Aunt B’s ‘Beast Burger’ to be unveiled in Bladenboro

BLADENBORO – There is a safe place to hide out, kick back and grab some homemade grub when the weather is inclement or the beast makes an appearance at the 2025 Beast Fest Oct. 24-25 in downtown Bladenboro hosted by “Boost The Boro” economic development group.

Shannon and Bridget Todd, owners of Aunt B’s Country Kitchen in Bladenboro are excited about the upcoming Beast Fest and say that there is an estimated 10,000 people that will attend this year and plans are to open early and run both the hot dog cart at the festival and their regular menu at the restaurant – with a twist.

“We’ll stay open late Friday night (Oct. 24) and Saturday (Oct. 25) we will open early and stay open until 10 p.m.,” Bridget Todd said. “I am thinking about doing more of the fair type foods and desserts over there at the festival. Things like funnel cake fries and fried Honey buns.”

The twist comes as the Todds are working out a way to have a mobile waitress who will take an order at the festival and then put the order in at the restaurant. When the food is ready, there can be a delivery or carry out from the restaurant. Instead of UberEATS, it will be like a Aunt B’s-EATS.

Shannon Todd who helps out in the restaurant and runs the hot dog cart expects it to be very busy this coming weekend and says that their employees have been bracing for the influx of people. As far as he can describe – he is only in charge of his body from the shoulders down while his wife controls everything from the neck up.

“I tell everybody I’m a grunt,” he said. “She points and I ‘oink.’”

This year the restaurant is unleashing their newest and biggest burger called The Beast Burger and they tag it with the slogan, “Taste The Beast.”

“It’s an 8-ounce beef patty,” Shannon Todd remarked. “It’s got 5 ounces of barbecued pork on it, three strips of bacon, homemade crispy-fried onions topped with a special drizzle of my barbecue sauce. It’s so big, we have to stick a knife down through it to hold it together.”

“We’ve been staying busy,” she said. “We’ve got our hot dog cart going this month and have been at the Columbus County Fair. I make a red onion topping for the Jesse James hot dogs mixed with a little spicy brown mustard. I think it’s called a Chicago Dog. Now… while the crowd is fighting the crowd at the end of a night and they are hungry, that is a great time to swing by and pay us a visit. I am putting together, in addition to The Beast Burger, a new wing sauce for Friday and Saturday – and we sell a LOT of chicken wings. This one I am working on is going to be a chipotle dragon fruit sauce. This will only be available during Beast Fest.”

“I was thinking of calling it ‘beast breath’ wing sauce,” Shannon Todd said with a smile. “Oh, and if you are afraid of the beast, don’t worry, my daughter caught it. If you don’t believe me, just ask her. If anyone asks her, she gives them this long tale about how she killed it.”

For a good tale and a local legend, ask for Gracie Todd.

The last time Aunt B’s was in the news was last Christmas where they did something that most businesses do not do. They invited their entire community over on Christmas Eve for Christmas dinner.

And… not a potluck meal, but fully cooked with the wishes of a young couple that has decided in their hearts that they not only love their community, but want to give back.

This is the couple’s first official restaurant as they have been in food service, but it began with a hot dog cart.

“We had our hot dog cart about three years,” Bridget said. “And we have worked our way up to a brick-and-mortar building. So, January will be two years that we’ve been here.”

The business is in one of the downtown buildings that were rebuilt from the floodwaters of both Matthew and Florence. From the ashes came beauty and in the midst of the beauty comes a spirit to give back.

They will once again do a Community Christmas meal this year.

“It was laid on our hearts, now that we are in town, we can see there is a lot of need here,” she said. “There is a lot of people can benefit from what we are proposing. We are going to have our family here, it’s going to be a homecooked meal and it’s for anybody that needs it, or handicapped or simply doesn’t want to spend Christmas alone.”

It is a no-strings attached act of goodwill. No presents or food or money required, only someone who wants to share in this historic downtown event. The Todds have invited a community not only to come for a meal, but to come and be a part of their family for Christmas.

“This year, I want to do a toy drive all weekend at Beast Fest,” she said. “Whoever brings a new toy in a box will get an order of funnel cake fries. That will be the toy drive for our Christmas Eve dinner. Last year we had Santa Claus come and we did not expect but just a few kids. We had a ton of kids come. We want to have something that Santa can give each child. We will kick off the toy drive during Beast Fest and then have it going all the way until Christmas Eve dinner.”

The restaurant that is a popular place for locals has home cooked meals at a very reasonable price – and on Christmas Eve you can’t do better than a free family gathering.

As for the future of Aunt B’s – the couple say that they want to grow it and they want it to be a destination spot for people when they come to Bladenboro – and perhaps be a place for people to come to eat and find the quaintness of Bladenboro’s shops and activities.

“I hope, maybe this is the start to more Aunt B’s” she said. “It will always be our hometown spot.”

When one thinks of Aunt Bea, the thoughts tend for an older generation to drift back to the mythical town of Mayberry from the ‘60s television show “The Andy Griffith Show.”

“When I was younger, I worked at a little diner,” she said. “My name being Bridget, I was just always known as Aunt B and it stuck. So, when I started my hot dog cart and back into the food industry, I just decided to stick with Aunt B.

Shannon was born in Columbus County and Bridget was born in Bladenboro. Born, North Carolina friendly and able to give back at a young age. That is a good recipe for a tasty restaurant.

If you would like to know more about the hometown Bladenboro family Christmas dinner, please call the Todds at 910- 809-0133. The restaurant is located at 131 Main Street in Bladenboro, North Carolina.