Shelby and the surrounding Cleveland County area are closer to Lincolnton than most people expect, about a 30-40 minute drive east. For real hickory pit-smoked BBQ, that's not a bad trip at all.
It's the kind of drive that's easy to underestimate simply because Lincolnton doesn't always come up on the list of nearby food towns from a Shelby starting point. But 30-40 minutes puts it well within range of a normal lunch or dinner outing, not a special day trip, especially for barbecue that's genuinely cooked the old way rather than just marketed that way.
BBQ King has been a Lincolnton fixture since September 1, 1971. The pork is smoked fresh every day over live hickory coals, then hand-chopped the same day it's served. It's the same process the Abernethy family started with, still run today by the two families who've kept it going: Steve Abernethy who founded it, Keith Smith who joined at 15 and became co-owner, and now Keith's sons Jordan and Jared carrying it forward.
Beyond the BBQ, we're known for hand-pattied burgers and hand-breaded onion rings, both made fresh in-house daily. If you're coming from Shelby and barbecue isn't the whole draw for your group, that from-scratch approach carries through the rest of the menu too, nothing here is frozen or shipped in pre-made, whether it's the pork, the burgers, or the sides.
We're open Monday through Saturday, 10am to 8pm, closed Sundays, at 2613 E Main St in Lincolnton. No reservations, just order at the counter, and within a few minutes you'll have a hot, fresh plate in front of you, the same experience regulars in Lincolnton have had for over fifty years.