Willie’s

Good ribs; need extra sauce with the pulled pork. Easy to get to — right off the highway. Way better than fast food!

This location now closed. They moved, but I haven’t been to the new location somewhere near Mechanicsville.

A must stop 4 barbeque joint… Or so it was I guess, b4 I could finish the review I noticed they had closed down as I drove by the other day.
That sucks!

Hidden gem.
This little hole in the wall serves up heaping portions of delicious BBQ and soul foods. The smoked meats (chicken, pork, beef) are tender and delicious. The sides are delectable. The prices are quite low, considering all of the delicious food. The only thing lacking is atmosphere, but hey you can’t win them all.

First time we ever passed this place. Stopped for lunch. husband and i both got a half chicken plate, 3 sides and drink, all only 8.95. We could have split one. The sides are at least ¼ lb apiece, and very savory. Chicken was simple, not overly spiced, and the choice of sauces on the table were both awesome. The variety of sides are completely southern goodness. greens, black eyed peas, beets, potato wedges, etc… the coleslaw is perfectly balanced btwn mayo and vinegar. definitely will visit again, satisfying food at a great value. Don’t let the façade scare you.

Definitely not coming back — food poor, restaurant dirty and help thought it was better to joke among themselves then serve customers. If there was a negative score rate they’d have it.

Fast, traditional southern BBQ & sides, and most important: yummy. A special, one of a kind stop you don’t want to drive by. Great access to 64, next to a gas station, and across the intersection from a McDonald’s. Stop here first: you won’t even think about going to McDonald’s. Most fun is the pork sundae. It is a plastic cup with layers of pulled pork, slaw, an beans. Very yummy and travels well. The beef brisket tasted great. Outside and inside seating. Willy’s is an old time roadside restaurant that serves good food fast. O.K., it may have some old time eclectic moments. Just the same, it is a one of a kind and the meals are very satisfying.
(Separately, if you want to add some additional spice to your drive East on 64, STAY ON Route 60 until it hits Route 30 and takes you back to 64. Route 60 parallels I-​64. Nice 4 lane state highway. Gets you off 64 for a bit. Since it is a 4 lane state route (and no one is on the road) you make good time. Great break from 64 and some interesting sites, stops, and restaurants. When I drive back and forth (east or west) from DC to Norfolk, I always take this route 60. The hard part is whether to have BBQ at Willie’s or The Hog Wild Smokehouse, both on route 60. I stop at Willie’s if I’m in a rush and at Hog Wild if I have time to sit. Both are great.)

Sorry Willie’s but you pulled pork sandwich was too dry and your coleslaw was tasteless. You bathrooms need some serious upgrading … I guess you know that.

Yum! We were looking for a place to stop off 64 that wasn’t a fast food chain and this was pretty good! The pulled pork, cornbread, coleslaw, and potato wedges were all tasty. We were a little nervous when we saw it wad hooked to a gas station, but it was separated inside and had a good amount of inside seating. Lots of good looking sides and meaty options. Would definitely stop here again! (Also, they have indoor seating as well.)

My wife and I were on our way up to D.C. but needed some lunch. Knowing that we don’t like stopping in Williamsburg because it’s not easy on/​easy off so we kept pressing and saw the sign for Willie’s on the exit sign. Yup, had to check it out. First sign it was going to be good? A fire truck was stopped picking up food. Absolutely delicious. Pulled pork was delicious and juicy. Cornbread was AMAZING. All their sides are pretty good, although I think they use a little too much vinegar in their collards.

Can’t add much to what’s already been said … GREAT FOOD! Pork is killer, CONRBREAD … dude … but my favorites are the greens and yams! Happily, I live close! GOOD STUFF!!! Give it a try! The best food is always in small, unusual places … don’t be put off by that.

I used to live right down the road, and I finally stopped in today for some barbecue…
The inside is better looking than I thought… not as take-​out cheap dining as I expected. I might actually eat inside one day.
The food is in a glass case in pans by the register and it all looked pretty good.
The girl taking out order was an idiot. So was the older woman who came up to help her. We had to repeat our orders, then right after we told her what drinks we wanted, she messed them both up! How you get diet pepsi and regular dr. pepper mixed up with mountain dew and diet dr. pepper is beyond me. Plus, the young girl looked up at the menu 5 times while preparing our sandwiches… what divine wisdom was she trying to obtain from the menu? How-​to instructions for sandwich making?
We ordered the pork sandwiches with potato wedges to go. They came with a giant scoop of cole slaw. We got both the tomato and the vinegar based sauces.
The vinegar sauce was delicious! The potato wedges were very dry, but still good. The barbecue was good, and the cole slaw was the best part of the meal.
Nice food, not too expensive, but the people working there are horrible.

As a Californian, road side BBQ joints aren’t something I see all the time. Based on that alone, this place was a MUST STOP for me.
So while driving down from DC to visit family for a long weekend in Chesepeake, we had one of those OH NO, I NEED TO PEE RIGHT NOW PULL OVER MOMENTS and the closest rest stop was the McDonalds advertised on the freeway. So after relieving myself I walked out to check out where I was. Yep, podunk. Then I notice a little green building with smoke coming out. and a gigantic pig over the door. the door says bbq. I had zero choice on whether I wanted to eat there or not, my legs were already walking my body across the street.
Walking in, it was what I expected — walk up, order, sit down and wait until your shit is done and come and get it.
Sadly, the girl working the counter was either completely mentally handicapped or had a severe meth problem. Based on her looks, I’m going to go with tweaker with a glitter problem. It took me forever to order because I was constantly repeating myself. It’s like she was crashing from a night out of raving. I got worried that she cooked the food. I was paranoid beyond words. After explaining what I wanted 800 times and waiting for her to slowly package everything up to go after I told her I wanted it to eat inside… I just stopped talking and waited. her brain hurt. really hurt. hurt so bad i think i saw it coming out of her ears kinda hurt. she was dumb, but this place doesn’t deserve a knocked star. no way. just be patient. it’s worth it.
We ordered: rack of spare ribs, collard greens, mac n’ cheese, corn bread and coleslaw.
Everything was delicious. I inhaled the ribs so fast that I almost had to order another WHOLE RACK. Yes, I am a fat ass and I don’t care. They were THAT good. My mom is a corn bread aficionado and looks for a bounce in her corn bread before she even bites in. It had it. It had flavor. IT was sweet. salty. creamy. fluffy. airy. it was everything from a good corn bread. collard greens spot on. colesaw sweet and creamy.
fuck, i want to go back.

Road-​tripping is a blast, but it has a major downside: getting a car full of people to agree on food. After coming back from a long weekend in Williamsburg, about the only thing we could agree on was that we wanted to avoid fast food. Our stopping at Willie’s was a fortuitous gamble. Usually I’d avoid stopping by a BBQ joint right off the interstate, but we risked it. We were pleasantly surprised to find a genuine BBQ shack so conveniently located.
Willie’s is a BBQ shack with no frills. That said, if one is looking for frilly BBQ, it might be prudent to just look for another kind of food. It was too cold to sit outside, but the inside was what you’d expect from a side-​of-​the-​road-​plastic-​silverware-​and-​paper-​plates restaurant in rural Virginia. The staff was very friendly and prompt, though service is mostly do-​it-​yourself.
All of us ordered plate dinners (a great deal for the amount of food). I had chicken and my car-​mates had the chopped pork and both were excellent. The chicken was moist and tender and the pork, though just a little dry, was perfectly smoky without tasting like a piece of wood. The true test of whether Willie’s is true NCBBQ is in their ribs, but there unfortunately wasn’t time. The reason this place doesn’t get five stars is the sides. The mac and cheese was a big disappointment. It’s delicious but it’s way too thick, grainy, and rich. The baked beans confused me in that they weren’t in much sauce (a definite plus) but were still mushy (a definite minus). While the simple potato salad was pretty good, the simple coleslaw was just bland. From the looks of it, the sides sit in a glass case all day and they taste like it. The veggies look overcooked, the beans and mac taste old, and the coleslaw just doesn’t have much crunch to it.
I really liked Willie’s so I’ll end on a high note: CORNBREAD. This is BBQ cornbread like it should be. It’s moist enough and sweet enough, but not too sweet that it overpowers your sauce and just crumbly enough that you can put it in your leftover juice and spoon it up. Absolutely delicious.
If you’re traveling on this route and want to avoid another gut-​busting fast food meal, give Willie’s a shot. The meat is excellent, the corn bread superb, and the sides probably not as bad as I’ve made them seem. I’ll definitely be back!

I have to thank the Unilocalers below for their reviews. Otherwise, I might have driven by this place a million times on the way to my friends house and never stopped. The outside of the place looks dumpy and the funky green color did nothing to lure me in. So since I had read the reviews below me and friend decide to give the place a try. It was a weekday right before noon. No one in sight. That is okay because once I got a look at their side dishes, that they have nicely laid out for you too see, I knew it would take me awhile to decide. We both got pork sandwiches with sides of both sauces, north Carolina tangy vinegar and Virginia tomato based. She got macaroni and cheese and I got mac and cheese and potato salad. We took it back to her house and devoured it. That food was so good. I could seriously eat there everyday! Oh we also had limeades, they were just okay, but I can live with that. I hope others will not be cared off by the ugly green exterior because I want this place to stick around! I can’t wait to try the other side dishes.

This place is actually off Highway 64. I impulsively stopped here with my bbq-​craving boyfriend in on my way home from a trip to Prime Outlets Williamsburg. The atmosphere isn’t much, but sometimes that’s where you find the best bbq. Here, the Carolina BBQ was moist and flavorful, even before I added the awesome, tangy Carolina-​style sauce. Each dish came with 1 side. If you go, get the Mac & Cheese. I haven’t had many variations on this classic that beat this one. It was rich, cheesy and utterly irresistible. We also got a rack of ribs. They were tasty, but not as out-​of-​this-​world as the pork by any means. The only downfall? No alcohol. I like washing my ‘cue down with a cold one, but here a Diet Dr. Pepper had to do. I’ll definitely stop by on my next road trip East.
On a subsequent trip, I got the pork meal, which came with two sides and a choice of dinner roll or cornbread. The cornbread was amazing. Savory, with a sweet finish, it was hard not to polish of the gynormous wedge that came with my meal. The pork, again, was awesome. I also liked the baked beans: they weren’t as drenched in sauce as some styles, but they were still flavorful, making them less heavy than some other variations. The potato salad was also good: simple and made with love.

Good BBQ is often found in the most unlikely of places. Off Exit 64 of Highway 95 is Willies Smoked Carolina BBQ. The first sign of a promising BBQ shack? That sweet scent of burning wood as it smokes in the cooker. The first sign of a promising Carolina BBQ? Sauce on the side. Remember, Carolina BBQ is a little different since the meat doesn’t come bathed in sauce. For the best flavors, mix your own vinegar sauce combination for that sweet and tangy punch. I recommend the moist and tender chopped pork but I probably wouldn’t order the chicken again, which I found a little dry. Great sides include big chunks of actual cornbread (not that Jiffy stuff) and cole slaw. [Original Visit: March 21, 2010]