Best BBQ in Richmond, VA
What's everybody's thoughts on the best BBQ places in Richmond, VA? I've been to the following:
Scale 1-10
1) Benny's (7)
2) Chillin & Grillin (7)
3) Famous Dave's (8)
4) Bill's BBQ (4)
5) Hanks (7)
6) Andy's (7, BBQ only)
7) Red Hot & Blue (7)
8) Smokey Pig (6, WAY over-rated)
9) Allmans (7)
10) Dunn's Drive-Inn (5)
Still lookin' for the place that's just awesome.
Thanks,
Mark
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I went to Saucy's BBQ in Petersburg today. It was great. Its a little Q joint made out of a shipping container. For real. Check it out.
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re: PenskeFan
I stopped at Saucy's on my way to Norfolk last week and was disappointed by it. Though their sauce was good - vinergary, not what I expected - their shipping container seems to belie that they are reheating, not barbecuing on site. The ribs were actually quite meaty and had a reasonable crust. The pulled pork and beef was reheated and pretty tasty. They have a few tables with umbrellas.
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For me the best is King's BBQ http://www.kingsfamousbarbecue.com/ although it is just south of Petersburg.
Best in Richmond area for me is Q.
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re: NXS
Has anyone tried Willie's? It is outside of Richmond in Bottoms Bridge off of I-64. Looks like it may be a good q joint.
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Phat boyz in Glen Allen next to Green Top has EXCELLENT bbq....everything is made fresh there and the smell of the outside smoker will draw you in...well worth it...www.phatboyzbbq.com
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re: AMFM
Richmond seems to have a lot of BBQ places that are just meh. But saying Famous Dave's BBQ is the best is like saying Olive Garden is the best Italian in Richmond. Ludicrous! Buz & Ned's is okay as well. Their price is so high, it doesn't seem worth it. Best bang for your buck for BBQ I have found is 2 places in Midlothian, VA - Q's next to Walmart and the Virginia BBQ Company on Busy St. off of Hugeneot Rd. Again, I think you gotta go to Texas for good BBQ, we really don't have anything that is out of this world. It's all meh. I've been to Benny's also,, and just thought it was okay. For BBQ it just makes sense to go wherever it is convenient for you. Not much variation if you ask me.
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I spent last weekend in Richmond visiting form NYC and I was on the lookout for awesome barbecue. Here's what I ate:
On Friday we had an awesome lunch at Comfort. I had a special sliced beef sandwich that was unreal! The slices were so thin and rare it was like carpaccio. Just delicious with excellent sides. I really dug the vibe and found the service from both owner and staff friendly and engaging. These people are doing great things with comfort food, period. Glad to finally join the fan club.
On Saturday we decided on Benny's. While the atmosphere simple and service friendly, the food was totally forgettable. The pork and beef were both very dry and the ribs were missing that smoke/ juicy fat rush that makes you say wow. I had high hopes but ultimately it proved a real disappointment. Hopefully next time I'm proved wrong.
On Sunday we weren't really looking for more 'Cue, but a friend from the area suggested Virginia Barbecue Company in Ashland. We had no idea it was a chain- or that this was the original location. Set in a simple tiny, 100+ year-old house, it feels worn but warm. There's only 4 tables in the place and one of them was occupied by nice older woman chomping on a pulled-pork sandwich. I got the sampler of brisket, carolina and virginia pork. Wow. The brisket, while not very smoky, was tender and juicy. The carolina pork was the most spot-on I've had outside on NC, and the Virginia pork was a revelation- salty and rich with surprisingly subtle tomato and spice.
Now this is a chain so I don't know how legit it is... or whether they even cook it on location. However, I do know that it was delicious and I'd stop there again in a heartbeat if I happened to be tooling around north of Richmond.
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Virginia Barbecue
11552 Busy St, Richmond, VA 23236›2 Replies -
Big Daddy's 9
Benny's 8
Q bbq 8Buz and Ned's to me isn't that great. Love Bennys (esp. their bread pudding, yum!) But I really like Big Daddy's which is a tinnny place on Jahnke Rd. You can only pick up, you can't eat in, but everything there is sooo good and tender. I usually get the NCarolina BBQ (although they have great regular Q) and their corn fritters are amazing. Q BBQ is located near the Walmart/ Sams on Midlo near Midlo high school. They have really fresh BBQ, and I like the atmosphere and graphics of the whole place.
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re: LovingLimes
MandalayVA
Feb 15, 2010 12:03 PM
I wasn't that impressed with Q. I think I went in there with my expectations too high so I may have to try it again. Benny's and PQ's are the best.
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I find it interesting that no one has mention Extra Billy's on Broad St. It's been awhile since I've been but really liked their ribs. They have very good brisket for the area and do sausage too. http://www.extrabillys.com/
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Hands down the best BBQ, ribs, chicken, brisket you will ever eat. Don't believe me? Check the owner/chef out on the show BBQ Pitmasters on TLC. They place well above all the other "BBQ states" in the nation on quite a regular basis.
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P Q's Bbq
13579 Midlothian Tpke, Midlothian, VA 23113›1 Reply -
A week ago, Raymond Sokolov wrote a column in the Wall St. Journal on Richmond BBQ. He only covered two places but was ecstatic about Hank's. Buzz and Ned's got a nod for their ribs but not their brisket sandwich. I haven't been to either place but was posting this to add to the conversation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
Off topic, he also had accolades for Millie's and, having been there for a weekend breakfast, I would concur.
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mikebmassey
Jun 25, 2009 07:24 AM
Buz and Ned's. Hands down the best BBQ I have ever had. Incredible.
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re: junkifunki
i agree 100%. awesome pit out back. great mustard based potato salad among other things. really nice employees. there's a great meal deal for under 10 bucks. sandwich, two sides, desert, and drink. its a paper bag that feels like it has to weigh at least 5 pounds. i get them to cut the sandwich into 2 pieces and i have never had a problem with it feeding 2 people.
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re: Janet from Richmond
He can definitely be rude and abrasive. Got to the point where I wouldn't call the place anymore (which I guess was his goal, but since some people were still able to do call ahead takeout even after I was told they dont do it anymore, who knows )
Of course, other BBQ owners have also been mocking him lately too, on the time it took to open the new place.
For me, I like his beef ribs a lot, enough to where I just suck it up and buy some every so often; because doing beef ribs at home on my smoker would be a lot of time and effort. So even if he can be a miserable cuss at times, he is saving me a lot of work for my beef rib fix
But I would be a regular as opposed to a once or twice a year visitor like I am now if he wasn't, well, who he is.
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Had some TASTY ribs at Q's
Smoky and the sauce is on the side the brisket is Ok and the pulled pork better, but its the ribs that keep me going.
Is in a strip mall but the smoking is done there (you can smell it when you go in)
Has anyone else tried?
Q Barbeque
www.qbarbeque.com›1 Reply -
There's a parking lot in the plaza across from Beulah Elementary school (corner of Hopkins and Beulah rd) where they have a guy out there barbecuing ribs, pulled pork, etc and I've heard it's delicious! They're out there every Friday and Saturday during the summer (maybe even Sundays, but I'm not sure). They start up pretty early, too, it seems. I passed by there around 11AM one day and they were there. The hours are on a huge sign at the intersection. You can see it best coming from Beulah crossing over Hopkins when the gas station is on your left and the parking lot with the grilling is on your right.
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re: kcl060
actually yea, that's true. his sauce pretty much sucks but he does good ribs without any sauce at all. Just got some today. His pulled pork is awesome too, but the sauce is just lacking...take it home and doctor it up...he's gotten expensive tho in terms of ribs. $9 for a half a rack...c'mon. no sides, no restaurant rent, pass on the savings, man
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Naco
Mar 6, 2009 07:56 AM
What does everyone mean by VA-style bbq? The bbq that I have when I'm up in Virginia is identical to eastern NC bbq as far as I can tell. The only odd man out that I've seen is beef bbq done in eastern nc sauce, but even at that, ENC style pork seems to be more popular by far.
Anyway, I'm a huge fan of K&L Barbecue in Hopewell and the Stony Creek Tastee Hut in Stony Creek.
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re: kcl060
Naco
Aug 1, 2009 05:16 PM
Where have you had tomato based barbecue sauce in Virginia? I've eaten bbq at a fair few places in the Tidewater and the southern Piedmont, and with the exception of obviously nouvelle places like Buz and Ned's, it's always been eastern NC style. Even at places that serve beef bbq, like K&L, they use an eastern NC sauce on it.
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I was just driving through this past week and the wife and I stopped by to try Buzz and Ned's. We were both somewhat disappointed after seeing all of the stuff on TV and on the web.. We got a half rack of ribs, a pork sandwich and a chicken sandwich. The ribs were well smoked and had a good texture they were burnt when finished/sauced on the grill. Also my wife and I did not like the sauce which had way to much honey for our tastes (native North Carolinians). As for the pulled pork and chicken, again both seemed to be well smoked but the sauce did it in. The sides were nothing special and were of similar quality of other BBQ joints we've been to (we had cole slaw, onion rings and hush puppies).
My recommendation is order the items without the sauce or on the side. This way you can control the sweetness that can over power the pork. Personally I would do like we did for the few years we lived in Colorado and that was bring our own NC style sauce (i.e. vinegar based). We had a place that used traditional hickory smoking but the sauce just was just too sweet like we experienced at buzz and Ned's.
All in all I would say Buzz and Ned's does a good job on their smoking but we feel the rest of the menu is typical. Would we eat there again? If we are going through Richmond around meal time and felt like BBQ we probably will. Of course we would ask to have the sauce left off. Would we make special plans to go there? Probably not.›3 Replies -
Virginia Barbeque Company is by far THE BEST. Great NC and VA style BBQ. Check out the link below for more information and franchise opportunity. My second choice is Benny's BBQ.
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Check out Grandpa Eddie's out West Broad Street - in Goochland - http://www.grandpaeddiesbbq.com/
I just tried the KC's Famous Burnt Ends Sandwich - great smoked flavor. Good service.
I'd go to Grandpa Eddie's over Bill's BBQ any day (had Bill's yesterday). Haven't tried the others yet for comparison.
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re: CutYou
BackyardChef
Jun 29, 2007 08:14 AM
I'd second that. They are serious about their bbq and spend alot of time making sure that it is up to snuff. I'd give them a shot......
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re: CutYou
Please note, we have moved from our Goochland location to the corner of Three Chopt and Cox Roads, at 11129 Three Chopt. We are now also open 7 days a week. New phone number is 804-270-RIBS (7427). website is www.GrandpaEddiesBBQ.com and there is a map there to the new location. Thanks!
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Grandpa Eddies Barbecue
11129 Three Chopt Rd, Richmond, VA 23233
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In my opinion Benny's is the best, hands down, especially if you get it with their sweat potato casserole. It's fresh, and very tasty. You should check out Buzz and Ned's, their bbq is quite good also. It's sort of interesting that Famous Daves got a higher rating than Benny's.
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Where is Benny's? It is ludicrous that Richmond has only fair midwest-style BBQ, and almost no decent VA-NC style. Buz&Neds, for example, is decent, but not local. Brocks in Colonial Heights is OK, but its not in Richmond. Where are the old country boys cookin' it up?
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Haven't tried Benny's, but the others fail, most miserably, at producing barbecue. Roasted and/or boiled meat with (maybe) a little smoke blown over it doesen't make barbecue. For some reason real barbecue is hard to find in the Commonwealth. They've been raising and cookin' pigs there for 400 years! Is Allman's still open?
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