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Texas Inspired, Virginia Approved

By Southern Grit · On December 2, 2019

Brisket, baby! Texas-style brisket, to be clear, is all the rage these days in Hampton Roads, Virginia. From Redwood Smoke Shack in Norfolk to Dave’s BBQ and Red River Smokehouse in Virginia Beach and several more, brisket is front and center. As Robert Moss detailed in First We Feast in April of 2017, “Texas’ influence surged over the course of the last decade, driven by a flood of media attention. The arrival of Texas-inspired joints in New York City—most notably Hill Country, which opened in 2007 and recreated a Lockhart-style meat market in the heart of Manhattan—put the Lone Star style front and center in the country’s media capital. The celebrity of Austin brisket-master Aaron Franklin, who burst onto the national scene in 2010, only strengthened the association.”

“The barbecue boom was on,” Moss also wrote. “Classically trained chefs hung up their saucepans to open barbecue joints, making pilgrimages down to Texas to crib techniques and styles.” Joining the ranks of those chefs, Pitmaster Bob Roberts at Redwood Smoke Shack also made the journey to witness and learn Texas-style barbecue firsthand.

If anything, it was inevitable that Texas barbecue, more specifically central Texas style barbecue, would make its presence known in Hampton Roads with “sliced brisket winning converts in Kansas City […] and Milwaukee” as documented by Texas Monthly; Alabama and SC have embraced it according to Garden & Gun; ZZQ in neighboring Richmond, Virginia has received national media praise for it; the aforementioned New Yorkers love it; and many others are salivating for it.

With that in mind, here are three Texas-inspired barbecue joints in Hampton Roads that may even make a Texan long for the tastes of home.

Redwood Smoke Shack write-up and photos by Fitz

In March of 2018, Pitmaster Bob Roberts traveled to Texas to experience both Franklin Barbecue and Snow’s Barbecue for himself. As he explained to me, “Those were the guys I had fallen asleep to [on YouTube] for years at that point. You know, you put people like that, that you see online, on a pedestal so it was only fitting that I go there and see them in person. It was an eye opener to see that we were in the same ballpark. I found out that in many ways, they are normal people like me who really have their procedure [for making barbecue] dialed in.”

In many ways, the national success Franklin’s and Snow’s in Texas have achieved over the years echoes the acclaim Roberts, a transplant from Hartford, New York, has garnered for the past two and a half years locally in Hampton Roads for Redwood Smoke Shack. Now, his operation has moved into a brick and mortar, taking residence at the former Ghent burger institution, Dog-n-Burger; should more national food media finally return to the birthplace of American barbecue for a much needed new look at Virginia’s scene, Roberts seems poised to find his name in print next to the acclaimed masters of smoke he sought out. This may anger some looking to tout a more Virginia-style barbecue in the commonwealth, but good food is good food. As John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance remarked in his article “Smoke Signals” in the August/September issue of Garden & Gun, “definitions have splintered and geographies have collided.”

Roberts was drawn to Texas-style barbecue because of the focus on dry rubs over sauce. As he put it, “I’m not a huge fan of sauce in terms of putting it on barbecue myself. If I go to a place, I want to try the meat – maybe sauce afterwards, but for me it’s about the meat. That’s what I identify with. I’m not a huge ketchup guy or sauce guy in general. Plus I like brisket.”

He also identified with the community he experienced when stogging for Brek Weber of Tin Roof BBQ in Atascocita, Texas near Houston in late 2018. “My buddy Brek calls it the Q-mmunity,” Roberts told me. “It’s like the craft brewing scene here in some ways. It’s supportive, less competitive like how the restaurant community can be. At the [Houston Barbecue] festival, every one of the top pitmasters were drinking together and helping each other out. That’s how we try to do it here.”

Above (left to right): Owner/ Pitmaster Bob Roberts, smoking notes and times, smoker temperature gauge, picture of Roberts and girlfriend Lindsey with Aaron Franklin, assorted meats in the smoker, Redwood’s brisket

Spend a few mornings at Redwood and you’ll see Roberts’ passion for passing along his knowledge of barbecue to local culinary players, most notably Chef Nick Hagen, formerly of Homegrown in Portsmouth, and Roberts’ current back of the house manager, Floyd Thomas. Thomas, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of Virginia and also a New York transplant to Hampton Roads, sought out Roberts first online and then in person before joining the team and essentially becoming Roberts’ right hand man and workhorse. Floyd’s desire to get involved with Redwood stemmed from his new interest in brisket, specifically Texas-style, which he calls “the grail for American BBQ fans right now.”

Although brisket had not previously been his focus, Floyd relished the opportunity to gain experience with Roberts, whose brisket techniques he describes as more of “a complete process” than what he had previously known. “We call it ‘Texas-inspired’ here, and really that centers around what we can do with brisket. For me, in terms of brisket, it was a real education.” However, as far as styles of barbecue in the works at Redwood, Floyd also added, “Since we have been in the restaurant I’ve been experimenting in terms of Virginian barbecue. It’s a travesty that people don’t know that it was born here. American barbecue started over pits here. If you think Carolina-style, it started in Virginia with fresh pepper… I love Carolina barbecue, but really it’s Virginia barbecue… if you love American barbecue, you love Virginian barbecue.”

Above (left to right): Back of the House manager/ Pitmaster Floyd Thomas, Redwood’s pastrami sandwich with house-made mustard, temperature check, entrance of Redwood Smoke Shack

For now, with Redwood’s brick and mortar still in its early stages and Floyd’s influence just beginning to flavor the culture at Redwood, I’ll let the description of the style of barbecue there be summarized by its founder, Roberts: “It’s Texas-inspired, Virginia-made.”

For more on Redwood Smoke Shack visit them online HERE

Bar-Q write-up by Debra Freeman with photos by Fitz

Typically, on a Saturday afternoon this summer, you would have seen Bar-Q owner Jayme Campbell with a baseball cap on, head down and intently focused on slicing sausage, brisket and other meats. Of course, barbecue can be found throughout Hampton Roads, but Bar-Q isn’t your average Texas-style barbecue.

In Campbell’s words, Bar-Q is “a melting pot type of barbecue, even though I do a central Texas brisket. I’m inspired by Texas, by their brisket…but I like all types of barbecue.” The self-described “barbecue head” grew up eating barbecue that his grandmother prepared in Gainesville, Florida and has brought his own spin on barbecue to the area.

Campbell is no stranger to making barbecue; he spent a year and a half doing competition barbecue on the same team as Chris Fultz, the founder of ZZQ in Richmond, Virginia before opening Bar-Q. But in addition to the barbecue, Campbell also bakes. He’s big on sweets and has a line of desserts called Bark Bakery that deserves a mention. The line features such delights as sweet potato casserole pie, raspberry hand pie, and the “pitmaster’s cookie,” a hefty treat that weighs almost a half-pound.

Above (clockwise from the top): Owner/ Pitmaster Jayme Campbell weighing barbecue, Bar-Q’s brisket sandwich with pickles and pickled onions, salted peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie and macaroni and cheese stuffed sausage

Bar-Q has been at various breweries throughout Hampton Roads but will have a permanent location soon at Bold Mariner Brewery in Norfolk, Virginia on Fridays and Saturdays. Campbell is more than ready to be at one location consistently. He commented with a smile, “I’m ready for pavement, and I won’t have to travel with smokers and warmers…the sky’s the limit. I want to see if I can pull it off. It’s at a unique spot in Ocean View and I want to see if people love it.”

The menu at Bold Mariner will change frequently. Campbell notes, “When I go to sleep at night, I think about what I want to give people…I want to push the limits of what people think of as barbecue.”

He’s come up with dishes that are unexpected – barbecued steak, Chinese bao-bun barbecue, barbecue rice bowls with mix-and-match sides, “Texas tacos” made from white bread wrapped around brisket and pickled onions, and “crunch dogs” (sausages with different toppings). On Saturdays, however, he will do typical barbecue offerings, including vinegar based pulled pork, for those who prefer a more traditional take.

For Campbell, it boils down to the customer experience. “I want customers to enjoy my food, and I appreciate it when people buy it. I’m shocked when people say thank you.” With the growing attention to Texas-style barbecue in Hampton Roads, Campbell should get ready to say “thank you” more often than he expected.

For more on Bar-Q including their new brick and mortar location, visit them online HERE

Dave’s BBQ write up by Fitz with photos by Alvin L. Tatum Jr.

Tender and juicy ribs with a divinely spiced outer bark, expertly smoked sausage full of jalapeño and sharp cheddar cheese, hulking amounts of pulled pork perfectly suited to bathe in zingy house-made vinegar sauce – this was my first overwhelming introduction to Dave’s BBQ and I didn’t even get to try what owner Dave Brown informed me he is best known for: his brisket.

I arrived to Dave’s BBQ just before 3pm. I soon found out this was way too late to try to get brisket. By then, as Dave also explained to me, it’s always sold out. Along with missing his brisket, if I had not plugged in his spot in my GPS, I likely would have missed where the restaurant was located. He opened his quaint establishment in 2017 – which, fun fact, is located on the back end of a former strip club – and is nestled off of Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach. Unseen from the busy boulevard, its only marker is a small, low to the ground handmade street sign which simply lists the name of the establishment and an arrow pointing the way.

Above: Owner/ Pitmaster Dave Brown smoking meats

While Dave’s handwritten street sign and back of the building restaurant might be underwhelming, that is where all things subtle stop. From Dave himself, robust in size and voice, to the rich smell of wood-smoked Texas-style barbecue wafting around the building from the smoker in the back, to, most importantly, the flavors and size of the various meats, when it comes to what matters the most for eaters, it’s all bold and delicious at Dave’s.

Dave, originally from Indiana but a Virginia Beach resident since ’76, is making barbecue that more people in Hampton Roads (and greater Virginia for that matter) should pay attention to. Get there early for the brisket and you will taste why it’s worth it. That’s what I did the second time I popped in. Suffice it to say, it was one of the best lunches I’ve had in recent memory.

For more on Dave’s BBQ visit them online HERE