McKoy’s Smokehouse & Saloon

I used to really enjoy coming here when I lived in Charlotte. I don’t get back often, so I had to get some of their grilled wings to take back to MD during my recent visit for the game.
So after a 6 HR drive, I was super excited to get home and eat my wings, after all these are some of the best wings I’ve had in my life. How upset I was when I opened my to go box to find only six of the 12 wings I ordered. I had a split flavor order (barbalo and calypso), but only had the 6 barbalo.
I immediately called and asked to speak to the manager. Although she was nice, she almost sounded like she didn’t believe me. I gave her the check # and all. She kept reiterating so you ordered 12? Umm yea you see it on the ticket, and there isn’t even an option to order 6, at least I didn’t see one on the menu.
So she promises me the head manager will call me in a day or so. It was Monday, and today is Thursday, and I haven’t heard a word. It’s only $ 6 or so, but it’s the principle. I essentially paid almost $ 18 for 6 wings and pasta salad, and I gave the bartender a $ 2 tip. Had I known she was giving me half my order, I would’ve kept the tip. So $ 20 for 6 wings and pasta salad? Now while I’d agree it’s just as much my job to check my order to make sure it’s correct, it’s also their job to make sure they are giving you what you ordered.
While I used to love the wings, I definitely won’t be back here. If they do this to a couple customers a day, someone’s getting over. Definitely NOT the McKoy’s I was used to when I lived in Charlotte.

I have been to a lot of places but these people are the true definition of Southern hospitality food was amazing thanks for making a out of towner feel welcome

This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to McKoys Smokehouse & Saloon located right off of I-​77 in south Charlotte, NC.
This smokehouse, with both indoor and outdoor seating, reminds me of what a local BBQ joint should look like with wood interior, BBQ paraphernalia on the wall, and loads of TV’s.
We chose to share the Living the Dream (LTD) platter, a combination of ribs, pork, pot roast, and smoked BBQ chicken with sides of mac n’ cheese and fried okra. The St. Louis style ribs were great, not fall off the bone as most BBQ restaurants serve, but with a little pull after the bite like KCBS competition ribs. The smoked pot roast was different, something I’ve never eaten.
Dora here. While we were contemplating the menu, I remember commenting that I wished they offered a combo minus the pot roast. But, no matter. I gobbled the pot roast down first! :) And look at that crusty bark on the mac & cheese! Yummy! I’m really not a fan of okra, but their crispy vegies won me over. (Sorry, no pic.) Even with two of us eating off this plate, we still brought home a leftover container with enough meat to make a pot of chili. Sa-​weet! ~Ernie & Dora Hiers, Fiction Faith & Foodies Blog

Our first BBQ meal in Charlotte. The place is surrounded by TVs so chances are, your game will be on. The portion of food you get is enormous so order conservatively. Waitstaff was very nice and helpful.
Full Disclosure: not an extreme fan of BBQ so my review may be bias
A-​: Smoked Wings (buffalo sauce) — you can definitely taste the smokiness, buffalo sauce was okay, good with ranch
B: Living the Dream (LTD) — a sample of pull-​pork, pot roast, chicken and ribs — NOTE: this is more than enough for 2 ppl to share. Pull-​pork was nicely cooked, chicken was smoked but little on the dry side. Ribs and pot roast was ok. You get 2 types of bbq sauce, a vinegar base and sugary one.
A+: Fried squash — thinly cut and heavily breaded. LOVED it! Was still good as leftovers
A-​: Coconut pie — very coconutty. Freshly made, just a little too sweet for my taste.
Overall, a good experience. Do recommend for out of towners!

We were headed back to Toronto on a super long drive back from Florida and this little BBQ spot popped up on Unilocal very close to the highway.
We decided to do take out and eat in the car, as all of our worldly belongings were stuffed in the trunk and backseat (the neighborhood didn’t look super friendly at night if you catch my drift).
Bae and I split the large pulled pork sandwich with a side of mac n cheese and an order of fries. Bud the bartender sent us a little care package with two of their BBQ sauces, one vinegar based and the other more classic style — both were so so good but my fave was the vinegar based one.
The pulled pork itself was a huge portion, super tender and moist with no fatty bits, so delicious. The toasted bun was perfectly piled high with the yummy meat and the little bit of coleslaw added a great crunch to the sandwich.
Wish I knew they had homemade peanut butter pie before we left as I would have definitely opted for a slice for the way home ;)
Would absolutely return when in the area again!

Pretty OK selection of beer bottles and draught which is what I was after. The whole family really lived the smoked wings. They were meaty and delicious!
I also had the pork sandwich — great meat and slaw wasn’t overpowering. The sauces are at the table but weren’t as good as I would expect for a BBQ joint but they weren’t bad by any means.
Other positives: actual Mac & cheese, a sizable pile of fried okra as a side, meaty tenders for the kids (they all left full) and touchtunes!

I have driven by this place hundreds of times over the years and finally decided to try it. On the recommendation of my server I ordered the pulled pork plate with a side salad, mac ‘n’ cheese and dinner roll.
Salad was unremarkable — not much room for creativity in that area. Mac ‘n’ cheese was tasty and a good-​sized portion, but the pork was unremarkable. The menu made a big deal of it being smoked over pecan wood, but to me it didn’t taste very smoky and it was kind of greasy. Two kinds of sauce are offered — the traditional Eastern Carolina vinegar style, which didn’t have much tang and a tomato-​based version which tasted like nothing more than ketchup. Dinner roll was dense as if it had too much flour.
There are great places to go for BBQ in Charlotte. To me, McKoy’s ain’t one of ‘em.

I have had two outstanding entrees here-​Shrimp Grits and their Chicken Wings. I had my wings Buffalo Hot. They are smoked first, then grilled. They are very large, moist, and super tasty (and NOT deep fried). Those Shrimp Grits taste great and I couldn’t believe how many large shrimp were in my bowl.
Tonight I had the smoked half chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans. Very good, not outstanding.
Check this place out for yourself!

I’m working in Charlotte this week so I turned to Unilocal for gastronomical guidance. At first glance, McKoy’s nothing fancy. I drove by it and didn’t notice it as they’re tucked in behind a gas station. The building is relatively large, but nondescript. It has a nice covered patio that is dog-​friendly.
I liked this place so much I had dinner there twice this week.
The first meal was the pot roast with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. The menu describes the pot roast is marinated. Whatever they do to it, the meat is flavorful with a hint of bbq sauce, and tender. No knife needed here. The meat was a huge chunk that accepted my fork easily. The mashed potatoes were perfect. I fell in love with the mac and cheese. Nice and cheddary (is that a word?), it is baked and has a nice crust on top. The server, Stephanie, was great and came by frequently to check on me and refill my drink. I left stuffed and happy.
Tonight, my boss was in town and she likes good food like I do, so I figured McKoy’s would be a good dinner option. I was raving about the pot roast, so she decided to order it. We split a basket of the fried squash. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with more mac and cheese. My boss loved the pot roast; it was just as tender as I described. The pulled pork came with coleslaw and a toasted bun. The pork was tender and smokey. No bbq sauce for this.
The fried squash is even better cold, and it was still crisp.
Tonight’s server was okay. She didn’t come around much and refilled my club soda with regular water.
I asked my local employee about McKoy’s and he said it was okay, but the atmosphere was fun. Really? His #2 BBQ place didn’t impress me much. If I lived in Charlotte, I would definitely be visiting McKoy’s often.

Thursday’s .50 cent wing night! Woohoo! That’s what brought me to this place.
Started off with the queso and homemade chips. Yum yum! The homemade chips were fresh and the queso was light. I didn’t notice a lot of chicken but a few shreds every few bites. The wings are huge and covered in sauce. Now my bf wanted ours double grilled… well that wasn’t for me. They come exactly as it’s worded on the menu «crispy and charred». No sauce (sweet BBQ) and nicely charred. My friend’s regular ones had my mouth watering… next time next time. I just had to try the mac and cheese, of course. Oh dear gosh cheese! It was amazing! Get it!
I sat outside with a party of 8 to watch a Thursday night football game. Which was perfect because they have two tv’s and put on the sound. The service was good too. I’ll be back for some green beans (heard they are great) and some regular bar-​Balo wings!

I finally had the pleasure of trying out McKoy’s Smokehouse last night, after hearing from many people of the restaurant’s awesome BBQ menu.
My wife and I got 20 wings to split, so that we could give multiple sauces a try (we’re sauce people, don’t judge). Side note: $.50 wing night on Thursdays during NFL games! Whoot whoot. We went with the buffalo, bar-​balo, thai-​chili & calypso. Handsdown, my favorite was the Thai-​chili, with bar-​balo coming in as a close second. The wings were extremely tender, almost easily falling off the bone. They had a great smokey taste to them as well, which would be a little over-​powering if you are expecting traditional wings where you just taste a sauce. Overall, these are some of the best grilled/​smoked wings I’ve ever had!
Side wise, don’t even waste your time with anything other than the Mac & Cheese. We made the mistake of ordering french fries, what a joke. $ 3.50 and they were about the size of a small order at a fast food joint. AND they weren’t even that great to justify it. The mac & cheese, however, was a heaping mount of cheesy heaven.

Ate dinner here while staying at a nearby hotel on a business trip to Charlotte. Enjoyed their excellent pulled pork platter with two sides (mac & cheese and fried squash). Everything was very tasty and the portions were generous. Glad I passed on the larger portion of pork, I would not have been able to finish it! Tried both BBQ sauces on the table: one thicker and more sweet — like a Midwest Chicago/​KC-​style — and the other a vinegar-​based Carolina-​style. Both were good but frankly, I ate most of the pork without sauce. It was that tasty and moist. Ironically, the only thing I didn’t get from the pork was much smoke flavor. It was there, but it was very, very subtle. Nonetheless it was a very good meal.
I washed my dinner down with a Mecktoberfest, Old Mecklenburg Brewery’s outstanding version of traditional Oktoberfest beer. Speaking of beer, they offer a nice variety here, both on tap and in bottles. The vibe is «sports bar» with lots of TVs throughout the dining room. Since I was dining alone I appreciated this since it gave me something to do while waiting for my dinner.
Finally, kudos to the staff here. The place was jumping on the Tuesday evening I was there and yet the attention from my server was excellent. She checked with me regularly and the food arrived quickly. I noticed that all the staff, servers and managers alike, were really hustling to seat and serve people.
All in all a very enjoyable experience.

Yes. Do the smoked BBQ chicken or pork. Be warned the portions are huge.
Dan enjoyed a plain old pork BBQ with mashed taters and gravy. He skipped the beans when he heard they were garlicky.
I did the smoked, pulled chicken with a side of mac n cheese. Could only finish ½ the sandwich, it was so big.
The bartender highly recommends the smoked wings and fried zucchini.
If we are through town, we’ll stop again. It’s not a huge space and they might get really busy. Easy to get to from 71.

I love coming here. The fried squash is Amazing!!! The BBQ Pork sandwich is my favorite.
Sometimes it is very cold inside, so bring a sweater. It doesn’t stop me from going though. I would wear a parka if I needed to. So GOOD !

I come here every now and then for lunch because it’s convenient and the food is pretty decent, but the service is spotty. Sometimes they’re great and sometimes they are pretty terrible. But I risk it for convenience.
Favorites there are their bbq sandwiches and their fried green tomatoes. Yum!

Food — 5
Service — 4
Value — 4
I stopped by here before leaving town to go back home to Texas so that I could sample some of the famous Carolina BBQ. I ordered the award winning St. Louis ribs and some mashed potatoes and the green beans. I thought it was a little pricey for just a half rack of ribs, but I really liked the bark and the pork was tender, but a almost a little too pink for me. The mashed potatoes were great — I wasn’t sure if they put cheese in it or if it was the potato skins in there but whatever it was, it was good. Service was a little slow even though there were only a few tables occupied so I can only imagine what it must be like when it gets crowded here. Overall, I still prefer a good old Texas BBQ with some brisket.

My girlfriend and I had the very terrible experience of staying at the Super 8 Airport Motel. When it was 11 pm, we desperately searched the area for somewhere nearby where could get food. Luckily, McKoy’s was there for us. Thank you for staying open late. For an $ 18 cab ride (screw that, by the way), we hopped over there and enjoyed a hell of a feast.
First of all, the service was excellent. Our server was very polite and knew the menu well. She greeted us promptly and didn’t mind giving her opinion on the meals.
The food is the bomb. If you order a vittle (entrée), you’ll get two fixin’s (appetizers) included. My girlfriend got the pit smoked pot roast with mac ‘n cheese and collard greens. I got the country style steak with spicy pinto beans and collard greens. We were definitely not disappointed. I thought my steak was a bit small, but her pot roast was the bomb.
Also, the place has live music and Lagunitas on tap.

Good bbq! Friendly service.
Got the sampler plate with ribs, chicken, pulled pork and pot roast. Ribs were really good. I wished I had ordered the ribs plate instead of the sampler… The chicken was good too. Pot roast and pulled pork were ok.
For sides I got Mac & cheese and fried okra. Fried okra was great. Bottom pieces were a bit greasy but they were really crispy and yummy. I thought the Mac & cheese was just ok. Would have rather tried the collards but the Mac & cheese was recommended so I went with that.
Pecan pie was awesome. I was really full but still finished the pecan pie. :)

This place serves the best pot roast you can buy in Charlotte. I put off trying this place because they don’t serve brisket and while I like pulled pork I don’t have the same love affair with it to begin with as I do with some nice juicy beef. Based on the reviews from other Unilocalers I decided to go one evening after work to try this famous pot roast and I am now hooked.
We were enthusiastically greeted upon entering and led straight to a table. I ordered a $ 4 mango mojito which was promptly served and it was as sweet as it was refreshing. Since we were basically starving upon arrival we ordered the appetizer sampler. In hindsight this was too ambitious for just the two of us since we were ordering full diners as well. The nachos and potato skins were delicious and the establishment did not skimp on the cheese. I loved the chicken fingers which were juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. I am not huge on bone in wings but my dining companion said they were excellent.
I ordered a soup as one of my fixin’s, and it came out before the entrees as requested. It was potato and bacon and super creamy and filling. This could have easily served as an appetizer to hold me over until dinner.
When the mains came (we both opted for pot roast) I saw the soup again and when the waitress saw she remembered that I already had the soup brought out but shrugged and said that I get two soups today. This was totally okay with me — free food is one of my favorite things. The pot roast was completely tender. There was some fat to pick around but the generous portion made me feel like I wasn’t being skimped on. They must cook this roast for hours to get the beef so tender. The darker sauce (not sure what it was called, not vinegar based) that was at our table was a great compliment to the pot roast.
Overall both the food and service were great and I will definitely be back! PS — the leftover pot roast made for great sandwiches the next day.

Yes. A nice BBQ joint complete with smoky, tasting meat and a great menu. Our server, Abbie, was simply on her game and her experience shows. It was nice to see a manager visit with us, too.
We went for the slow-​smoked wings, fried green tomatoes (some of the best we’ve tried), and ceasar salad. It was all wonderful and we can’t wait to return. We’ve found a serious competitor to both Max’s and Midwood Smokehouse. Q-​City and Sauceman’s have been left in the ashes of these BBQ power players, IMO.