By Joanna O’Leary<\/strong><\/p> At Belly of the Beast BBQ in Dover-Foxcroft, smoke gets in your eyes \u2014 in a good way. On any given day, pitmaster and owner Nathan Emerson has multiple smokers going outside to fulfill his restaurant\u2019s mission: \u201cTo get you the absolute highest quality BBQ as quickly as possible!\u201d\u00a0<\/p> Given that the unofficial golden rule of barbecue is \u2018low and slow,\u2019 this statement is initially a bit jarring, but Emerson\u2019s promise refers to his dedication to serving customers fresh, hot Central Texas-style fare in a timely fashion. <\/p> To do so, Emerson has dedicated years of his life to studying the minutiae of quality barbecue, the execution of which on a daily basis requires hours of fastidious preparation. <\/p> \u201cI\u2019m a huge barbecue nerd,\u201d Emerson said. \u201cMy goal is to introduce people in the area to a barbecue style that doesn\u2019t include everything being sauced but mainly uses smoke and salt and pepper to provide the flavor.\u201d <\/p> Diners will tell you Emerson has achieved his goal. The menu rotates regularly, but on any given day patrons can choose between quarter, half, and full pound portions of juicy cuts including sliced brisket, boneless pork ribs, turkey, and pulled pork and chicken. <\/p> For an additional two bucks, any of the aforementioned can be made into a sandwich, however, we suggest you fulfill your RDCA (Recommended Daily Carbohydrate Allotment \u2014 it\u2019s a technical term) by rounding out your plate with some of their unctuous coleslaw or honey cornbread. Pro tip: if a vegetarian happens to be in your party, they can easily make a meal of the aforementioned, especially when paired with the restaurant\u2019s zesty ranch coleslaw and hearty Mexican corn salad. And, if there\u2019s still room in your belly after all that beast, end the meal on a sweet note in the form of a carrot cake whoopie pie or cornbread cookie with honey buttercream. <\/p> But that\u2019s just a taste of what Belly of the Beast has right now. Emerson has big plans for expanding his offerings \u2014 word on the street is that pork belly cinnamon rolls and a \u201cbuild your own baked potato\u201d may be coming soon. <\/p> Word to the wise: Belly of the Beast is officially open until 8 p.m., but they regularly sell out completely by late afternoon. Check the official Facebook page for updates or call ahead to prevent going home empty-handed.<\/p> Originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of Bangor Metro magazine.<\/em><\/p> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At Belly of the Beast BBQ in Dover-Foxcroft, smoke gets in your eyes \u2014 in a good way…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-featured"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":45,"label":"Food & Drink"}],"post_tag":[{"value":49,"label":"Featured"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/top-view-of-a-succulent-barbecue-meat-platter-featuring-sausages-brisket-and-corn-perfect-for-foodies.-12034465-683x1024.jpg",683,1024,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Amy Allen","author_link":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/author\/amy"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":45,"name":"Food & Drink","slug":"food","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":45,"category_count":7,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Food & Drink","category_nicename":"food","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":49,"name":"Featured","slug":"featured","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":49,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":9,"filter":"raw"}],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/top-view-of-a-succulent-barbecue-meat-platter-featuring-sausages-brisket-and-corn-perfect-for-foodies.-12034465-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/top-view-of-a-succulent-barbecue-meat-platter-featuring-sausages-brisket-and-corn-perfect-for-foodies.-12034465-600x600.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangormetro.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}