The Pit Stop

Gilbert's Corner
Intersection of Route 15 and Route 50
Aldie, VA
(703) 944-3611

Visited: March 7, 2010


Before I begin this review, let me tell you that I've washed my hands numerous times after leaving the Pit Stop, given my kids a bath, washed some dishes, and even washed my hands again...yet the sweet smokey smell of the Pit Stop is still strong on my hands and fingers. With such a strong scent, you would've thought that my hands worked the smoker used by the Pit Stop...but no, the smokey goodness that permeates simply comes from the delicious food at this amazing little place along the side of the road.

I must thank Steve "The Batman" L. for inviting the me (along with the wife and monkeys) to visit this wonderful little oasis in the middle of Aldie, VA. If not for him, I would've never made the trip out to this part of VA and would never have discovered the deliciousness that is the Pit Stop.

The first thing you'll notice as you pull into the gravel/dirt lot where Ronnie has his smoker and stand, is the smokey smell. As soon as you're in the parking lot, the smoke seems to envelope you like that dark smoke monster from the TV show Lost. But unlike that smoke monster, this one is merciful and woos you with its scent of delicious meats. Ronnie's smoke monster pulls you closer until it seems that your hunger is about to hop out of your stomach and grab some tasty morsel directly off the smoker.

Ronnie and his son work the small stand with welcoming smiles and very friendly personalities. As cliche as this may sound, you can't help but feel welcomed and you a once stranger are now part of a BBQ family enjoying meats cooked up by your cool "uncle" Ronnie.

Parking the car we hurriedly ended a phone call with some friends and placed an order for a whole chicken with the BBQ sauce on the side. We also ordered on small container of baked beans and a potato salad. Okay, quick tangent here...

BBQ sauce. I wanna bathe in this homemade BBQ sauce. If you have any hesitation or questions about Ronnie's homemade BBQ sauce, he'll happily pour some on your finger for you to try out. Folks, the BBQ sauce has so many flavors that my mind was racing trying to figure out what I was tasting. Whatever the combination, the flavors of the BBQ sauce were delicious and a condiment truly deserving its own short little paragraph. Did I mention that I'd love to bathe in this BBQ sauce? Yes, it's that friggin' good!!!

Thankfully the wife had the foresight to order the BBQ sauce on the side which kept things much neater and allowed us to dip deliciously smokey pieces of chicken in our mini vats of BBQ sauce. The chicken was amazing and any traces of fat hat disappeared during the 4 hour smoking process used to cook this chicken. The meat was tender and juicy with that fabulous smokey flavor infused in every piece of meat.

The potato salad was great and very satisfying. The beans were a little too sweet for my taste but I enjoyed combining a bite of beans with chicken...gotta mix the salty and sweet flavors. Ronnie had run out of the smoked chicken salad which Steve and his friends told us was "the best" they had ever had. Our boys also enjoyed the chicken and side items but entertained themselves by tasting generous helpings of BBQ sauce on their forks.

About an hour later Ronnie asked if we wanted some smoked chicken salad which he had been saving for another customer. Apparently the customer did not show up and he decided to share it with Steve and the rest of us. The smoked chicken salad was a delicious combination of smoked chicken, sweet relish, celery seeds and other tasty ingredients. Our one monkey (the finicky eater) LOVED the chicken salad and devoured the whole container by himself. This was amazing to us as he never eats meat and we realized this was some uber-tasty magical chicken salad if ate the entire thing alone.

Important notes worth mentioning:
- Fully licensed to operate legally in VA
- Only open on the WEEKENDS
- They accept credit cards. Bonus!
- You can call ahead and place a special order
- If you're a pork eater, the ribs looks amazing and H-U-G-E!!
- BBQ sauce is a MUST!!

So should you make the looooooooong drive out to the Pit Stop for BBQ? Yes! Will you enjoy the freshly cooked food and ambiance along the side of a busy traffic circle? Hell yes! We'll be telling all our friends about the Pit Stop and will definitely be back very very soon. I think we'll see if we can call ahead and ask Ronnie to throw a rack of beef ribs for us in his famous smoker for us non-pork eaters...we will keep you all posted.

BTW, it's 9pm....almost 7 hours after eating the Pit Stop chicken...and my fingers still smell like smokey goodness. :-)