King's Restaurant wins Drew Barrymore's Battle of the Bites BBQ ribs episode with a tie

Kings Restaurant, a local barbeque and chicken restaurant, in Kinston was featured on The Drew Barrymore show on Monday for the ‘Battle of the Bites’ BBQ Ribs episode that posed the question ‘Who does Drew think is the BBQ Goat?’. The contest was between Kings, Charles Vergos Rendevous, and Joe’s Kansas City BBQ.

“The smoke really goes through your nasal passages, it goes in your whole oral factories,” said Drew Barrymore when she tried King’s BBQ ribs. “That’s incredible.”

The contest started with an online Twitter poll that ran for about a week. The first few days had a back and forth virtual tie between King’s and Charles Vergo Rendevous, but in the last two days, Joe’s Kansas City BBQ swooped in for the win which provided them with their first point in the Battle of the Bites BBQ Ribs contest. 

“The tenderness and the side dish of collard greens that put Kings on top,” said Ross Mathews when he voted for King’s as his favorite. 

Kings began as a country store more than 85 years ago. Charles Vergos Rendevous started in 1948 selling ham sandwiches and beer. Charles Vergos developed the ‘Memphis Style’ barbeque ribs. Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que started in 1990 and serves as a gas station that sells 172,000 slabs of ribs a year. 

“I was really not expecting how much flavor would come out of those ribs and I can’t stop eating those collard greens,” said Barrymore when she cast her vote for King’s. 

Joe’s Kansas City BBQ and King’s Restaurant tied with three votes each and will both receive a trophy from The Drew Barrymore Show.

“It has been a totally humbling experience and a total team effort,” said owner Joe Hargitt. “I have the best staff in the world, they have stuck with me through the best and the worst.”