TV Restaurants

Is Skylight Inn Still Open? Food Paradise Update (Ayden, NC)

Food Paradise, Season 4 Ayden, North Carolina

Current status

Open

As of October 2026, Skylight Inn is open — confirmed via Yelp, September 2026.

What the source shows: A Yelp listing for the Ayden, NC location, updated in September 2026, shows the restaurant active with 279 reviews and currently accepting reservations. How we decide a status →

What happened after Food Paradise? 2 episodes

Food Paradise, Season 4, Episode 3 Aired

Food Paradise's "Barbecue Paradise 2: Another Rack" (2012, season 4) featured Skylight Inn BBQ's whole-hog barbecue technique, cooked over wood coals and hand-chopped for its sandwiches. According to Wikipedia (revised 2026-03-15), Skylight Inn BBQ is a barbecue restaurant in Ayden, North Carolina, founded by Pete Jones in 1947 and known for specializing in whole-hog barbecue. On 2026-09-08, the skylightinnbbq.com website advertised nationwide shipping via Goldbelly under the tagline "Since 1947," indicating the business continues operating under the same name at its Ayden, North Carolina location.

Man v. Food, Season 4, Episode 24 Aired

Skylight Inn BBQ is a whole-hog, hickory-smoked barbecue restaurant in Ayden, North Carolina, known for its finely chopped pork served with a vinegar-based sauce and topped with crackling skin, plus barbecue chicken, slaw, and cornbread. According to Wikipedia (revised 2026-03-15), the restaurant was founded by Pete Jones in 1947 and is topped with a replica of the U.S. Capitol dome; the Jones family — son Bruce, nephew Jeff, and grandson Sam — still runs the pits. The business has kept operating in the years since.

A Yelp listing updated in September 2026 showed the restaurant with 279 reviews and noted it was then accepting reservations at its 4618 S. Lee Street location. The restaurant's own website, skylightinnbbq.com, remained live as of a 2026-09-08 check and continued to advertise nationwide shipping of its barbecue through Goldbelly.

The episodes Food Paradise

Episode 3
Aired
Title: Barbecue Paradise 2: Another Rack · What was featured: Whole hog barbecue and hand-chopped pork sandwiches
Man v. Food, Season 4, Episode 24
Aired
What was featured: Eastern North Carolina whole-hog barbecue tradition
How Food Paradise restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 4 Food Paradise

Season 4: 134 of 199 still open · 12 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 26 Season 4 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 4618 S Lee St

All 99 TV restaurants in North Carolina →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 4 references

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylight_Inn_BBQ
  2. skylightinnbbq.com http://www.skylightinnbbq.com/
  3. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/skylight-inn-bbq-ayden
  4. skylightinnbbq.com https://www.skylightinnbbq.com/home
See something wrong?

We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.

Tell us →

Share

Record mvf-266 · checked by Cal Marchetti.