After only a year of operating out at Boxyard RTP, Lawrence Barbecue owner Jake Wood knew his highly acclaimed restaurant was outgrowing its small shipping container space. And yet for roughly two and a half more years his team figured out ways to make things work, “bending over backwards to attack the volume we faced,” he says.

But a lack of space isn’t an issue he’ll have to contend with, for now at least. On September 19, Lawrence Barbecue reopened in its new space on Cedar Street in downtown Cary, an expansive 4,900-square-foot space that includes a large indoor dining and bar area, an outdoor patio, and dedicated bathrooms, none of which the previous location had. 

Wood had gotten several opportunities to move to a bigger space, but none felt like the right move. He says that when the opportunity for this new location in Cary “popped up,” the city was initially not on his radar.

“We were never thinking Cary at all,” Wood explains. “It wasn’t a place that we came to, because for forever there wasn’t really much around.”

That all changed when he finally paid the empty space a visit and saw just how much the city had grown. It was a Wednesday afternoon, and the old sleepy Cary he remembered from growing up was gone.

“It was hot,” he says of how busy downtown was during the middle of the week. “I had no idea a lot of this stuff was happening.” The impression gave him and his wife, Brandi, the confidence to finally take the leap and move from their cramped shipping container quarters to Cary. 

“​​It’s like what Lawrence Barbecue was meant to be when I was thinking of it, six years ago,” he says of the new spot, “and now we’re here.”

Wood opened Lawrence Barbecue at RTP in the summer of 2021. He’d spent years in the fine dining world at the now-closed Plates Neighborhood Kitchen and 18 Seaboard before, but felt compelled to dive into the more casual world of barbecue. 

“That’s what I did at home when I wasn’t at work, if I was cooking, grilling, smoking using my little Walmart smoker out back,” he says, noting that he “learned how to [make barbecue] by reading books and watching YouTube videos.”

He’s quick to point out that he does things differently than most, serving different styles of barbecue under one roof, focusing more on whether people are smiling and if his team is enjoying themselves than focusing on, say, how a brisket “should be done.” That laid-back backyard mentality is at the center of Wood’s ethos, which is all about chilling out and enjoying yourself. 

Credit: Photo by Anna Barzin

This mindset shows up throughout the space in various ways but is especially obvious in his menu, which features a seemingly eclectic mix of barbecue, oysters, and tacos, which shouldn’t make sense together but do.

“People love oysters, people love barbecue, people love tacos, and we’ve created a way that they all work together,” he says. “And the root of it is just, like, finding joy, having fun, being relaxed, and enjoying yourself.”

“Whatever you want to come in here and do, I think we can touch on that,” he continues. “One of our slogans is proudly serving all y’all, everybody, for all reasons, at the same time.”

Wood is keeping many of the fan favorites from the original location, like his wildly popular brisket quesabirria tacos, Duke oysters from his friends at N. Sea. Oysters in Topsail Beach, and smoked meat platters.

New additions like the chili crisp cheese tots smothered with a roasted poblano queso and BBQ shrimp cocktail will join the menu in Cary. Wood says he likes the new tortas using Mexican bolillo rolls for bread “better than the tacos.”

He’s also carrying over his signature “leisure beverages” for the bar program, including the Leisureland Lager from Trophy Brewing. “We just wanted to have really simple, boozy, delicious beverages that are fun and that had fun names,” he says, noting that their frozen “N’icees” will return to the menu in the spring.

There’s a lot to love, both about the way Wood operates and the kind of food he makes. And now that he’s won over by Cary, his enthusiasm for what he hopes to build for the community is infectious. 

“Our goal, our only goal, is to just become a staple in this community and be a go-to for people for all different reasons,” he says. “I really just want to get involved and play a part in all the special things that happen [in Cary].”

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