Today Tammy and I made a stop at Bluegrass BBQ in Pembroke, VA. You may recall that we have been here before. You can check that visit out at: Bluegrass BBQ, Pembroke, VA – Patrick’s BBQ Trail (patricksbbqtrail.com) . But that was nearly 3 years ago. Having made an emergency visit to West Virginia we decided to check them out on the way home to see how they fared through the pandemic. So it was great to see that they are survivors and appear to be doing quite well. Here’s how it went this time around.
The Restaurant and Staff:
Bluegrass BBQ still has the medium sized dining room inside. What I didn’t realize because of the direction we came in from the highway is that they also have a nice sized outside dining area. I saw the pictures on their website. You still get that wonderful smell of smoke when you open the door. Now they have been open for just over 3 years. Having been through the worse of the pandemic they have managed to stay in business. I think this shows some of their strong work ethics and devotion to the craft of smoking meat. Everyone we talked with was very nice. Our waitress this time around was Kim, and she was great. She was friendly, helpful with the menu and kept tabs on us throughout our visit. She even insisted on packing our leftovers for our trip home. Thank you, Kim, for taking such good care of us.
Tammy’s Choices at Bluegrass BBQ:
Sliced Brisket and Pulled Pork Platter.
For this trip Tammy ordered a two-meat platter with Pulled Pork and Sliced Brisket. This came with your choice of 3 sides. She chose a Sweet Potato Casserole, Mac & Cheese and Hushpuppies. As you can see in the pictures, they also serve homemade pickles with the platters. I didn’t try the sweet potato casserole. Tammy said it was good but just not what she was expecting from a casserole. But if you like sweet potatoes, you’ll like this. When you look at the mac & cheese you may not think a lot about it. But, when you take that first bite, you are convinced you made the right choice. It was wonderful. And those hushpuppies. I told you three years ago that Bluegrass BBQ’s hushpuppies were to die for. They are still awesome.
The pulled pork had a wonderful smoked flavor. No sauce needed here. It has excellent taste, texture and just some outstanding pulled pork. The brisket was exceptional. Just look at the smoke ring and the bark around those slices. You know they are going to be great just by looking at them. The brisket does not disappoint.
My Choices at Bluegrass BBQ:
Pulled Pork and Baby Back Ribs Platter.
I also chose a two-meat platter. Mine was with Pulled Pork and Baby Back Ribs. My sides were the Crispy French Fries, Slaw and Hushpuppies. I love the crispy French fries. They are very thinly sliced and cooked up nice and crispy just as the name implies. The slaw was good. It’s a good mayo based slaw that goes really well with the bbq. And again with the hushpuppies. Makes me want to hit the road for 5 1/2 hours just to get some.
I remembered on our last visit I said the Baby Back Riblets were a little on the burnt side. They were still good but not as good as the rest of the food. That was then and this is now. In all fairness I had to give them another chance. I didn’t get Riblets this time, I got Baby Back Ribs, and they were awesome! I could have sat and went through a full rack of those ribs. Bluegrass BBQ did an outstanding job. The smoke flavor and the tenderness of these ribs were wonderful.
I said earlier that the brisket does not disappoint. Well nothing we had at Bluegrass BBQ disappointed. Everything was great.
A Little Extra:
Regular (4oz) Sliced Brisket Sandwich with Crispy French Fries.
Circumstances beyond our control had us make another trip to West Virginia before I got this posted. So here’s some more about Bluegrass BBQ.
We stopped on our way to WV for a late lunch. Both of us decided to try a sandwich and see what we thought. Kristen was our waitress this time. She was pretty awesome herself. Two stops and two wonderful waitresses. Thank you Bluegrass BBQ. Tammy went for the 4oz Brisket sandwich with fries and I ordered a Big Pork Poppy with fries. As you can see from the pictures the brisket looks outstanding. And it is outstanding with great smoke flavor and that awesome smoke ring. Remember, that’s only 4oz on that sandwich and she gave me some of it to finish off. Now my big pork poppy has 6oz of pulled pork with a couple slices of smoked jalapeno bacon. Unfortunately I tore into it before I took a picture. You’ll have to take my word for how fantastic it was. Smoke flavor, smoke ring and nice bark on it all add up to one killer sandwich. Not to mention the bacon. I loved it.
One More Time:
Big Beef Poppy Sandwich with Crispy French Fries.
And that just wasn’t enough. We stopped there on the way home too. Kim waited on us again this time. You see, I had to choose between the Big Pork Poppy and the Big Beef Poppy the last time so I just couldn’t help but wonder how the Brisket version would be. Tammy stuck with her tried and true Regular (4oz) Brisket Sandwich. Yes, it was just as good as the last time. Bluegrass BBQ has some awesome and consistent brisket. Then there’s my sandwich. 6oz of brisket with the two strips of smoked jalapeno bacon. And I did get a picture this time. Believe me it tastes even better than it looks. And look close at the bottom of the picture. See that little chunk of burnt end? That could have been the tie breaker between the pork and the brisket but I really don’t know which one I like the best. Both are outstanding.
Final Thoughts:
So here you have three visits worth of information. That’s pretty unusual for us to do this. My only problem with them is they’re a good 5 hours from home. But let me assure you that it will not be 3 years before we go back. Anyone traveling Hwy. 460 to or from WV should stop here and try them out. And to our friends that travel to Virginia Tech, give yourself 30 minutes to ride out and see what we found hiding in the mountains of VA.
Both Kim and Kristen were wonderful waitresses with great personalities. They really took good care of us. And they work really well together.
Bluegrass BBQ will remain one of our favorites when traveling out Highway 460. I am so glad to see they weathered the pandemic. They had a pretty good crowd each time we were there. I wish you guys the best and look forward to our next visit.
Now For Your Thoughts:
We did get a few comments when I first posted about Bluegrass BBQ. We’d really love to see some more this time around. Let everyone know how you feel about them. I’m sure they’d love to have some feedback from more of their customers. Let the folks there know how you feel and let others know what your experiences have been like. Drop your comments in the box below and I’ll get them posted as soon as I can.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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You can check out their website at: Bluegrass BBQ | Barbecue Restaurant in Pembroke, VA
You can also find them on Facebook at: Bluegrass BBQ | Pembroke VA | Facebook
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