Skylight Inn BBQ, Ayden NC

September 2024

This was my first stop on a barbecue crawl through North Carolina. While the GPS took me straight there, it was definitely off the beaten path: down a country road past farms, until you turn into the gravel parking lot and park wherever makes sense. I got there right about at 5:00pm on a Wednesday, so there were only a few scattered cars in the parking lot, giving few clues as to how popular this place actually was, or where you should actually park.

I walked in to find a heavily decorated counter (with a sign asking not to take pictures, sadly) selling t-shirts and the restaurant’s signature barbecue sauce. So I was definitely at a popular place.

I got my pork, beans, and cornbread, headed into the slightly kitschy dining room, and tucked in.

The baked beans were the star of the show: tangy, with deep, complex flavors. Bits of pulled pork were stirred in, and not a single chunk of sausage for every pound of beans; every bite contained meat. It gave the beans a kind of flavor weight in the mouth.

The pork was excellent, soft and flavorful, though it included some charred bits which were not to my personal liking. I know, others like that, and that’s great. Just letting you know.

The big surprise was the cornbread: it was flat and deep brown on one side. I suspect they put it on a griddle and compress it, browning the underside. This gives the inside a dense, almost fudge-like consistency instead of the cake texture of traditional cornbread. I think it’s best to consider it not cornbread, but instead an equally interesting…thing baked with corn into a kind of bread.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed myself, and was impressed by the meal. And next time I’ll have a better idea of where to park.

Cost: About $20 for a meal

Conditions: 75℉ and cloudy