CURRITUCK COUNTY, N.C. — Going to and from the Outer Banks, it's hard to miss the big Currituck BBQ Company sign in Barco and the comfort food that keeps locals and visitors coming back. Rising beef costs are having impacts at restaurants all across the country, with owner Paul Robinson telling News 3 this is actually something he's been having to navigate for years.
"Beef has been especially high the last two years," said Robinson.
Robinson says supply chain disruptions go all the way back to COVID-19 for his restaurant and the Currituck Meat Market that he owns next door. But the past two years, that's been especially true for beef products.
"Ups and downs are really hard to manage when you're a mom and pop restaurant," said Robinson.
One of the largest challenges right now is the cost and access to brisket.
"We have had supply issues with just brisket as a whole. Our big supply issue that we're having, even right now that we don't have at all, is that we we can't get brisket points. We make our 'burnt ends' out of brisket points, and they've been unable to source for months now," said Robinson.
Rising costs and supply issues also led to price increases at the restaurant this spring.
"It's kind of one of those things you hate to do it, but at some point it just becomes a necessity in order to make sure that you can keep the doors open because there's just absolutely nothing getting cheaper right now," said Robinson.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics backs that up. Ground beef costs increased 10% from July 2025 to July of this year.
The good news is that there is still steady foot traffic at the restaurant. With the rising costs that every consumer is facing, Robinson feels that could in part be because of the weekly specials the restaurant offers.
"My one kind of two cents on it is that we run a few specials every week, and our specials have really really taken off, and I think that is because people are super price sensitive," said Robinson.
Robinson shares that another aspect could be their location.
"As far as overall demand, it's probably lagging some, but we're lucky enough that we're in a tourist area. I think people during the summer are a little less price sensitive, and so that's that's probably to our benefit," said Robinson.
There's always hope that things will change, but Robinson remains uncertain about where the supply chain and pricing of beef go from here.
"The thing that I feel hurts us the most is volatility. So as long as we have some stability in the pricing, then that becomes something that we can go off of," said Robinson.
For more information about Currituck BBQ Company, visit their website and Facebook page.
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