White Swan Bar-B-Q & Fried Chicken

Location

The White Swan in Smithfield is an old-time barbecue place, just like the roadhouses of days gone by. Lynwood Parker owns and runs the White Swan along with the adjoining motel and an accounting business, as well as being very active in the political life of Johnston County. Bob Garner brags about the White Swan’s barbecue in his book, North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored By Time. Barbecue is their specialty, but there is great fried chicken, Brunswick stew, and ribs. The restaurant is not fancy, and it is not big. A lot of its business is done at the counter, with folks coming in to get an order to take out. When I sat down and placed my order of barbecue and slaw, my meal was delivered to the table in less than a minute, along with a helping of some of the best hush puppies I ever ate.

Hrs: Mon.-Wed., 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 10:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Sun., 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.