It’s hours are limited and so are its days of service, but the best things in life are worth the wait. Prime Barbecue is all about the pursuit of craft and community.
“It was something I knew I always wanted to do, and you know it slowly progressed as I got older,” Christopher Prieto told WRAL. “It was really in college is when it hit me like this is what I want to do for a living.”
Prieto is the pitmaster and owner of Prime in Knightdale. A restaurant he started against the odds in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“I really feel barbecue is a destination. It’s always in the small towns that raises the tide, that raises all the other boats, and I was called to the area of Knightdale. By calling, I mean my faith drove me here,” Prieto explained.
A sign reads “BBQ is not a sauce” near the counter at Prime. A counter whose line forms at Prime’s opening time at 11:00am and stays full until closing or when they sell out. For Prieto BBQ isn’t just a food, it’s a story.
“I think that’s what food does, especially barbecue, is it brings communities together,” Prieto said. “It’s the only food in my opinion where the health of the restaurant is the diversity of the clientele.”
Prieto has Puetro Rican roots, was raised in Texas and went to college at ECU. His barbecue style is a reflection of his life.
“What you’re eating is a lot of failure and long nights,” Prieto said. “What you’re eating is a lifetime of experience.”
Prieto mastered his craft through 14 years competing and traveling on the barbecue circuit. For Prieto, barbecue is an art and a science where no detail is left unturned. From the smokers he uses, to the type of wood.
“Barbecue is the same process of using a live fire to break down the collagen in the meat until it gets to a certain tenderness from that temperature,” Prieto explained.
Details like aged pecan wood and someone in the building at all hours tending to the meat helps set Prime’s barbecue apart, but for Prieto hospitality is the real differentiator.
“So we ask the question: Not how can we make really great food? We ask first, how can we love people really well? How do they feel seen, loved, and valued in a restaurant?” Prieto said.
Prime is closed on Sundays so his employees can have a full day with their family and to attend church. It’s closed on Monday to prepare for the week. At Prime you’re likely to be greeted by Prieto himself as he personally checks on new guests and regulars.
“I have a family. When I go out, I just want to be seen, loved, and valued, and taken care of,” Prieto said.
Prieto makes it a point to serve military veterans at his restaurant. On Veterans Day they eat free. He has toy soldiers for kids to play with and for parents to reflect upon the sacrifices made so they can enjoy a meal. In the kitchen is a special chef’s table where veterans can enjoy a sponsored meal.
“In reciprocation of duty, I use my platform to honor them,” Prieto explained. “We pull them out of line or their family can reserve it and we do a whole red carpet ceremony. It’s really, really special.”
Another kindred spirit for Prieto is athletes. Prime has become a go to destination for the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Chris is just amazing,” Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield said. “Honestly the history and traditions of the plates that he has is unbelievable.
“Chatfield has become Prime regular. A wall in the kitchen is filled with signatures from Canes players who have eaten there like Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Jordan Staal to name a few. Jaccob Slavin is the player who really started the bond. The relationship started when Prieto catered an event at Slavin’s house.
“I was actually going to the restroom and there’s a Fathead…of a Canes player staring at me,” Prieto remembered with a smile. “So I came out of that restroom laughing with a group of people going, ‘This person’s got a fat head of a Canes player in their bathroom,’ and Jaccob’s literally standing beside me.”
Great things have humble beginnings. Prieto and Jaccob have not only become friends they are business partners.
“To be in the restaurant world is never something I thought I would do,” Slavin said. “At the same time Chris doesn’t see it as a business, he sees it as a ministry, so it was easy for me to join along side of him.”
Slavin and Prieto are opening Prime STQ, a steakhouse coming to Durham spring of 2027.
“It was just kind of like a light bulb moment of let’s do a restaurant together, let’s live life together, let’s make this where we can love on the community together,” Prieto said.
Prieto has catered and hosted several of the Canes Stanley Cup celebration events and yes they’ve eaten barbecue out of the cup. Prieto has his own hardware from his barbecue competition awards, to the prestigious James Beard award and the Michelin Bib Gourmand.
“Michelin is a lot of components,” Prieto explained. “You’re shopped for many years. The shoppers are very discreet.”
Turns out being a pitmaster and a NHL defenseman is more similar than you’d think.
“I really mesh well with people that have a competitive spirit,” Prieto said. “We lock in because they know how competitive I am with creating great barbecue, but also in my game that I play is creating the best experience, really taking hospitality to that new level, and that’s really my focus here in this community.”
