The Ribulator, Entry #30: Grady’s BBQ, Farmville, VA
After a nice afternoon in Charlottesville, our taste for barbecue only whetted by Jinx’s, Mr. Blue, Mr. Red and I high tailed it down to Farmville, VA. We had a gig there that night, and after showing up at the venue, we dropped off our gear and asked if there was a decent barbecue place in town. We were directed to Grady’s BBQ, the ONLY barbecue place in town, but hey, that’s a start.
We found the place with no trouble and followed the signs from the parking lot, past the smokers out front, to the entrance of the building, which I believe was once an ol’ bank.
We walked into a large, empty lobby and spotted the entrance to Grady’s across the way. We walked in and although it was Saturday evening, I was surprised to see that the place was pretty dead. We had a seat and checked out the menu. We ended up ordering a mess of food for all of us to split: A pound of pulled pork, a rack of ribs, plus sides of beans and mac and cheese, which was also served with buns and cole slaw.
Grady’s was a great place, mellow and low key. The young woman working there was very friendly, and the food respectable, although not sublime. The pulled pork was good, but a stark contrast from that we had at Jinx’s in Charlottesville that afternoon. It was shredded much finer and drier. It was good, but benefited from sauce in a way that Jinx’s did not. As for the ribs, again maybe not the best I have ever had, but totally tasty, well done, savory, juicy, nicely smoked ribs. They were advertised as Memphis style with a dry rub.
We ate our fill, and still had to take a box of left overs with us. I was glad that Mr. Blue and Mr. Red seemed pleased as well:
I would like to mention that I had a great time in Farmville, and we were shown a great time by Wes, the proprietor of a new venue called the Mad Hatter where we played that night, for their opening night. We had a great time at the show, and maybe even a better time out on his farm, staying up too late playing music and hanging out with the horses under the stars.
Late at night, after drinking too much corn whiskey, I made a sandwich with the Grady’s leftovers, and it tasted all the sweeter, closer to sublime.
As for the ribulation, I had 5 Grady’s ribs, bringing the count to 138 ribs in the Year of the Pig.



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