COUNTRY GRILL & SMOKEHOUSE

Country Grill & Smokehouse
1215 George Washington Memorial Parkway
Yorktown, Virginia 23693

Whenever Rob and I cross the Mason Dixon Line, we’re looking for ribs and barbecue. Without hesitation, Michael suggests The Country Grill and Smokehouse, a frequent stop of his in Virginia.

Here’s another big, roomy restaurant with ample outside and inside seating. We choose to go inside. It’s frequented by noisy and happy people. We love the atmosphere, and we’re ready to join the fun.

We are seated at a bare, wooden table, and our cheerful waiter, Ricky, greets us with a smile and a big, white, shiny sheet of butcher paper which he jauntily flips before us as if it were fine table linen. Then he sets our table. Smack in the middle of the table he places a basket of warm corn muffins and butter. Nice beginning, don’t ya think?

Each of us chooses a BBQ Platter, big meaty portions accompanied by two sides.

Michael orders the Smoked Beef Brisket, “slow cooked and grilled for 14 hours in the pit, hand sliced and tender as a grandma’s hug.” It’s a mouth watering description, and its arrival does not belie it. Michael's platter includes mashed potatoes and gravy, and Pit Roasted Vegetables. I taste his brisket, and we both roll our eyes and agree it is delicious. Not too dry, and extraordinarily tender. It’s not the brisket from a New York deli. It’s BARBECUE.

Rob chooses the Pulled Pork Shoulder,” hickory smoked and slow cooked, pulled off the bone and heaped on a plate”. His sides, barbecue beans and grilled vegetables, please him mightily. The pork, shredded into thin strips, gets Rob’s usual bath of barbecue sauce. The restaurant has many barbecue sauce selections, and Rob uses ALL of them, but mostly the Southwest Texas—“assorted dried chili peppers, cumin, coriander, Mexican oregano and tomato.” (How’d you like that mix, Iris?) Timid as always with that hot stuff, I try the pork sans sauce and love the taste.

Neither Rob’s nor Michael’s choices make me think I have selected incorrectly by ordering ½ rack of The Grill’s Famous Pork Ribs. I chose traditional St. Louis style ribs. Wonderful. Meaty. Delicious. They have a nice, spicy flavor and enough sauce for me to keep my hands off those bottles on the table.

The barbecue beans come in a thick, rich, tangy sauce loaded with chunks of meat. My red potato salad, pleasingly light on the mayo but made even more tasty with pieces of chopped celery, is special. Rob and Michael agreed that the ribs are excellent.

Ricky had warned us to leave room for dessert, but, frankly, that is impossible.

If you’re in the area, but not in Yorktown, there are Country Grill & Smokehouses in Hampton, VA and in Newport News, VA.