The Pit Stop, Sterling, Virginia

Just when I was about to publish my list of the Best Barbecue Places in the Washington Area, I heard from a bunch of people about The Pit Stop, an all-wood place out in Loudoun County, Virginia. Actually I’d heard about them years ago from Liza, but I’d never made it out there. It’s a hike from DC, and at that time it was just a roadside place at a farmers’ market.

Now they have a brick and mortar location Sterling at 36230 Cranston Road,

and they’re still at the very popular farmers market at Gilbert’s Corner, 50 US 15 in Aldie.

I decided to try the brick and mortar because it’s open Thursday-Sunday (vs Saturday and Sunday at Aldie), and because there are always long lines at Aldie. I drove up on Friday, strode in, looked at the menu set over the counter where orders are taken and delivered, and which was graced by a ginormous piece of gorgeous coconut cake that I would have ordered if it hadn’t been so huge.

Instead I ordered a two-meat combination plate with brisket and ribs,

with slaw and potato salad as my sides.

Note that I got a whole lot of food. That’s a ton of brisket, especially, and the sides are much larger than usual, plus my lemonade came with the order. There’s indoor seating, but it was a beautiful day and I decided to go to the shady outdoor seating off to the side.

The ribs were moist and had good meaty texture to go with that great pork-and-smoke flavor. They did have a sweet glaze, and regular readers will recall that I don’t like anything sweet on my barbecue. Most people do, but I don’t. Still, these are very good ribs, good enough that I forgave and forgot about the glaze before I’d finished them.

The brisket was tender and fairly moist — parts were beautifully moist — and, being beef, the meat was less flavorful than the next-to-the-bone pork ribs. Still, they were smoky and a pleasure to eat. They did suffer a bit by comparison with the city-style places that use prime and wagyu beef and charge a fortune. The Pit Stop brisket is good, pre-Aaron Franklin brisket. On the other hand, it’s much smokier than the “new” style, and I like that.

I’d been asked whether I wanted regular or spicy sauce. Spicy. She smiled slightly and said, “I’ll give you a regular, too.” As it happened, I gave the regular to another diner who wanted some sauce. I tried the spicy sauce on the brisket and, Wow! That’s spicy! Even by my standards. I enjoyed it when used judiciously, but use caution in pouring it on your food.

The slaw was overdressed, but tasted fine. The potato salad seemed to be an interesting mix of smashed or mashed potatoes plus some pieces that retained their shape. Unlike potato salads with similar texture, it wan’t overcooked, but rather had a very good potato flavor, accented by a little pickle, pimiento, and green onion. I liked it.

I went out back to make sure that The Pit Stop cooks exclusively with wood.

They do. It’s the smokiest barbecue place this side of Helen’s. I had a chance to chat with Ron Thomas, the co-owner/pitmaster, who had made the cookers himself.

Ron grew up in Charles County, Maryland, in an all-black rural area where there was work all week and trouble all weekend. He was determined to leave, and did. I told him about the Campaign for Real Barbecue, and he stressed the importance of wood. When Ron was 12, his grandparents took him to New York City by train in a first class compartment. The dining car offered steaks, and Ron was allowed to order one. It was delicious. He asked the steward and was told the steak had been cooked with wood. “I said to myself, I’m going to cook with wood.”

And he did and he does, and he does it marvelously. The Pit Stop is close to Ashburn, where the Washington football team practices, and many players past and present eat there often. The Pit Stop sends a lot of barbecue to the players and, as I overheard, someone gets 25 eight-wing and 25 French fry orders before each football game. I hope that’s not one player.

That was on a Friday, and I had a rental car (Nancy had our car, so I’d gotten one for a trip to North Carolina), so I didn’t have the Campaign for Real Barbecue stickers I keep in a side door pocket. I was tied up all day Saturday, and Sunday Nancy was having a brunch for our Co-Senior South Portland (Maine) and Environs Correspondent, Nancy Breul, who was staying with us, so I bailed out and went back to The Pit Stop armed with a window sticker and an appetite.

I arrived in the rain at their 11:00 am opening and ordered a pork sandwich. I noticed that the menu also included a “fried sausage.” Intrigued, I asked, what king of sausage. A link, indicating about 10 inches. A country sausage? Yes. I’ll take one. As fate would have it, the fryer oil wasn’t hot yet, so I passed on the sausage — and on the catfish and the whiting that had looked oh, so appealing on Friday. That was good, because, this was my sandwich ($11.99).

There was a bottom bun under there, but that’s easily enough pork for three sandwiches. And what pork! I didn’t want to eat a whole lot, and I decided to just taste enough to judge it and then leave. I took a bite, and another and another and basically devoured the sandwich. I had a small cup of slaw on the side, and mixed some of that with the pork and it was great. I had some of their regular sauce, but it was too sweet for me (it would be improved with some of the spicy sauce mixed in). I knew that Ron was out at Aldie that morning, and when I finished, I walked back to the counter and asked who was cooking the meat. A good looking young man, Ron’s son Jordan Thomas, was the one cooking and I told him that the pork was sensational. Maybe the best in the area.

I walked back to my car and then remembered the configuration of the cookers. I went back to the cooking area and asked if they cooked it using direct heat. Yes, direct heat at first and then off to the side later on. There’s nothing like pork fat dripping down on the coals to make pork fat smoke to perfume and add a wonderful layer of flavor to the barbecue. The Pit Stop and Two Drummers may be the only two places in all of Virginia, Washington, and Maryland that cook with direct heat over wood. Let me know of any others. That is the very best way to cook pork.

Go to Sterling or go to Aldie, or go to both. You need some of their barbecue.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box.  Or bookmark us and check in from time to time.  If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event).  Comments, questions, and suggestions of places to eat or stories to cover are very welcome.  And check our Instagram and Twitter pages, johntannerbbq.