Longtime Owner, The Barbecue Center
Sonny Conrad
The Barbecue CenterLexington, North Carolina
“Keep it in the family and keep it over the wood.”
Signature Dish:Chopped pork shoulder tray with red slaw
Sonny Conrad bought The Barbecue Center in 1967 and turned the former dairy-and-ice-cream stand into one of Lexington's enduring wood-fired pits. A recognized barbecue icon, he was one of the restaurateurs who helped start the Lexington Barbecue Festival, now the state's largest one-day event. He continued cooking until his death from polymyositis at 75, and his sons Michael and Cecil took over the family business in 2013, keeping three generations at work in the restaurant.
Philosophy
Barbecue is a family business, cooked over wood and served with a smile.
Technique
Pork shoulders cooked over wood coals in the restaurant's brick pits.
Influences
The Swicegood-Weaver Lexington tent tradition