chicken Pit has been featured in.  I don't read Southern Living or Our State Magazine but I know people who do.  If a restaurant is featured in this magazine, there is a good chance that restaurant has some good food.

The food at Big Ed's isn't just good.  It is dank!  Since I have been here quite a few times over the years I thought I would order something a little different in addition to the wings which I love.  So, along with the10 hot barbecue style wings (7.49), I ordered 1 hot dog all the way (1.99), and an ice cold Miller High Life (1.50).  The wings are cooked to order and always come hot.  Everyone has buffalo wings but no one on the planet has the sweet but spicy flavor of the sauce Big Ed's puts on its barbecue style wings.  The hot dog, my first at Big Ed's, was equally delicious.  The slaw was homemade and had a hint of celery seed just like mom's.  The weenie was all beef and was topped off with homemade chili, red onion, and mustard in addition to the slaw.  If the wings weren't so good I might just go to Ed's for the hot dog alone, which says a lot because I am a hot dog connoisseur.  After eating all of that I had no room for dessert.  But for the sake of review, I ordered a slice of cinnabun cake (4.50).  A slice is a huge understatement which is why the cake comes in a to-go box.  It was still a little warm when I got it and the slice is HUGE...probably a 5" by 5" piece of cake that is 3" tall...3/8" of that icing.  It is yellow cake with cinnamon swirls, iced with a thick glaze of cinnamon bun icing...this cake is good but I wasn't hungry so I took a bite and brought the rest home.

Big Ed's is family owned, has a family environment, "NO BEER SERVED WITHOUT FOOD" is clearly stated on the menu, and leaves you with a fully belly and the feeling that you just ate with a friend.  Big Ed's is dank food at a good value.  It's won't break the bank but you might break a toothpick or two getting the chicken out from between your teeth.  I highly recommend this hidden gem of High Point dining.