county grill and smokehouse

good food and good beer. i come here pretty much every wednesday for their $2 happy hour draft beers from 5-7 pm after work. this is one of the best happy hour deal (when they were $1 especially) as many of these beers are $7-$8 normally and some of them are even more expensive retail (ommegang rare vos was like $12 for a 4-pack last time i checked.). i'm not a beer snob but these are some great beers.

it does get ridiculously crowded and parking is a pain. the waitresses are all very friendly and juggle the huge crowd pretty well though. the food is excellent as is their york county counterpart. their brisket andpulledpork is solid and their warm potato salad is surprisingly extremely delicious. also those cornbread muffins with the honey butter are like crack. so addictive.

this is definitely one of my favorite spots to just relax after work with some friends and co-workers.

greatpulledpork bbq sandwich. i usual visit their location over in york county, but recently got the chance to try this location out. their menu is basically the same but the look and feel is a little different. as for the location, i like the york county location better but the food was equally as good.

i always get the same thing when i go,pulledpork bbq sandwich w/fries and a side of greens. they have plenty of homemade sauces to choose from, i prefer hot sauce and a splash of east carolina on the greens. their mustard bbq sauce actually makes a good fry dip to me.

they serve each meal with corn muffins and honey butter. plenty of dessert items to choose from and equal amount of beer options on tap. if you like bbq this is one of the must try spots in that area.

portions are big but i've definitely had better bbq. the ribs were chewy and thepulledpork needed a lot of sauce to taste good. banana pudding seems impressive but i've had better, the top 'meringue' part tasted like cooked egg whites, the pudding itself was bland and flavorless. i'll save my money and go somewhere better next time.

great food. took the family here for dinner. very food. everything was well prepared.
had ribs chicken andpulledpork. everyone left full and happy. should be back in the future

one 'food coma" wasn't enough. i had to do it again.... on my second visit to the county grill five of the people from my first visit were in attendance. this was a birthday dinner of sorts and everyone ordered something different from the previous visit, so i have a lot more pictures to show you at the end of the review.

on this visit we were seated in the bar at a round top table under the giant elk head on the wall. we started off with 2 appetizers as well as an endless supply of mini corn bread biscuits. the apps were wings and potato boats. both of these apps are unique and have a county grill twist on them. the wings are smoked, grilled and then doused in the house buffalo wing sauce. the taste is truly unique and they are one of kind and excellent. the same goes for the potato boats. these are potato skins on roids. they start out with the same basis, bacon, green onion, cheddar cheese but then the cg adds smoked bbq beans & smoked beef brisket to the mix. you could make a meal out of these alone. so good....

now for the entree's. if you read my reviews you know i'm a burger guy, so i went for the county grill burger. good lord cg delivers. this includes a pit grilled burger basted with the house bbq sauce & topped with smoked bacon, cheddar cheese and fresh mushrooms. the crinkle cut fries come on the side in a mini fry basket and house slaw. this burger is gigantic and delicious. very cool and darned filling to say the least.

other entree's at the table included the cape cobb salad which includes bbq skewered shrimp. a large ribeye steak platter w/ baked potato. smokehouse quesadillas (which are an app but big enough to be a meal) and a bbq combo which includespulledpork, beef brisket and smoked chicken breast.

everyone loved their food and the portions are huge. most of us took food home. if you want some darn find southern home cooking you need to try this place out. skip lunch that day and bring an appetite. you won't regret it.


-----11 may, 2012-----

i have two words for you... "food coma".. i don't get over to hampton much unless i'm passing through but today was different. we stopped by here after catching a movie while it seemed a little late for the lunch crowd, the place was packed.

we had a part of six and were sat at a large round table just inside the front door by the small stairway. the restaurant is broken up into two sections. the main dining area in the front. a tiny bar in the main corridor, and then the main bar is in the back of the builder. you can enter from the front or back, whichever you prefer.

for starters i ordered the state fair onion ring app and this came out on a large platter with all the giant battered rings placed around a bowl of horseradish. by far the best onion rings i've had in a while. you don't find ring like this much anymore. shortly after that the entree's started arriving. i went with a sandwich called the pit master. this came with succulent pieces ofpulledpork shoulder and sliced beef brisket and cole slaw. the portion was huge and it was so good by itself i entirely forgot to try any of their 6 house sauces.

i didn't imbibe this afternoon but did notice that they have 10-12 micro brews on tab (according to a chalk board i read.) and they rotate the seasonally. sounds good to me.

there was also a desert menu and i understand their banana pudding is to die for. noted for future visit.

all in all a great visit, i'm looking forward to trying several more things on the menu however what i had today was so good i may not veer off from that meal the next time i visit. i then went home and took a 2 hour nap. an easy 4 stars.

lots of sauces - lots of tasty. i live on the southside so we do not get up to hampton very often to eat out. when we do often enough we have to rely upon our friends to tell us where to go. the county grill is probably not the easiest thing to locate but it was well worth the driving back and forth trying to figure out where the little dot on my map was telling us to go. previously frankie's in virginia beach was my favorite local bbq place but no more!

the beef briscuit i had the first time was so delicious. the table has about 8 different sauces to choose from meaning that no matter your tastebuds if you like bbq you'll find one you probably like. the sides are equally as delicious as the entree with marvelous service.

the second time we went i tried thepulledpork which by itself is very bland but with the added bbq sauces it's delicious. i think i prefer the briscuit but thepulledpork in its sandwhich form would most likely be an awesome lunch option. they have a wide selection of beers which made my other half very happy. the country music also reminded him of home but i like that the music is not overbearing and you can easily hold a conversation without ever even noticing it.

this place is well worth the hassle of trying to find it. i was trying to use the android's navigate app and it was completely confused. the resturant is off a little side street that runs parallel to mercury blvd. it almost looks like you're heading into a residential area to turn back there and we almost always accidently pass the turn.

great!. loved the different sauces they offer. soooo much better than the pierces pitt place in williamsburg. this bbq is worth having and the portions are really big. word the wise though....their banana pudding is cooked. i'm from texas and we never cook banana pudding. it was kinda weird...don't get it. thepulledpork is awesome though and the beans are fantastic.