[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend", join us as we taste new flavors around the state.

We'll sample BLTs in Chapel Hill, seafood in Winston-Salem, and Bob Garner visits Melvin's in Elizabethtown.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend."

I'm Deborah Holt Noel and this week we are tasting new flavors around the state.

You know, abbreviations are everywhere these days, LOL, OMG, ASAP, just to name a few, but at one Chapel Hill Restaurant, the most common phrase is three other letters, BLT.

As Rob Holiday reports, the bacon, lettuce and tomato BLT sandwich has made Merritt's Grill an institution in Chapel Hill and far beyond.

[acoustic guitar music] - [Rob] We've probably all seen the assembly line for building Model Ts, but how about one for building BLTs?

At Merritt's Grill in Chapel Hill the sandwich construction process is a fine art, the perfect balance between speed and culinary perfection.

- Merritt's is known for the BLT sandwich, just a great combination.

Bacon, lettuce, tomato, sourdough.

We want our bacon to be the best, our bread to be always fresh.

Our freshest lettuce, tomatoes, best mayonnaise we can find.

- Having the right ingredients for everything is key.

- It was really good.

I thought it was amazing.

The bacon is nice and crispy and it went well with everything else.

- BLT, it's always the same no matter how many years have passed.

Tomatoes are really juicy, but it doesn't make the sandwich too soggy, which is really important.

The bacon is very flavorful, but it's not too greasy.

- I'm getting lunch with my friends and I have awesome tomato, which I don't really get very often as a student with student meals.

- [John] We have four different sizes of the BLT.

We have a baby, a single, double, and a triple.

- [Rob] Each BLT is fully customizable, the contents and the bread that holds it all together.

- Go-to is definitely the double BLT, add pimento cheese.

The bacon, the bread, as you can tell, it's high quality.

- This was the double, so it's like nine slices of bacon.

You can even go to the triple, which is like a whole pound of bacon.

So I haven't seen that much bacon on a sandwich elsewhere.

- Any given day we're cooking around 300, maybe 300, 400 pounds of bacon, just to have that little cushion for the next day.

- We go through about 2,200 pounds of bacon a week.

75 to 85 boxes of tomatoes, 14 to 18 cases of lettuce every week.

- [Rob] BLTs are the big attraction, accounting for about 65% of Merritt's Grill sales, but there are other mainstays on the menu.

- Obviously the BLTs are most popular.

The Linda Woods chicken salad, egg salad, pimento cheese sandwich, burgers, hot dogs, pulled pork.

- We added a a Reuben sandwich this year and have had great response to that.

We have a sausage, egg and cheese, bacon, egg and cheese.

We do a bologna, egg and cheese.

- It was awesome.

I was very eager to try it when I came to school here.

I never ate here, so basically this is my first trip.

I wish I'd tried it a lot earlier.

- [Rob] Bacon and bread bring folks through the door these days, but in the beginning it was breaks and bearings.

- Merritt's started in 1929 as a gas station.

There was a two car garage, which is where the kitchen currently is now.

They would do tuneups and oil changes in there, and eventually it kind of transitioned into a mini mart.

Current entity of what it is now started in the early 90s.

The Britts had bought it and Robin Britt was serving her BLTs and people just got captivated by her personality and the sandwich and the delicious fresh ingredients.

- John Toogood and his family bought Merritt's from the Britt family in 2021, and immediately got to work making changes without losing the taste and traditions that have made Merritt's a Chapel Hill institution.

Merritt's still has the same vintage vibe it's always had, but there's also a focus on technology.

You can now order on your phone, and that's helped transform the experience in an exciting way.

- We changed the kitchen around so that we could produce the sandwiches quickly.

We also changed the inside with our technology.

When I first started here, people were waiting 30-40 minutes, but people were happy when they got their sandwiches, whereas now they still do the same thing, but they're waiting one to two minutes for their sandwich.

- [John] We've added a large umbrella out front.

We have heaters, we've added a lot of tables to the back patio and the bamboo.

- Up for Jesse.

- Everybody truly enjoys working here.

We truly are a family, taking care of people, and and seeing them walk out of here knowing that they had a really good meal, fresh made, and great customer service.

- We'd like you just to kind of feel that we love you and that the food is here just to make you feel good.

We just want it to be a comfortable, relaxing place to enjoy lunch.

- Merritt's Store and Grill is at 1009 South Columbia Street in Chapel Hill, and they're open Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m.

to 4:00 p.m.

To find out more, give them a call at [919] 942-4897, or go online to merrittsblt.com.

Say the word southern lunch and what comes to mind?

Home cooking, comfort food, family.

Well there's a restaurant in Lexington called Southern Lunch, that certainly lives up to the name.

And as producer Teresa Litschke discovered, they've been serving a heapin' helping of each for 100 years.

[light music] - He started with nine bar stools across the street.

He came over here, had 15 bar stools, excuse me, and four booths.

- [Teresa] The restaurant has expanded a few times and now has about 140 seats, all under the watchful eye of Herbert Lohr, grandson of the founder of Southern Lunch.

- Been coming here since I was a little kid.

My dad started me working here when I was 12, 13, and started getting paid.

Been here my whole life.

Nobody else would ever hire me.

- [Teresa] Now you know that's not true, nor is the fact that the name Southern Lunch came from southern cooking alone.

- Southern came from the railway.

Yeah, don't tell them that.

- [Teresa] The Southern Railway ran right beside the original restaurant, and passengers on the train were a constant source of hungry customers.

Today the railroad's gone, but the hungry customers remain for many reasons.

- We love the home cooking.

We love the home cooking, the family atmosphere and the wonderful waitresses.

That's the best part.

They really take care of you.

- [Teresa] And everyone has their favorite dish.

- Well I'm getting fish today.

- We get very large portions.

- I got a Reuben sandwich and lima beans.

- I got the fried chicken livers and then cabbage and lima beans.

And we always come for the lima beans, they're really good.

And she's the lima bean queen.

She loves 'em.

- They got good shrimp, real good shrimp.

I'd just as soon eat shrimp here as I would at a fish place.

- Usually it's some kind of chicken.

- [Allen] Fried chicken.

- [Teresa] Tell me about the fried chicken.

- It's good.

- Why?

- Put the sauce on it.

- [Teresa] What kind of sauce?

That's Herbie's Barbecue Sauce on there.

- It's crunchy but it is also soft in the middle and you can just, a bone in it.

Just everything.

- Our number one deal is fried chicken.

We sell a lot of fried chicken.

We roll out our chicken and dumplings and chicken pies each day.

Everything's made from scratch back there.

Country style steaks to beef.

We sell all those pretty much every day.

We got meatloaf one day, ribs one day, and roast beef two days.

Just lots of different stuff.

- Good food, good price, like mama cooks it.

and he usually pays, so that makes it even better.

- [Teresa] So they do serve a lot of southern favorites and they're consistent about it.

- We don't like change too good.

- No.

- [Teresa] Tell me how it's changed over the years.

- It really hasn't.

It's just as good as it was when I was 15.

- [Teresa] Which is why guests at Southern Lunch are extremely loyal.

- We come near quite a bit, every day for lunch.

- Every day?

- Every day.

- Every day, pretty much my whole life.

- Most of my life.

- [Teresa] The food is one reason for the restaurant's popularity, but Herbert is obviously another.

- He's just outgoing, knows everybody, greets you at the front door.

- He's provided for people that need food as well as people that pay, but we know how good he is to everybody, so we like to support him.

- You know, we've all been a tight knit family.

I got guys back here that's worked for me for 30 to 40 years, a cashier that's worked for me for 40, but she's not here today, and it's just been a family atmosphere, you know.

It's been great.

- [Teresa] and it's what he learned from those who came before that has helped make Southern Lunch a staple for 100 years.

- You know, my grandfather always said, you're here for the, give them the quality and the service and they'll be back.

[acoustic music] - Southern Lunch is at 26 South Railroad Street in Lexington, and they're open Tuesday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.

to 7:00 p.m.

To find out more, give them a call at [336] 248-5276 or check them out on Facebook.

For our next bite, we head to Winston-Salem where a mother-daughter duo is working side-by-side to continue their family's legacy, bringing their customers a wide selection of fresh seafood for over 40 years, cementing Forsyth Seafood Market as a community staple.

[upbeat music] - If one is a traveler and comes to Winston-Salem, you must come to Forsyth Seafood.

- Smile on everybody's face when you walk in, really helps brighten up my day.

I just love this place.

- And when they're good friendly people, that makes every bite of food a little better.

They want to make sure everybody here feels welcome, and they want to make sure they give you a meal that they can be proud of and that you'll enjoy.

You'll see the owner, Virginia, and she'll come out into the restaurant and visit and ask how your food is, and she's just very friendly.

I get the jumbo fried shrimp sometimes and the fried catfish, those are probably my two favorites.

- I like to order their flounder as well as their jumbo shrimp.

You do get a large portion of whatever you order when you eat at Forsyth Seafood.

There's no skimping on the amounts of food that they provide you.

- They have fresh fish in one portion of their business, and they also, and I love to get my blue claw crabs from the fresh seafood side.

And then if I want cooked seafood, I come to this side that we're in now, which is the restaurant portion.

- The sides that they have to compliment their fish itself are also delicious, so I'm consistently ordering their collard greens, as well as their pinto beans.

- One of the things that businesses have a challenge of is whether or not it can be intergenerational, whether it can be passed from one family member to another.

Clearly that's happening here.

So while this has been a homegrown business historically, now they have a young daughter who's bringing some new things to the table.

- [Virginia] My late husband and I graduated from college and went into professions and at some point decided we wanted to be a business owner.

And so we are sitting in our basement, we say we are from the coast.

We had at that point been bringing seafood back to different people.

We always had these massive fish fries at our house and people would come and enjoy.

So we said, well go with what you know.

We know seafood, so that's what we decided.

- I did not want to do anything, but I didn't want anything to do with seafood.

After school, I would come here and do homework.

My books and my backpack would smell like seafood and I would hate it.

And like it was just a thing.

After my father passed in 2013, kind of like the light bulb came on, like oh, I like fish now.

There was no doubt about the fact that we needed to continue his legacy and continue our family business.

I went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales.

I wanted to kind of pay homage to North Carolina food ways and some of our eastern North Carolina upbringings.

I'm from Winston-Salem, but I always say that like Beaufort is also my home, 'cause I spent a lot of my summers there in my childhood.

You grew up eating spots and croakers?

- Yeah.

- So we carry the whole spot and the whole croaker in our fresh market that can be cut to order.

We have a lot of Virginia customers that come down and they buy about 25 pounds of fish at a time, and we'll cut it and they can take it home, and they put it in their freezer and they pull it out over time, and then we'll see 'em the next season like, hey, I'm here for this fish this time.

So, I think that's always cool to have that option.

My dad used to make a gumbo and we decided to put the gumbo, the eastern North Carolina gumbo on the menu here, that we incorporate tomatoes.

I know that's kind of like frowned upon in Louisiana, but in North Carolina we like tomatoes, so we just like pay homage to his legacy and some of the things and flavors that he grew up having and some of the ways that he would express his love.

- Forsyth Seafood Market and Cafe is at 108 North Martin Luther King Jr.

Drive in Winston-Salem, and they're open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m.

to 8:00 p.m.

To learn more, give them a call at [336] 748-0795 or go online to forsythseafood.com.

The Durham Green Flea Market has been a weekend destination in Durham since 2008.

Once a tobacco market, now it's a community hub and as producer Linda Nguyen discovered, visitors come back again and again to taste flavors that remind them of home.

[uptempo piano music] - [Linda] Nestled next to the train tracks in East Durham sits an unexpected gem, the Durham Green Flea Market.

- Hi, can I get two churros please?

And I usually like the cream filling.

Will you just surprise me with the second filling?

[upbeat music] - [Linda] What's your most popular flavor?

- It's between cream cheese and caramel.

Yeah, both of those are pretty popular.

[uptempo piano music] - This is my favorite.

This is the cream cheese one.

... or caramel.

This looks like it's gonna be a messy bite.

Okay.

Ooh.

[uptempo piano music] But there are other flavors to try here.

Come with me and let's taste them.

[uptempo instrumental music] This is Taqueria Allende where you can order all sorts of tacos.

We got the Chipa, the Composano, which is steak and chorizo, and my favorite, the barbacoa.

[uptempo Latin music] [singer singing in Spanish] I'm gonna line 'em up.

[Latin music continues] This is the barbacoa one.

I love it.

[Latin music continues] It's so good.

[Latin music continues] [light instrumental music] So tell me, how long have you guys been open?

- The flea market's been open for 17 years.

We opened the market, my father and I. My father started the market.

- [Linda] Why did you pick Durham?

- We have very deep roots.

My father's one of 16 kids, so very, very deep roots.

He grew up in the West End.

We've been over here quietly and in our little corner and hopefully people come out and still continue to support local small businesses.

Just, we keep going for another 17 years.

My favorite thing about this flea market I guess for food wise, is I love the tortas and I love the quesadillas, but, but, but my favorite might be the peanuts.

My favorite might be the fried peanuts.

We went down to, believe it or not, Rocky Mount, to a market down there and everyone was selling peanuts and we might've perfected it, but we did get an idea for Rocky Mount Market down at Rocky Mount.

We saw a lot.

- Inspired by.

They're so fresh.

Some warm fried nuts, peanuts.

Oh, makes me want a Coke.

[laughing] Really good.

[light music] There are also farm stands full of beautiful local produce.

[light music continues] And it's not just food here.

You can find jewelry, clothes, and gifts.

Friendly tip, have cash on hand when you visit the market.

- You know what I love about this market is that brings me back home.

You know, I love the culture and of course, you have a lot of things from food to like souvenirs to just in general, kind of reminds me of home.

- I love that.

What do you love to eat here?

What's your favorite?

- I love the tacos.

- The tacos.

- [JP] Like I always go for the tacos and also the chicharrones.

- [Linda] Oh yeah, we had that.

It's crunchy and delicious.

[laughing] - [JP] Yes, absolutely.

[Linda crunching] [Latin instrumental music] From tacos and churros to handmade goods and fresh produce, the Durham Green Flea market brings people together through food, culture, and a shared sense of home.

- The Durham Green Flea market is at 1600 East Pettigrew Street in Durham and it's open every Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 a.m.

to 4:00 p.m.

To find out more, give them a call at [919] 308-7657, or go online to dgfleamarket.com.

Our final story takes us to Elizabethtown, where a small restaurant has won some big awards lately, like best hamburger in the southeast, according to "Southern Living."

It's called Melvins'.

It's been around since 1938, and Bob Garner simply had to pay it a visit to learn the secrets of its success.

- [Bob] The oldest Melvin's customers have been around for over 80 years now, and it's been almost entirely a family operation since 1938.

It began as a pool hall serving hamburgers and hot dogs and remained that way until the pool tables were finally removed 38 years later to be replaced by booths.

Pat Melvin's father Wilson bought out three partnering brothers over a period of years before handing it over to his son.

- I graduated from college from East Carolina, May the 30th of '71.

He retired May 31st, '71.

So I took every the business, I was 21 years old.

- [Bob] Pat and high school sweetheart Anne married that same year, and she joined him in the restaurant in 1974.

They both retired at age 55, 21 years ago.

No french fries have ever been served at Melvins'.

Too time consuming, they say.

They didn't even do cheeseburgers for a long time for the same reason.

And during Pat and Anne's tenure, it was cash only, although cards are now accepted.

A bedrock principle, don't complicate things.

- If you keep it simple and give good service, you'll succeed.

I mean, it's just the key to success.

- [Bob] Anne's role was assembling the burgers and dogs, which she did in about seven seconds or even less.

- We were very fortunate with our customers.

We had the same customers daily.

We knew what they wanted and when they came in, we knew their order, and we just waited on 'em and they were devoted to us, and we got a lot of support from the community and from outsiders too.

- [Bob] Pat Melvin hired manager Randy Harris to succeed him, and I couldn't wait to ask Harris about the legendary quality and source of Melvins' beef.

- We only have two foods we sell, so yes, it's important.

People don't realize the effort that goes into it.

They think you just buy meat and cook it, and that's just not what happens.

This is out of the Midwest, but we guarantee now we have the same meat every day.

- [Bob] Of course, that includes the top-notch, all beef hot dogs you would expect, carefully steamed before going into the buns and getting toppings.

- If somebody needs something, there's a hand going out to give it to 'em.

Whether it's the meat, the slaw, whatever.

- [Bob] Harris says Melvins' became sort of famous around the world because of soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg, who spread the word in many parts of the globe during deployments.

There's even the anecdote of foreign born Learjet pilots training in the Washington, DC area who mentioned wanting a great American burger, and were flown down to Elizabethtown to experience Melvins'.

Terri Dennison is involved in the area's tourism.

Melvins' has got to be just a wonderful brand and a wonderful stimulus to the whole area.

- Oh, it absolutely is.

Everybody who comes to Elizabethtown, most of 'em are coming to visit Melvins'.

They've heard about Melvins', they've seen it's one of the top 100 hamburgers.

They want to come here and then they get to explore the rest of the town.

So it works wonderful for us.

- Dennison pointed out that Elizabethtown recently celebrated its 250th anniversary, which leads almost into the beginning of the nation's 250th anniversary celebration.

Just keep it simple.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, cookies, chips, drink.

I'm gonna try the hot dog first.

Oh man, that all beef hot dog.

Everything that sets it off, wonderful.

By the way, the slaw is a pretty tightly held secret around here.

Now, for many years they didn't even do cheeseburgers here because it slowed everything down, so in the spirit of the original deal, I've got a hamburger, mustard, chili, onions, and slaw.

[crowd murmuring] All that talk about the quality of that Midwestern ground beef, I see what they're talking about.

That is spectacular.

So since they don't have fries, because it slows things down.

The chips fill the bill and also give you something to scoop up your slaw and chili with.

They have four varieties of house-made cookies.

This one happens to be a macadamia nut.

[upbeat music] You can really see why Melvins' has been such an iconic institution since 1938, I'm only sorry it took me this long to get here.

"Southern Living's" top 20 burger joints and our state magazine's Top 100 things to eat in 100 North Carolina counties.

Don't let it take too long for you to get to Melvin's.

[upbeat music] - Melvins' Hamburgers and Hot Dogs is at 133 West Broad Street in Elizabethtown, and they're open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m.

to 5:30 p.m.

To find out more, give them a call at [910] 862-2763, or check them out on Facebook.

Well that's it for tonight's show.

We've had a great time bringing these flavors to you, and remember, if you've missed anything in tonight's show, you can always watch it again online at pbsnc.org.

and you can find all of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

[bright music] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm out state has to offer.