Wilber’s Barbecue Plans To Re-Open In Late Spring
GOLDSBORO, NC — One of North Carolina’s most famed barbecue restaurants plans to reopen in late spring, owners announced Monday (April 27).
Wilber’s Barbecue closed over a year ago after the Department of Revenue seized it after filing six tax liens against the restaurant, totaling more than $70,000 dating back to 2018.
In November 2019, it was sold to a group of local investors known as Goldpit Partners. Willis Underwood helped lead the project with other Goldsboro natives to help restore and refurbish Wilber’s. News outlets report the investors purchased the assets of Wilber’s for $350,000, and that sale was approved by a judge this month.
“We just felt like it was part of the fabric of North Carolina and known far and wide, for sure, and it was worth saving this part of history as well as the heritage of cooking whole hog over oak wood,” Underwood said. “It’s been a meeting place for many years.”
The restaurant itself has undergone repairs, but fans will still be able to dine on its red-checkered tablecloths. The menu will be condensed and focused on its pit-cooked meats and scratch-made sides and desserts.
Wilber Shirley and Carl Lyerly purchased Hill’s Barbecue in 1962 and renamed it Hwy. 70 Barbecue. Within a year, Lyerly sold his share in the business to Shirley, who changed the name to Wilber’s.
Shirley is retired but will serve as an advisor and mentor.
“I’m proud to know that Wilber’s will not disappear and that Willis Underwood and my son-in-law, Dennis Monk, will be here to help guide it into the future. It grew beyond my wildest dreams and is part of our culture. Our method of cooking whole hogs over hardwood coals overnight is not easy or cheap, but it is the right way, and something we as a community take a lot of pride in,” Shirley said via a press release.
Wilber’s has served many famous figures, including Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Govs. Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford and U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.