- [Cook] We train our cooks about two years before we let them cook by themself.

And if you notice we have no thermostat or anything in the pits, we go by feel.

- [Deborah] And they're feeling it at Lexington Barbecue which started back in 1962 out on business I-85 and used to be called Honey Monks.

Today, almost 60 years later, Honey Monks or Monks or Lexington Barbecue still serves a lot of cue.

- We normally use about probably 500 to 600 shoulders a week.

Somewhere in the neighborhood we'll cook about 6,500, 7,500 pounds in a week.

We make 250 gallons a tea a day, 40 gallons of hush puppy mix a day.

So we use a big volume when it comes to it.

So it is kind of that word of mouth, like hey, this is pretty good, let's go try it.

- The next day, while visiting downtown Lexington, I followed the smoke to another great eatery, the Barbecue Center.

- We started in 1955 as kind of the outlet for our local dairy serving ice cream.

And then it just kind of progressed into serving barbecue out of the back.

And then we moved two blocks down the street, built indoor pits and became the Barbecue Center, and I guess kind of the rest is history.

My mom's still here, my brother's still here, so we're still doing this as a family operation.

- [Deborah] But the center is also beloved for its ice cream, and especially it's world famous banana split.

- [Cecil] The banana split goes back to our ice cream days and it's grown itself over the years.

So the last time I believe we weighed it on camera, they weighed between three and a half and four pounds.

Usually every month we do at least 1,000.

- [Deborah] Lexington Barbecue is at 100 Smokehouse Lane in Lexington and they're open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

For more information, give them a call at [336] 249-9814, or go to lexbbq.com.

The Barbecue Center is at 900 North Main Street in Lexington and they're open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

You can give them a call at [336] 248-4633 or go online to barbecuecenter.net.