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451 Jefferson Davis Highway
540/368-2800
Prices: Sandwiches, $3.25 regular, $4.25 large
Combos (include side orders and drinks) $4.95 and $5.95
Platters, $7.95 to $9.95
Side orders, 85 cents to $1.25
Kids' menu, $2.95 and $3.95; children eat free on Tuesdays
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Other information: Barbecue to go available by the pound or half-pound; side orders also available for takeout
Party catering available
Order and pay, then wait to be called when your food is ready. It's served on trays in plastic containers.
Credit cards are accepted.
THE FREE LANCE-STAR Whether it's beef or pork, tomato-sauced or just plain vinegary, barbecue should be fresh and juicy and tender. That's how it's served at the Virginia Barbeque Company at the U.S. 1 bypass and Fall Hill Avenue in Fredericksburg.The restaurant just had its grand opening--marked by the addition of two very large concrete pigs by the front door--but it's really been open since early summer. Apparently, that's long enough for it to have developed a reputation as a good place for a quick barbecue sandwich, coleslaw and fries, or for pounds of take-home barbecue ($6.50 pork, $8.50 beef) for parties.
The Virginia Barbeque Company offers three varieties of traditional barbecue--a Texas beef, a North Carolina pork served mostly unadorned and, of course, a Virginia pork with a tomatoey sauce. You can try all three by ordering the "novice BBQ sampler platter," which comes with two side dishes ($8.95). It's a good deal if you're hungry and like plenty of meat.
Three ounces of each are enough to give you a good idea of your favorite. I'm not a fan of beef barbecue, so the Texas variety wasn't for me, but the beef was tasty and had a peppery kick. The two pork barbecues were very good--the North Carolina version smoky and zingy with vinegar and bits of red pepper, the Virginia version really scrumptious with a piquant tomato-based sauce.
The menu boasts "bomb" French fries (95 cents for small, $1.25 for large). Instead of precut potatoes frozen and deep-fried by the vanload, these tasted like fresh-cut spuds perfectly cooked and served hot. They were excellent even without ketchup.
The menu also extols the other side dishes: corn muffins (85 cents), baked beans and coleslaw (95 cents each) and a potato salad ($1.25) that's said to be extraordinary.
Of the group, the corn muffins were the standouts. They were light, golden and slightly sweet.
My experience with the other side dishes varied over two trips.
On trip one, not so good. The beans were bland, the slaw runny and slightly chewy, the potato salad characterized by dried-out redskins coated with salty mayonnaise.
But any restaurant can have a bad day, and on the second trip I found the beans savory and the slaw crisp. The potato salad got the most-improved award. The redskins were tender, and the mayo dressing was perked up with Dijon mustard, plenty of pepper and bits of crunchy celery.
My luck wasn't as good with the "sampler platter" of a rotisserie chicken quarter, one-third of a rack of ribs and two side dishes ($9.95), which I also tried twice.
The first time the chicken was just not good--dry and rubbery, and tasting suspiciously like yesterday's offering reheated. I asked the cashier, who apologetically acknowledged that my hunch was correct.
The chicken takes two hours to cook on the rotisserie spit, he said. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m., and a friend and I arrived about 12:15 p.m. on a weekday, so we were served what was on hand. That's unusual, the server added; ordinarily, someone is in early enough to start the chicken so it's fresh for the lunch crowd.
The ribs that day were not much better. They were overcooked and dry so that the meat caked onto the bone.
The second trip saw little improvement. This time, the chicken was freshly cooked--I asked--but was still overdone and not flavorful. The ribs were slightly more tender but far from the juicy, sliding-off-the-bone kind that make you want seconds.
Desserts (95 cents) include chocolate-chip brownies, peanut-butter brownies, blondies, cookies and a brownie sundae. We tried a brownie and a blondie and found both to be sweet, cakelike and fresh.
Drink offerings are also standard--tea or lemonade (95 cents small, $1.25 large) or fountain sodas ($1.25 and $1.50). Beer is sold in bottles ($2 domestic, $3 imported) or on tap ($1.75 for 22 ounces; $1.25 for 16 ounces).
On future trips, I'll take my cue from the restaurant's name and stick to the good old-fashioned barbecue it does so well.