Old Hampton Store & Grist Mill

We love the Old Hampton Store and always bring out-​of-​town guests here. The store is very charming and often has live music. The food is very good if you like Southern kitchen cuisine. The collards and black eyed pea salad are very good with vinegar. The BBQ is good on its own… you don’t need the bun.

Found this place totally by accident. Saw it when we were hungry. Didn’t have any phone reception so we had no idea whether the food we be good or not. So glad we did! Cute little country store with half of it as a BBQ joint. Order at counter and they bring it to you. Had pulled pork sandwiches and fried pickles. Pork was amazing. Perfect amount of smoke and seasoning. Homemade BBQ sauces with just the right amount of vinegar. Excellent fried pickle spears. Live music duo were playing while we were there. Great atmosphere and great food!

Very overpriced and a poor representation of NC BBQ. The bread tasted old and stale. Small portion sizes for what you are paying. The cashier did not smile and avoided eye contact as much as possible.

We didn’t eat here but just came in to poke around. It’s no Mast General Store, but still nice and varied in the products carried.
I saw a small selection of shirts and hats. There is also a wide variety of food items like jam, honey, candies, glass bottle sodas, and cookies.
There is a goat milk products area with candles and soap. I also saw some small vintage toys and a few books (informational as well as story).
I like the décor in here-​old feed bags, a set of horse tack, things like that… definitely gives it that old country store feel.
The porch is lovely. Picnic tables and a rack with local newspapers and pamphlets. It was a great place to just sit in the shade and enjoy the nice mild summer temperatures.

Charming, convenient and quick. Those are the positives.
The food was actually pretty good. Portions were very small (and I’m not a big eater), which made for a pricy lunch at $ 38.00 (2 adults + 2 kids, no app and no dessert).

Uncle Lee’s Pulled pork, mac-​n-​cheese and green beans made for a good lunch. Sauce on the table is pretty good too.
We stopped in on the way to Grandfather Mountain for some lunch. I’d never eaten here, but my Mom and Dad have and I’m glad they suggested we stop. I was really impressed. The pork was moist and juicy, flavorful and, well, porky, just like it should be! The Mac-​n-​cheese was stringy molten cheesy goodness. The sourdough bread was on point. There was a live band (guitar, bass and a banjo); place feels like it’s stuck back in the prohibition days… I wonder where the secret stash of good old Mountain Dew is…
The only thing missing on the menu… Brisket.

We stopped in randomly on one of our many mountain trips years ago and left with a new favorite BBQ. We go every time we’re around and they’re open — easily the best pulled pork sandwich available in the mountains.
I sure do wish they were open year-​round. I get the blues when they close during the winter.

Cool little place; made me think it was the model for Cracker Barrel, but a tad more authentic. Decent food, cool vibe, a couple neat «art galleries» adjacent and the live music made for a real nice visit.

We all left with our stomachs feeling heavy and achy, 4 of us. We all ate different things and did not overeat. The pulled pork was good, two kinds of coleslaw were good. The other foods seemed way over seasoned. The corn on the cob had been frozen then they fried it over seasoned it and it became tasteless. Many things were overly seasoned. The «local music» left a lot to be desired. The people were all very nice and the store itself was charming, which is why we give it 2 stars instead of 1.

I am a BBQ snob. I love all types of BBQ no matter what. This places is exceptional when its comes to its BBQ pork and chicken. The only reason i am giving Old Hampton a 3 star instead of 5, was because of the quality of the sides and desserts.
eg. the Mac and cheese, coleslaw, baked beans, and pies were bland.
This place is definitely worth the visit on the merits of its BBQ goods.

Disappointed in the pulled pork BBQ. Dry and no flavor unless you drowned it in sauce. I have been spoiled by the many excellent Lexington style joint around my home. Not a fan of the banana pudding either. Had a weak vanilla flavor. My lunch mates did enjoy their fries and blackberry cobbler.
We all did enjoy the musicians.

What a gem! Pulled pork sandwich was delicious… I loved both of their BBQ sauces but the sourdough bread really made it for me. Mac and cheese side was good and the prices were very reasonable and wait wasn’t too long. You can browse the store while you wait… all kinds of neat knick knacks to look at. Definitely eat here if you’re going to Grandfather Mountain. The food is 100 times better than anything you will get at the mediocre restaurant up there.

BBQ was not smoked and the buns were hard. Like they say, other than distance and direction that was a great putt.

I’ve been going here for years and it is always the right choice, especially before a busy day on the Blue Ridge Parkway!
I only ever get the pulled pork sandwich. They serve it on this dreamy sourdough roll. If I could make this roll myself, I would weigh 300 pounds! The sides are great; green beans, carolina caviar, mac ‘n’ cheese. You can get soda from the fountain or in the old fashioned glass bottles. I always get the brunswick stew and I’m always too full before it’s cool enough to eat. Which is fine, because I just enjoy it the next day!
Lunch is served from 11 – 3, so if you’re a late sleeper set that alarm! And on the weekends, they have live music inside. I love sitting there eating my lunch and watching the bluegrass band play. Scrumptious, every bit of it!
The store itself is full of lots to love. There is plenty of candy from yesteryear to enjoy, all those jars of preserves, relishes, dressings, and bags of grits, clothing, housewares, and all the other general store offerings. And you’re just a short drive from Grandfather Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I prefer hiking on the latter to offset all that glorious food!

Best BBQ I’ve ever had.
One time we showed up and the BBQ joint was closed, but the general store was open. The guy took pitty on us and got us some BBQ and it was wonderful. If we go to hike in the mountains, we go here to eat lunch,

Just ate our first and only meal here. Manager argued over a posted price and charged more than the sign said. Food was cold and rubbery. Service was missing. I really wanted to like the place as the atmosphere seemed pleasant, but as my wife said it seemed like an exclusive club and we were outsiders. Gave it two stars because the coleslaw was good. My two girls wanted a do over.
Was tempted to leave after we spent 5 minutes at the order booth with the four of us trying to decide what to eat and a random worker (not the lady behind the cash register watching us trying to decide) informed us we would not be ordering off the menu because all they were serving was their fish fry. Okay. So the choice was a large or small order of fish (cold and rubbery), hush puppies (daughter could not even bite it in half), hot fries, and delicious coleslaw. There were black doo-​dads in ice in my cup. Overall extremely disappointing. Three small plates of fish cost $ 30.

Stopped to check this place out. Had driven past many times without noticing… or knowing… what secrets the old store held. An old general store… quaint… With honey, giant jawbreakers, jams, local stuff. In the back there is honest country BBQ. Had a pork sandwich and a side of green beens… Just to take a dip. It’s good. Dry. Not so smokey… a little sweet tasting. Served on a sourdough cibatta-​looking roll (excellent). And could I be stunned by green beans. Yep. Very peppery and spicy. Cooked like my great aunt in wv. Huge flavor… could until just barely firm… Not mooshy… But close. Good.
The King of Asheville will frequent this fine place.

Must try BBQ plates and sandos!
Try to get there early before the best sides get snatched up to

YUMMY!!!
I had the jambalaya special of the day and it hit the spot, especially since it was too cold for my Floridian roots. Lady friends had the pulled pork sandwich and a pork platter with mac & cheese, slaw & baked beans. I’ll tell you this, it all hit the spot.
Freaking delicious place with fast service, great wall art, lots of local love and, best of all, an apple dumplin’ to die for. i’m so happy we found this place by accident.
Another cool thing, when I was waiting for me meal I drew a pic on a napkin and left it there. They place them under the glass table tops so I’m hoping mine gets a home :)

Unbelievable food! I didn’t try everything, but did try a bunch. I live in Charlotte and I would seriously make a day trip around eating at this place just to go back. You often find a place that’ll make one or two things good, but I immensely enjoyed it all.
Here’s what I had along with my parents, whom I was visiting (they were staying in some time shares in Banner Elk). I had a pulled pork sandwich with chips (given with all sandwiches) and macaroni & cheese. The bbq was very good but what REALLY made it was the homemade sourdough bread it was on and the bbq sauce on the table. The bbq was so good in fact that I’ll go out and say this is now my favorite bbq sauce EVER, ANYWHERE. I won’t say it will be everyone’s favorite because it’s on the sweeter side of things with a little bite, but I loved it and put it on the sandwich, the bit of slow cooked turkey (very very tasty) I got off my dad’s plate and even the chips I was eating. I couldn’t get enough. The macaroni & cheese was also fantastic. It was so good that I’ll actually say I like it better than my grandmother’s and that says a lot as it was my previous favorite.
If you can’t tell, my mouth is watering just talking about this again. Sounds like a road trip.
The place is in a very old general store which is very cool. There are a few old general stores in the area also if you like them although none that I came across had food this good (or food at all). One other neat thing I liked was you can get a lot of old school glass bottled sodas to drink anywhere from Cheerwine to Nehi to RC Cola. Apparently also (my parent’s saw this a couple days before), they have live bluegrass in the store. This might be a weekend thing.
This place is definitely highly recommended to anyone even in the vicinity of Linville, NC which isn’t far from all the ski resorts up there (Sugar, Beech, Hawks Nest) plus Boone & Blowing Rock.