Richmond, you’re serious about your BBQ. And our Bestie Awards can prove it.
Voting for the Best BBQ Award really heated up on Richmond.com, receiving over 7,000 votes in a two-week period.
For a while, newcomer The Alamo in Church Hill looked like the dominator in the BBQ war.
But Q Barbecue made a surprising surge after posting the Bestie nomination news to its Facebook page and ultimately crushed the competition, nabbing 52 percent of the vote by the time voting closed.
The Midlothian BBQ hotspot opened in October of 2008 to rave reviews, but owner Tuffy Stone and his team of pitmasters have been competing on the national BBQ championship circuit since 2004. They even won Team of the Year in 2005 from the Kansas City BBQ Society, one of the biggest honors in barbecue. They were also featured on the first season of the TLC show BBQ Pitmasters in 2008.
Which means Tuffy Stone and his crew know how to smoke some meat. And you’ll taste the difference in their barbecue.
His meats are unbelievably tender, incredibly moist and infused with just the right amount of smoke. Tuffy describes his BBQ style as a mix between something you’d find in Kansas or Tennessee: a nice balance between sweet and heat, smoke and spice.
Each table is outfitted with three sauces: Original, a tomato based sauce, “Hot-zing” with chipotle and smoked jalepeno, and “Sa-eet,” a recipe from the Smoky Mountains that carries a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of tang.
Service is counter-style and the atmosphere is quirky, clean and bright with a sense of humor. BBQ sandwiches run about $4 to $5 and offer a choice of pulled pork, chicken or brisket. The menu is also crammed with plenty of fresh sides like beans, hush puppies, greens, mac & cheese and potato salad, all for $2.
Tuffy attributes Q’s success to the hard work of his team who are trained in everything from French cooking to smoking meats. “We’ve got a really great team out here,” Tuffy said. “Without them, I don’t think we would have won.”
And if Midlothian is too far for you to travel, Q is currently looking to open another store in Richmond this year. We’ll keep you posted.
Runner-up:
Church Hill’s The Alamo has been winning rave reviews from critics and fans alike since it opened for its tangy, hickory-smoked BBQ. Alamo serves a very tasty pulled pork, chicken or beef BBQ with just the right hint of hickory and red oak. Their side dishes also stand-out, from Texas caviar to mac n’ cheese with jalepenos. The Alamo was a close second to Q with 41 percent of the vote.
Check out the full list of BBQ nominees here.
More Besties awards every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Richmond.com.
Check out our Richmond.com Besties page to vote on more categories. Voting now open on best new restaurant and best salad bar.
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