Northern Virginia Q

I can recommend Dixie Bones in Woodbridge , VA. Excellent food, prompt service. This place is owner operated and is not a franchise. The Q is great. The sides are truly made on site from scratch.

Web Site
review

Welcome to the board, BchrisL! Dixie Bones has a nice website, too, and the menu looks great. But what are "Muddy Spuds"?

CanadaBBQGuy wrote:

Welcome to the board, BchrisL! Dixie Bones has a nice website, too, and the menu looks great. But what are "Muddy Spuds"?

Here is my deck out back. A large Big Green Egg (SEEN HERE COOKING A COUPLE OF BUTTS), a Char Grill gasser which does most of the cooking from day to day, and a small Weber ( mostly for steaks and catching ashes from the BGE. )

Sorry I know is is my first post. I have been lurking for quite a while though. I hang out sometimes on the BBQ CENTRAL forum.

I like to cook NC style BBQ. As a transplant from the Richmond VA area to Northern Virginia, we found there wasn't any good barbecue back in the early '80s when we move up here, so I started to try to learn to cook it myself.

I failed many times to achieve the results I had been accustomed to back home, but I kept trying. I collected many books on Q through the years, but it is Steve's book that has all the tears and smudges and the pencil marks from constant use. My big breakthrough came when the folks at the Manassas Presbyterian Church ask me to help out with their annual pig roast. I helped the late pit master John Booher who took the time to teach me the process of slow cooking. Between John's encouragement and Steve's book I have pretty much settled on my Q and it's sauce which is closely based on the vinegar sauce in BBQ Bible and a Lexington NC clone, but with some minor tweaks here and there.

It was Steve's book that finally gave me a little theory behind the use of spices that was the Rosetta Stone for making a good individual sauce from scratch.

BTY:
Muddy Spuds are baked potatoes that have been chopped with ranch dressing, chopped onions and grated cheddar cheese added and then they are baked again. It is the favorite side of the locals who frequent Dixie Bones often.

My review of 'Dixie Bones' - I found their barbecue pork to be just a wee bit chewy, but with good smoke flavor. Not sauced, but pretty good anyway. Sauce on the table was okay (I tried all three - none of them were "to die for"). The meat was shredded kinda course (almost stringy), but still pretty good. Baked beans were okay, a bit thin (liduidy). Cole slaw was WAY TOO chunky - shredded too course! Corn bread was pretty good especially with LOTS of butter on it. Dill pickle slices were okay too. Sweet tea was pretty good. $10.95 plus tax/tip/& tea.

I'd go back if I was in the area, but would try to find another place to try (and review) first. I do think that 'Dixie Bones' is better than 'Famous Daves Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que' in Woodbridge.

I've reviewed 274 Q-joints in North Carolina, and a whold bunch outside the state, so if you want my opinion on anywhere in NC just ask. If I haven't been there it is probably on my list to go.

What is the the best que joint in Hillsborough?

barnyardman wrote:

What is the the best que joint in Hillsborough?

If you are talking Hillsborough NC, there is only one and while it is pretty good, it isn't always all that great. It can be, but it depends on the weather, the time of day, the day of the week, what cycle the moon is in, how old it is, if it is hot or rainy. In other words, you just never know what you are going to get.

'Hwy.70 Barbecue' is in the location that 'Tony's Bar-Be-Cue' used to be at the corner of Churton and Hwy 70. 'Tony's' was consistantly really good (I gave it a 4.5 out of 5). They served their Q pre-sauced with a good vinegar twang and a good bit of red pepper. Unfortunately, 'Hwy 70' hasn't quite kept up the quality. I still give it a 4.0 out of 5.

The only other place in Hillsborough that serves Q is 'Village Diner Barbecue & Buffet' on King St. Like most buffets, their Q is usually fairly dry and chewy with not much flavor at all. I did experience GREAT Q at 'Village Diner', but that was because I just happened to be there the day he cooked and chopped it. His fresh stuff was really good. Too bad it doesn't stay that way on the line.

Thanks for the info

If you are coming to the Hillsborough area, I can recommend a few other Q-joints around the area that you might like to try. Fairly close to Hillsborough (on Hwy 86 between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill) is "Allen & Son's Pit Cooked BarBQ". Pretty good with a really good reputation. A bit expensive! Q has pretty good flavor - smoky with a good vinegar hint. (3.5 out of 5)

Also in Chapel Hill is "Jim's Famous BBQ 2" - pretty much like "Red, Hot, & Blue" (at the same location where RH&B used to be) - try their brisket or pulled chicken - better than their pork. (2.0 out of 5)
Stay away from "The Barbecue Joint", as it just isn't all that good. (1.5 out of 5)

In Mebane (about 10 miles west of Hillsborough) try "A&M Restaurant" - more like Lexington style, but pretty tasty with just a hint of smoke. They serve "pink slaw" which is a cross between the creamy Cole slaw of the east and Q slaw of the west (Lexington style). Sounds weird and looks kinda different, but tastes pretty good. (2.5 out of 5)

Durham is only about 8 miles east of Hillsborough and has a whole pile of Q-joints, so if you would like any information on them just ask...

~tom