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Carolina BBQ Olga - Barbecue smoked pork, cheddar, pickle, onion straws

Mike Kosloski

When it comes to barbecue, tradition often rules. It’s refreshing to find an updated format for delivering that craveable barbecue flavor. At Olga’s Kitchen, a Greek-based family restaurant chain, the Carolina BBQ Olga starts with tender pork shoulder slow-smoked over hickory wood with a tangy, mustard-based Carolina barbecue sauce. It’s topped with cheddar cheese, dill pickles and crispy fried onions, and wrapped in Olga’s flatbread.

Mike Kosloski, VP of Operations, says the Carolina BBQ Olga is one of his favorites. “It’s packed full of flavor, from the hickory-smoked pork to the tangy, smoky, spicy and sweet barbecue sauce, dill pickles, crispy fried onions to the slightly sweet Olga bread,” he says. “When creating a dish with so many strong flavors, it’s really easy to lose the balance you need for it to be great—this is balanced but at the same time very bold.” One extension of this dish could be to turn it into an open-faced option: “That would make it an Olga, a salad and a flatbread all in one. It’s a pretty exciting idea for us.”

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