Where is the best barbecue near Fort Bragg, and what's the difference between living in Fayetteville, Hope Mills and Raeford?
By Kyle Melvin · NMLS #1486450 · REV Mortgage · Education only — not licensed in North Carolina ·
Short answer
This is Eastern North Carolina barbecue country — whole hog, vinegar-pepper sauce, hushpuppies, no tomato — and the three places locals and Our State agree on are strung along the exact roads Bragg families commute on: Eastern Boulevard in town, Raeford Road heading southwest, and the strip out toward Hope Mills. The housing sorts the same way: Fayetteville proper is closest and oldest, Hope Mills is the subdivision middle, Raeford is the acreage-and-new-build edge in the next county.
Fayetteville — in town
BBQ Hut's. Fayetteville Observer Readers' Choice winner for best barbecue 27 of the last 31 years; chopped pork, the vinegar sauce, Brunswick stew. Fuller's Old Fashioned Bar-B-Q — N. Eastern Boulevard. Our State's pick: the all-you-can-eat buffet, chopped barbecue, fried chicken, collards, a dessert table, the Sunday-after-church institution. Fowler's Southern Gourmet. Our State: a father-and-son food truck that found a building; upscale, down-home barbecue and Southern plates.
Live here: Fayetteville — 1950s–80s brick ranches in Haymount and the older neighborhoods off Bragg Boulevard and Skibo, plus 1990s–2010s subdivisions north and west toward the gates; 10–20 minutes to the All American gate. The lowest price band on this page and the shortest commute.
Hope Mills and Raeford Road — the southwest
Fuller's — S. Raeford Road. The second location, on the road that is the commute for everyone southwest of town.
Live here: Hope Mills — the mill town turned bedroom community: 1980s–2010s subdivisions around Hope Mills Lake, Cumberland County schools, 20–30 minutes to the gates up 401 or through town. The family-default address at Bragg. Raeford — Hoke County, the next county over: half-acre-and-up lots, new construction along 401 and Rockfish Road, its own school district, 25–35 minutes to the gates, and the most house per dollar in the guide.
Why this is a housing article
Three barbecue places, three neighborhoods, one road. Bragg is the Army's biggest post and Fayetteville's housing is spread thin along its commuter arteries; the barbecue is on the same arteries because that's where the traffic has been since the 1950s. Pick the commute you'll live with, then the Fuller's that's on the way home. Run the payment on the BAH-to-payment tool.
Sources: Our State magazine; Fayetteville Observer Readers' Choice as cited by BBQ Hut's. Confirm hours and locations before you drive.
Related guides
Questions people also ask
- Where is the best barbecue near Fort Bragg, and what's the difference between living in Fayetteville, Hope Mills and Raeford?
- This is Eastern North Carolina barbecue country — whole hog, vinegar-pepper sauce, hushpuppies, no tomato — and the three places locals and Our State agree on are strung along the exact roads Bragg families commute on: Eastern Boulevard in town, Raeford Road heading southwest, and the strip out toward Hope Mills. The housing sorts the same way: Fayetteville proper is closest and oldest, Hope Mills is the subdivision middle, Raeford is the acreage-and-new-build edge in the next county.
Buying in North Carolina?
Kyle is not licensed in North Carolina, so he cannot write the loan here — but the questions on this page are the right ones to ask, and he can connect you with a loan officer who is licensed in North Carolina. Send him the station and the question.