Scott's Cafe

Scott’s BBQ was listed in the Green Book from 1950-1951 as “Scott’s—404 Galley St.” under “Restaurants” in Goldsboro and from 1952-1955 as “Scott’s—404 Gully Street” under “Restaurants” in Goldsboro.¹

Scott’s Barbecue (also Scott’s Famous Barbeque, Scott’s Cafe, and the Scottereta) began over a century ago when Adam Scott, a minister, began serving barbeque from his back door in Goldsboro to a primarily white clientele. He eventually enclosed his porch and began serving barbecue every Saturday. Adam moved to Winston-Salem for a time in the 1940s to cook barbecue for a few private clients, most prominently R.J. Reynolds.²

With Adam in Winston-Salem, Alvin Martel Scott took over the family business in Goldsboro. Martel owned and operated Scott’s Cafe at 404 Gulley Street. By 1950, there were three locations: the original location on Mount Olive Highway, operated by Martel; Scotty’s Barbeque on Wilson Highway, operated by Martel’s brother, Ed; and a location on Raleigh Road operated by Adam Scott himself.³

Adam Scott was known for his unique barbecue sauce. Martel patented the sauce as Scott’s Famous Barbecue Sauce in 1946. Adam spent years developing the sauce but claimed that the final recipe came to him in a “vision.” The sauce, sold commercially in retail stores beginning in the 1940s, made Eastern North Carolina-style vinegar sauce available to barbecue lovers across the nation. In addition to the restaurant and commercial barbecue sauce sales, the Scotts offered catering to lodges, clubs, and churches, both locally and statewide. Famous patrons included Perry Como, North Carolina Governor J. Melville Broughton, Bob Hope, and Ava Gardner.⁴

Alvin Martel Scott, along with his wife, Ann, owned the Scott’s Barbecue location advertised in the Green Book. Martel born in Goldsboro in 1913. His mother, Bessie, was a school teacher. Martel lived in Atlantic City, South Carolina just before taking over the family business and served as that city’s mayor from 1940-1944. He continued to be involved in local and statewide fraternal, civic, and political matters upon his return to Goldsboro. He unsuccessfully sought the state-wide presidency for the Elks in  1954 and ran for the Goldsboro Board of Alderman in 1965. Martel ran Scott’s Barbecue until his death in 1992. Ann Marks Scott served as Scott’s Barbecue’s Chairman of the Board until her death in 2009.⁵

Although Scott’s barbecue restaurants are no longer open, the children and grandchildren of Martel and Ann Scott continue to operate the Scott Company today. The company produces Scott’s Barbecue sauce, which is now sold in retail stores nationwide.⁶

Scott’s Barbecue is featured on the website for African American Music Trails of North Carolina. Adam Scott was named to the National Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2022.⁷

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 62; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Victor Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 53; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53.
2. “A Great Scott–Adam,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), January 8, 1950, IV-7, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Jerry Bledsoe, “Barbecue: More to Say,” The Charlotte Observer, October 2, 1977,  1E, 6E, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Scott’s Barbecue Sauce (website), https://www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com.
3.  “A Great Scott–Adam,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), January 8, 1950, IV-7, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Jerry Bledsoe, “Barbecue: More to Say,” The Charlotte Observer, October 2, 1977,  1E, 6E, accessed from www.newspapers.com; Scott’s Barbecue Sauce (website), https://www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com.
4. “Scott’s Barbeque Caterers” (ad), The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), January 18, 1949, 15, accessed from www.newspapers.com;“Scott’s Barbecue Sauce” (ad), The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), May 7, 1954, 18, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
5.  “Scott’s Cafe” (ad), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), June 19, 1948, 7, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; Hill’s 1950-1951 Goldsboro City Directory, 38 (street listing), 233 (alphabetical listing); 1920 United States Federal Census, Ward 4, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Martel Scott,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1930 United States Federal Census, Ward 4, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “Alvin Scott,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; Alvin Martel Scott, September 9, 1912, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, US World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1940 United States Federal Census, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “A W Scott” or “A M Scott,” accessed from www.ancestry.com; 1950 United States Federal Census, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, digital image s.v. “A Martel Scott,” accessed from www.ancestry.com;  “Elks Re-Elect Kemp P. Battle at Gastonia Confab,” The Carolina Times (Durham, NC), May 29, 1954, 1, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org;  “Goldsboro Man to Run for Council,” The Carolinian, March 27, 1965, 4, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; Alvin Martel Scott Sr., July 26, 1992, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, US Death Indexes, 1908-2004, accessed from www.ancestry.com; “Alvin M. Scott” (obituary), The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), July 29, 1992, 14, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Ann M. Scott” (obituary), The News and Observer, August 3, 2009, 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
6.  Scott’s Barbecue Sauce (website), https://www.scottsbarbecuesauce.com; Sybil Scott Seward (obituary), The News and Observer, November 18, 2012, B5, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
7.  Bridget A. Lacy, “In the Heart of Eastern NC Barbecue Land, Scott’s has Served Up Pork Almost 100 years,” African American Music Trails of North Carolina, https://www.ncarts.org/aamt/lets-eat/goldsboro; “Adam Scott: 2022 Legacy Inductee," Barbecue Hall of Fame, https://www.americanroyal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Adam-Scott.pdf; “American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame 2022 Inductees Announced” (press release), May 25, 2022, https://www.americanroyal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-American-…;