Today the BBQ Trail leads back into VA and stops at Carolina Son BBQ in Virginia Beach. This is one of those restaurants that just popped up while doing searches on the internet for this area. Since we had never seen this one show up we started reading reviews from other sources. Sounding very interesting we decided to ride over there and check them out. Stay with me on this one.
Where’s Carolina Son BBQ Located?
Carolina Son BBQ is located in the Woods Corner Shopping Center on Centerville Turnpike in Virginia Beach, VA. We came in off of I-64 at Greenbrier Parkway and then took Volvo Parkway to Centerville Turnpike. Very easy to find. You can also come in from Kempsville Road. Find the easiest route depending on your location.
The Restaurant and Staff:
Front of Carolina Son BBQ’s Dinning Room.
As soon as we walked into Carolina Son BBQ we were greeted by a couple of people working behind the counter. You place your meat choice(s) at the end of the counter. As we studied and asked questions everyone there was more than happy to help us out. Everything smelled great. As soon as I walked in my starving senses kicked in. I wanted it all. Once you make that choice you go further down the line and place your order for sides and drink choices. You pay and pick up your order next and pick where you want to sit. All went very smooth and everyone was exceptionally friendly.
They have a large dining room at Carolina Son BBQ. Nicely decorated with some pictures. Everything was super clean, even the restrooms (which I usually don’t mention). This place was awesome and spotless.
Just for the record at this point I’d like to say that I never tell people in the restaurants we visit that I write a blog until we are at least close to finished. I want everyone there to think of us as just regular customers, not restaurant critics. I want to give the readers a fair assessment of what to expect from their visit. So no one there gets tipped off that they are being reviewed. This is all natural.
Our Choices at Carolina Son BBQ:
Now for the tasty part. I ordered a Three Meat “Merciless Combo” as they call it. I chose Pulled Pork, Sliced Brisket, and Baby Back Ribs with a side of Baked Beans. It also came with cornbread and a small Cole Slaw. They actually told me that whenever you order something with pulled pork you’ll get the slaw with it. So here we go.
Three Meat “Merciless Combo”. Pulled Pork, Sliced Brisket and Baby Back Ribs.
My pulled pork was wonderful. Beautiful smoke ring and great smoke flavor. There was also a few pieces of “bark” mixed in with it. This meat was so moist and tender I just loved it without adding any sauces. They do have several homemade sauces at Carolina Son BBQ. And I did try a couple of the Carolina Style ones. They were really good but I just didn’t want any on this pulled pork. I did not try any of the hot sauces. I cower from anything that mentions habanero. That’s just not going to happen by my choice.
So next we have the sliced brisket. When I ordered it he pulled the brisket out of a warmer, with juices pouring out of it, and sliced mine while I watched. He did offer to chop it up if that’s how I preferred it. Oh no, please don’t do that I said. But thanks for the offer. I was dying at this point. Remember my starvation senses were running wild by now. This brisket was simply delicious. Again the nice smoke ring and flavor. With a slight layer of fat at the top this brisket melts in your mouth. There are some restaurants in the area that serve really good brisket and this rates up there with the best of any of them. I actually believe that Carolina Son BBQ beats a lot of them.
Finally there were the baby back ribs. Awesome! No sauce, just smoke, seasoning and ribs. Many folks know where my favorite place for baby backs is and these were just as good. Fall off the bone and melt in your mouth. Great job by the staff.
As for the sides, you can’t go wrong. Anything you see on the menu that you like, just order it and expect it to be extra good. All of them are homemade. I ordered the baked beans and loved them. They have a unique flavor that I’ve never had at other places. The sauce was fantastic.
Two Meat “Merciless Combo”, Pulled Pork and Sliced Brisket.
Tammy was with me tonight too. Though I’ve rattled on about mine. Her order wasn’t much different. She only chose two meats, Pulled Pork and Sliced Brisket, and her side was Mac & Cheese. Remember I said the sides were homemade? This mac & cheese was over the top. Chunks of cheese in it and just creamy and wonderful. I did forget to mention that the cornbread was also outstanding.
At this point we were thinking something has to be wrong. Everything to this point was great so we went for dessert. Tammy had a Sea Salt Carmel and Chocolate Pie and I had Carrot Cake. I was allowed a small bite of hers and it was really good. It was very light and fluffy. My carrot cake was awesome. So we found no flaws here. By the way, I have to apologize for not having dessert pictures. We were over half way finished with them before I remembered I hadn’t taken them. They just looked too good. You’ll have to take my word for it this time.
Final Thoughts:
What a great place. We were trying to figure out why they were slow. This was a Friday evening at dinner time. When we asked we found out that Carolina Son BBQ has only been open for 11 weeks on this night. Their only advertising has been word of mouth and “Yelp” reviews. You guys out there need to check this place out. Visit them and spread the word around. Share this post on Facebook. Do what you can to get the word out there and definitely get over there and enjoy some great food.
Your Thoughts:
Ok. I can’t think of much more to say here. So let’s hear some of your thoughts. We want to hear from others out there and let everyone know what you think.
What do you regulars think?
With 11 weeks under their belts, Carolina Son BBQ has to have some regulars. Tell us why you keep going back. I know that we’ll be back.
If you’re a fan leave us some comments. Others would love to hear from you too. Send me your comments and I’ll get them added to the post as soon as I can.
With this being a new business, I especially would like to ask you to share this post on your Facebook and other pages.
The more people that read about them and go to check them out the better. Then hopefully they will also share it. Let’s help a business get rolling. They should be packed.
I look forward to hearing from you.
You can check them out on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CarolinaSonBBQ/
I don’t think that they have a website.
10 Comments
We LOVE Carolina Son. Al and Brent are amazing, we eat there at least twice a week and love trying their daily specials. Brent always talks peppers with me and let’s me sample his new spicy concoction. The meat leaf is also smoked and heavenly, the home made pork rinds are the best you’ll have. This is the best smokehouse in Hampton Roads.
*Meatloaf
Thanks for the comments Chris. I have never tried smoked meatloaf. As much as I love a good meatloaf, I’ll have to try it one of these days. It’s great to hear from others that have been here so we can add different view points to the post. Helps everyone reading to know that Carolina Son BBQ is for real. Have a great day.
My review on yelp will follow. We go 1-3x per week and LOVE Al, Brent, and Charlene. We have never arrived without a pleasant greeting (even before they realize it’s us) and always get a warm send off. We also promote it every time we go on our 2k strong Facebook group. This place puts all the BBQ in the area to shame and my husband and I are their #1 & #2 fans!
So, we were looking around craving BBQ and found Carolina Son BBQ. The staff was friendly from the moment we walked in the door, all smiles and heartfelt pleasant hellos! When we wavered on what we wanted I asked what they liked and the overwhelming response was the brisket. Bbq places tend to cook brisket so badly that I don’t typically get it but just told her “I’m not really a fan” the response was a sample of the most delicious, mouth watering brisket I have ever had. Oh my god was it good. A little further in conversation I mentioned how much I love coleslaw… the response was a sample of one of the best tasting coleslaws I have ever had. We were then informed that they have free fried pork skins if you check in on Yelp… I’m not a fan, but my husband is, so I obliged and we got the habanero ones. I’m currently not sharing them driving home. I ended up getting the brisket and mashed taters bowl with coleslaw and Chris got pulled pork tater bowl and meatloaf. More review to come when we get home and eat it!!
Edit:
Oh my God it is so good. The meats have the most amazing smoked flavor, the coleslaw is every bit as amazing as it was in the sample. The mashed potatoes? SO GOOD. The portion sizes are great for the price (I got the tater bowl with brisket, I’m 1/3 through and full… and not just eating all the taters… the meat portion is huge). The pork has wonderful moisture and flavor. The meatloaf is delicious, smokey and sweet.
I cannot say enough about it. It’s so good. If you haven’t eaten there, you’re seriously missing out.
We will definately be back!!
Kali, Thanks so much for adding to the post. I agree whole heartedly on the brisket and pork. Thanks for pointing out the slaw. Looking back I did leave that out. I’m reading about different items on their menu and they sound great. I know that we will be back also, just not sure how I’m going to fit everything in. We did bring a menu home so I’ll have to study some more. Also, thanks for helping to spread the word. That’s what we need to be doing to help these great folks out. Have a great day!
I have known the owner for over 20 years now when we were shipmates in the navy and realized we were both from NC. He has always had a passion for cooking. He also has a never say die attitude. When he puts his mind to something it is all in perfection is not good enough for him he always pushes further always looking to make things better than perfect. I have not ate at his place yet but ate a lot of his creations while second together. Al keep up the great work
He certainly is showing that same attitude with the cooking here also. Thanks for filling in some extra info. And thanks to both of you for your service.
Eating here now on both your blog’s and Cook Travis Linblad’s (Corner Bistro in Poquoson) recommendation. I went with the two meat combo- brisket and pulled pork. The pulled pork really shines… juicy, smokey, and I dig the burnt bits in it quite a bit. The cornbread it came with was on the classic end and I liked it as well. The brisket was pretty good but kind of presented sliced then chopped- not all the way through. I prefer a nice clean sliced brisket. Taste wise, the brisket was good but not exceptional. It was a little too pot roast like texturally. I dig get a nice smoke flavor from it though. I definitely will recommend this place and am looking forward to coming back to try the ribs.
Fitz,
Glad to hear you liked it. They may have been a little off on the brisket today. It usually has a really good flavor. They don’t use the super lean cuts which helps to keep it moist and tender. The pork is really good and probably my favorite there. I do get the combo plates usually and the pulled pork is usually my first choice. Thanks for letting us know how your visit went.
*did