J.K.'s runs hot and coals.

• Author: McKee, Marilyn Spencer
• Position: J,K.'s Restaurant - Company profile

You just about can't ride through Rocky Mount without having your nostrils assailed by the sweet smell of hickory smoke and Eastern North Carolina barbecue. But for a change of pace, you might want to take U.S. 301 Bypass North and sniff a little of the mesquite aroma hanging in the air around J.K.'s.

Better still, stop in and savor grilled salmon as you sip Chardonnay and listen to live music -- something you can't do at Bob Melton's Barbecue.

The beginnings of this popular restaurant can be traced to its namesake and founder, James Kirkpatrick Norfleet. The Winston-Salem native -- who spent 12 years in Texas, part of that time as president of an oil company -- discovered what mesquite could do for meat long before it became the rage.

Mesquite's magic is that it makes coals so hot the meat is seared, sealing in the juices. Norfleet banked on the idea that this grilling technique would spread like wildfire in his home state, so when he moved to the Outer Banks in the early '80s, he decided to fuel its popularity with his own restaurant. He opened the original J.K.'s Restaurant at Kill Devil Hills in 1984.

Three Rocky Mount natives, Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner and his brothers, Gerry and Frederick Gardner, joined Norfleet as partners to open Rocky Mount's J.K.'s in 1986, and it has become as hot as, well, a mesquite fire. (The one in Kill Devil Hills got even hotter. It burned down in 1990.)

J.K.'s Southwestern decor reflects Norfleet's years in the Houston area. On the Wednesday night we visited, a band was playing in the small lounge that's separate enough from the dining rooms not to disturb those at dinner. On warm nights, lounge patrons can sit out on the courtyard terrace.

As requested, a table awaited us indoors. But finding a parking space was a chore. J.K.'s is surrounded by a parking lot, but it apparently won't accommodate all the vehicles that come with a full house.

While mulling over the choices and the wine list -- something our server gave us plenty of time to do -- my dinner partner and I wasted a few calories on a basket of J.K.'s "croutonized" bread. We decided maybe it's a pre-dinner teaser whose time never should have, or will, come.

For an appetizer, I couldn't resist the Outer Banks-style crab cakes, which the menu promised would be made from fresh lump crab meat and served with J.K.'s special seafood sauce.

Having snared crab cakes whenever possible over the past 15 years, I must say these two small patties did not make my...