King’s Restaurant of Kinston is known for its famous barbecue, but a new product is expected to expand the brand.

“A few months a customer took his chewing gum out of his mouth and placed it on the side of his plate before eating his meal,” said King’s owner/operator Joe Hargitt. “When the waitress went back to the table to take away the empty plates, the customer took his previously chewed gum – which was now sprinkled with bits of barbecue pork, bbq sauce, and slaw – and continued chewing it.”

At first, Hargitt thought the combination of seasoned barbecue pork and Juicy Fruit gum was repugnant, but upon further review, he saw it as an opportunity.

Avoid the box store blues with a visit to Blizzard Building Supply, located at 405 Walson Avenue, Kinston.

“We’re always looking for ways to further our reach into the marketplace,” Hargitt said. “Be it our nationwide bbq delivery service or our complimentary moist towelettes embossed with the likeness of radio host Bryan Hanks, we’re always looking for new ways to make people aware of what we do.”

Since the delivery service was an overwhelming success and the Bryan Hanks towelettes inadvertently gave farmers statewide a cheap alternative to scarecrows, Hargitt decided to take the plunge into vinegar-based confectionaries. After weeks of experimenting with different recipes, the staff of King’s restaurant produced Barbechew, the pulled pork lover’s gum.

“What we’re providing is really a service to the barbecue consumer who doesn’t want their culinary experience to end when they leave the restaurant,” said King’s public information officer Paulette Burroughs. “Wouldn’t a shot of barbecue help take the edge off of that brutal drive to work on Monday morning? How about those upcoming 12-hour graduation ceremonies? I can’t tell you how many fistfights could’ve been avoided at staff meetings if only everyone had a pack of King’s Barbechew in their pocket.”

Hargitt says King’s Barbechew is set to debut on March 15, while a few lucky customers will receive free samples beginning Feb. 28.

“Our preorders are through the roof,” Burroughs said. “The U.S. Military plans on dropping thousands of packs of Barbechew over the Middle East in an effort to quell unrest. After a few sticks of this stuff, the Taliban will beat their swords into forks and start grilling pigs en mass. The dried-up Euphrates will once again flow with currents of slaw and vinegar. Camel’s humps will fill with barbecue sauce. Tribes who have been at odds with each other for centuries will throw down their weapons and join forces to build aqueducts to transport sweet tea all over the land.”

For more information on King’s Barbechew, visit www.kingsbbq.com.

The entire archive of shows can be found at www.BryanHanks.com.