Bigs BBQ

6515 Centralia Road

Chesterfield, VA 23832

http://bigsbbqva.com/

                Opening my door in the parking lot in front of Bigs BBQ I am greeted the tantalizing aroma of smoked meats.  Hidden in the Chesterfield Meadows Shopping Center next to subway and El Patron, Bigs BBQ is Chesterfield’s latest BBQ offering opening just two weeks ago.  Inside the place does not disappoint. You are greeted with a large beautiful bar directly in front of you and to your right is a chalkboard wall covered in all of the smoked goodness that Bigs has to offer. Unlike most places in the area which do mainly pulled pork and maybe a couple of things Bigs smokes it all and then some. They offer pulled pork, smoked brisket, pork and beef ribs, chicken, sausage (my favorite) and even hot dogs. This is all accompanied by down home sides ranging from cole slaw and potato salad to collard greens and their own smoked chicken stew.

                The prices are all fairly reasonable for a BBQ restaurant. Making BBQ is a labor of love that takes a lot of time and effort but which pays you back tenfold with its deliciousness.  Sandwiches start at $5.50 and the three meat platter comes in at $14.00 not too bad for something that takes upwards of 8 hours to cook.  Since I don’t typically go out to eat too often and if I do I try to go somewhere different each time I ordered the three meat platter with sausage, brisket and ribs (it costs an extra $2 for ribs).  It came with two sides I chose cole slaw and onion rings. 

                In less than 10 minutes my order was up. I have to admit for a place called Bigs I was not very impressed by its size.  It came with 2 ribs, 6 slices of sausage and 2 or 3 pieces of brisket around 10 onion rings and a cup full of cole slaw.  Bigs offers two homemade BBQ sauces one is a vinegar NC style sauce and the other is a sweet and tangy tomato based sauce.  My disappointment in size quickly vanished once I tasted the meat. Everything was smoked to perfection. The brisket was literally melt in your mouth tender. The homemade sausage rivaled any I’ve ever had in Texas, It was extremely juicy and flavorful. The ribs were perfectly seasoned with rub and slightly wet (saucy) and felt off of the bone.  Their tomato based BBQ sauce complemented everything perfectly. The onion rings were crispy and fresh. In my opinion the real sign of a great BBQ restaurant who really cares about the craft is strangely enough, its cole slaw. Every Southern person knows that you can’t have BBQ without cole slaw so it needs to be done right and boy does Bigs BBQ do it right. It consisted of nice thick, crisp pieces of cabbage and carrots mixed with the perfect amount of mayo and vinegar with just the right amount of sweetness. There is nothing I hate more than finely chopped mushy and watery cole slaw.  Bigs blew the cole slaw out of the water.  Although I lamented about the serving size I was only able to eat half although I wanted to eat it all because it was so delicious but I controlled myself and managed not to totally ruin my diet.

                Not only does Bigs BBQ have excellent food they also sell excellent bourbon. They offer about 12 different types of bourbon ranging from the run of the mill to the really good stuff. They even go as far as to make adult milkshakes with bourbon in them. Bigs is the real deal. The only thing that they might could do better is offer a wider selection of craft or specialty beer like they do with bourbon. They have quite a few different types but they are mostly your typical domestics like Bud Light and Coors. If Bigs stepped up its beer game to its bourbon level it would not only beat every other BBQ restaurant around but even most of bars.

                By know you should know that I am now in love with Bigs BBQ so stop reading this, jump in your car and drive to Bigs BBQ and grab yourself something to eat. You will thank me and them. Sibley’s and Brock’s better watch out there’s a new BIG dog on the prowl and he’s fixing to be the best BBQ spot south of Richmond.