Carolina Brothers Pit Barbeque

LOVE that this place is just off the W&OD trail. Although I’m not much of a BBQ lover, in February I really long for summertime and my evening walks/​bike rides on the trail with my guy where we ALWAYS stop for a food stop or just a soda at Carolina Bros. I have nothing but positive things to say and look forward to stopping in again in a few months!

This is one of the best places to get bbq. I am also probably biased because growing up this used to be Partlow’s, and those who have lived in Ashburn for a long time remember it (and still call it) Partlow’s.
It is located right next to the W&OD and during the summer months they will bbq outside. Parking is limited but it gives it the «small town» atmosphere. The tables and chairs inside are all wooden and to their credit, Carolina Brothers kept the historical atmosphere of Partlow’s.
The food is Carolina bbq, and pretty decent for this area. Their mac n cheese is pretty good. The other main sides are beans and coleslaw. The desserts are also decent. Even if you don’t like bbq, its a nice place to stop in after a bike ride or run on the trail to grab a snack or a drink.

This place has pretty solid bbq. The selection is limited but the flavor is there. The sides aren’t anything special but are good too…
Why is this review so bland? Because the flavor here is too… I’m not sure if it’s because I’m using to other regions of BBQ but I needed a lot of BBQ sauce to get any real flavor from the meat (may just be what Carolina BBQ is like?). It also lacked some of my favorite types of BBQ which made me sad as well.
Pros:
1)It is on the WO&D so if you are biking it is a really great place to take a break and enjoy lunch (probably one of the better places to stop on the trail for food.
2) Always a place to sit down, never had an issue finding some place to sit (often BBQ places don’t give enough room to sit, my favorite place in the region almost only has bar seats.
3) Food is ok, if you are a big fan of pulled pork sandwhiches, then this may be the place to go.

I am more of a KC bbq person, but really enjoyed their Carolina style. Wednesday is brisket day (only day available) and it’s great! Slaw was very good as well, however Mac n cheese was no bueno. The only slight disappointment, otherwise a great meal.

Macaroni and cheese tastes like paste-​tasted like old leftovers. The pulled chicken had no flavor and tasted wild and old. Green beans were horrible– mushy and overcooked. Worse 8.00 plus tax I ever spent. I used to rave about this place. The food has definitely gone way south since I started going there about 5 years ago. The prices have gone up, portions gotten smaller and quality is less than half a star. No freshness, no quality, no taste and old food. So, decide if you want to go now.

Best BBQ around! Always fresh and delicious. Super friendly staff and great value for the price.

I just had the bbq brisket lunch platter, and it was great! I have not had better bbq in this area.

Some really good pulled pork with all the southern sides you would expect.

I ordered takeout from here on Saturday 10÷31÷15 and I was a little bit disappointed. Not totally disappointed, but I was expecting a little bit of a different taste. The potato salad, the potatoes were not cooked all the way through so they were hard. My biggest gripe with the half rack of ribs that I ordered was that there were no grill marks or «smokey» taste to them. Maybe that’s what they want from their product. I will go back to give other items on the menu a shot.

I’m a native North Carolinian. I grew up eating Carolina BBQ. And this is the closest you’ll find to authentic, vinegar based Carolina PULLED PORK & SLAW in the area. That’s it, though — just the pulled pork and slaw. Everything else is not authentic by any stretch of the imagination — the ribs, brisket, lack of side options — and it didn’t make much sense.
Check this out: no sweet tea, no collards, and no pulled pork platter options (only sandwich options). This is whack.
Any Carolina BBQ joint who claims authenticity must have sweet tea brewed at all times. This place didn’t, and instantly loss some cred in my book. The alternative was «canned sweet tea» lol.
NC BBQ joints always have platter options — not everyone wants a sandwich. So when I asked for a platter option, they put a sandwich-​sized portion of pulled pork on the plate. Entirely insufficient and not cool.
The high notes: the pulled pork & sauce is the real deal Holyfield. Drench the pulled pork in the sauce and add slaw to make the ultimate Carolinian concoction. But not really because they don’t serve sweet tea.

I went here with the understanding that I wouldn’t love it, as I’m not a huge fan of Carolina style BBQ. So I’m going to leave my opinion of the food flavoring out of this for the most part.
So onto the part that matters, the place is neat, has that small town vibe. But, there were a few huge negatives. First off the portion size is ridiculously small for what you pay, $ 10 gets you a scoop of a side and a small hamburger bun with very little meat. Secondly, it’s a bunch of young kids working here who just don’t care. Due to these factors, I will not be back
The few people I went with love Carolina style BBQ, and they claim it is good BBQ, but they tend to agree with me on the portions and employee lack of interest

So after putting in some significant hours at work on a Friday and really wasn’t in the mood to cook when I left, I had to consult with an expert foodie (Mr. Unilocal) for something to eat.
I told Mr. Unilocal that I was in the mood for BBQ and he gave me quite a few suggestions and based off the rave reviews I decided to try out this place. Here are the things that were ordered:
Full rack of ribs w/​potatie salad & macaroni and cheese
Pulled pork sandwich w/​coleslaw & baked beans
Also added a piece of cornbread for an additional $ 0.75
I am deeply sadden to report that I’m not sure how this place got such rave reviews because my experience was not as good as many others have stated.
So here were the issues I had with this place:
1.) The menu isn’t really that vast. However you would assume that a smaller menu means the food should be that much better welp that wasn’t the cage here.
2.) I wanted the pulled pork by itself but it seems that it only comes as a sandwich. (Which BBQ place doesn’t sale pulled pork by itself)
3.) The cornbread is sold separately for an additional $ 0.75 (I feel the cornbread should have been sold as part of the platter. And the cornbread was cold)
4.) The sides were all bland. They didn’t really have any unique taste or flavors. Honestly tasted like something I could have whipped up at home.
5.) Last but not least the ribs weren’t tender and actually tasted like they were cooked earlier in the the day and have been sitting out for the majority of the day. I’ve had way better ribs at Ruby Tuesday. The pulled pork wasn’t anything special either.
When it was all said and done this place was very underwhelming and didn’t live up to its reviews. I’m sorry to say but I don’t see myself going back anytime soon.

Went in to get lunch for me and a friend, and it was some good pulled pork sandwiches!

I hired Carolina Brothers when I was searching for a local bbq place for a company social. I took a chance based on the great Unilocal reviews. They were wonderful. Ordering was simple, they had a variety of catering options on the menu, prices are very good. Our two servers came with everything they needed to our event and arrived promptly on time. They stayed and served to guests and were so friendly and polite to our guests. The food was wonderful. The green beans and pecan pie were some of my favorites. The bbq and ribs were very good as well. Set up and clean up was all taken care of and the leftovers were brought inside for us. It was so easy!
Many of our guests were raving about how great these guys are and got cards to set up some upcoming events with them. I am so thankful for Unilocal and finding these gem through the great reviews.

This is a decent bbq place in the northern va area. I have passed it a couple times and always smelled the smoke and knew it had potential.
They have great pulled pork and also offer chicken and beef. All combos are about $ 10 and come with two sides. The house sauce is pretty good with a sweet and peppery taste.
I’ll be back, for sure.

BBQ is delicious, and the smell … oh my! not a big fan of their sides but the BBQ is so delicious you won’t even mind the sides.
All the staff members are super nice and helpful. Great drink selection !
Will be back very soon :)

Feeling like some BBQ on the day we went here – so the family and I decided to try this BBQ pit, located in what seems to be an older area of Ashburn. The inside of this place made me feel soooo at home and in the deep country again. It has old wood floors that creek and it is set up like an old country store. They have many old fashion seats and tables to sit at, as well as antique trinkets lined up all around the inside. When we went on a Sunday it was not crowded, so we walked straight to the counter to place our order. There are not many options for ordering, but hey its bbq! I asked is their hot dog bbq’d or grilled and the server informed me it is not – just a regular broiled hot dog (bummer). I ended up ordering a pulled pork sandwich, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. My husband and daughter ordered a full slab of ribs, cole slaw, and mac and cheese as well.
We choose a table and dug right in! The baked beans were a little tough and could have been cooked longer. The Mac and cheese was AMAZING. Very moist, cheesy and delicious. The pulled pork on the sandwich was not seasoned and it is not drizzled in sauce but very tender – the house sauce is on the tables for you to add at your own discretion. Being a bbq fan –I just feel the meat should be seasoned and the bbq sauce should be marinating on the meat – but to each its own. After adding alot of the house sauce to my pulled pork sandwich it was pretty decent. Now my husband and daughter’s ribs were another story! The ribs came seasoned with sauce and were very tender and well marinated! The meat was falling off of the bone! The cole slaw they ordered tasted dry and we did not finish it. My husband also bought some of the house apple pie and it was very good as well. In all, this is a pretty decent bbq place.

Will start by saying that being from GA and competing on the KCBS circuit has spoiled me on BBQ. For the NOVA area the BBQ is pretty good. Much better than posers like Old Glory in DC. I REALLY like the building — an old gas station with a lot of character. The ambiance and décor sums up the past 100 years of southern Americana.
Back to the food… brisket was a little dry, but still enjoyable. Pulled pork was not «over-​smoked», but a little too mushy (a sign of being over cooked), and the BBQ sauces were good. Sides were excellent, but those are just afterthoughts when eating BBQ, right???

With the lack of great bbq joints in nova, this place is a must try. I was very satisfied leaving the place. The ambience was chill and the service was fast.
My boyfriend and I got the full rack with mac & cheese and beans. We also got the homemade cornbread, which was so rich and buttery, so amazing! The ribs were tender and fell off the bone, highly recommended. Bbq sauce and base sauce were at every table. I wasn’t a fan of the base sauce but the bbq sauce was great, but a bit too watery. Overall I had a great experience.

3.5 stars
My visit to Carolina Bros was short, but sweet. The employees were nice enough; the girl working on the trays explained what was good («everything, but I like the chicken»), since we were first-​timers. My friend got the pulled chicken sandwich (the girl’s suggestion), and I got the pulled pork. We got identical sides; the macaroni and cheese and potato salads.
We split the sandwiches in order to try each other’s. I must say, the chicken was moist and juicy and wasn’t dry at all, which is what I was afraid of (and why I didn’t select that option). It went well with the small container of BBQ sauce that came with the meal. The pulled work was something I really, really enjoyed. The meat was seasoned perfectly, and the juices were so good with the soft bun. I was sad when I finished my sandwich (it’s a small-​med size). This didn’t need any additional BBQ sauce. This was something I’ll come back for.
The sides were just a-​OK. Mac and cheese wasn’t overwhelmingly cheesy, but fell short for me. It was kind of bland? The potato salad was the opposite; much too flavorful. It just tasted like a lot of mustard to me (explains the yellow colour).
Overall, this is a neat spot; the restaurant is in a house-​like building. I took my meal to-​go, because I was in a hurry, but on a nice day (I see the Unilocal pictures that) they have outdoor seating.
Thumbs up for the pulled pork and cool spot.