Edwards Virginia Ham Shoppe

This is a cute little country store selling some of the best smoked pork on the East Coast. As soon as you get out of the car, you’re greeted with the beautiful smell of smoked meats wafting from the official Edwards smoking house business, located behind the store. The store has a wide variety of Edwards products as well as many other gourmet food items from Virginia-​based businesses. Some things did seem pretty high in price, but a lot of their products are difficult to get, and they have gone to the trouble of gathering them all in one place.
We ordered sandwiches from the friendly women behind the counter. The menu is basic and features Edwards pork, naturally, with ham, ham salad, BBQ, turkey and turkey club sandwiches, and a few others. Prices are reasonable, around $ 6 – 8. There are cold drinks in a cooler and Route 11 potato chips. Plus lots of sweets for dessert. The BLT was basic but totally delicious, as its main ingredient was Edward’s super-​high-​quality bacon. Not too salty, not too smoky, just right! We ate our sandwiches out front on the porch tables. There’s no indoor seating, but there is a restroom. Definitely worth a stop whether you are visiting Surry or just passing through. The Surryano ham they craft from heritage-​breed Berkshire pigs is over the top in both quality and flavor and is a national award-​winner.

This shop is right there with the Edwards smoke house. They have the best ham sandwiches anywhere. The shop has bacon, hams, and other gifts things.

They have a good barbecue sandwich. However, they are just chintzy with the portion you receive. The pricing in the store is inflated… even for a specialty shop. I have tried the VA bacon which I did not care for because it was salty which I should have imagined it would be.

Best ham sandwich ever. White bread, toasted, w lettuce tomato and mayonnaise — summertime in your hand. I’ve seen Edward’s ham on menus in New York and Chicago. It’s world class. Get a quarter pound of Surryano to go.

Poor quality Brisket. Would Not recommend this company. Threw the entire 70 dollar brisket in the trash. The meat was extremely tough and not fit for consumption. Thanks for the poor quality and a ruined Holiday meal.

Even as a Yankee-​born transplant, I believe no place on the planet does pork like Virginia. The best of Virginia’s ham stands above the best of ham anywhere else you could get it. And IMHO, nobody in Virginia does it better than Edwards. They have been my ham of choice for years and I would not deign to use anything else in the ham biscuits that grace my table during the holidays.
The Edwards family has been dry curing and cold smoking hams for three generations and they source their pork from Heritage Foods, a company partnering with a network of farmers who commit to pasture raised, antibiotic free, certified humane, heritage breed animals. I was thrilled when I happened to pass by this store in Surry and discover that I could just walk in and pick up pork awesomeness whenever I wanted … at least whenever I wanted to make the hour-​long drive from Richmond along Route 10, which is actually quite enjoyable.
The store was everything I had pictured an Edwards enterprise to be. The staff are warm & helpful and the product selection is impressive. Beyond the ham, bacon, sausage, hocks, etc. are a cornucopia of products from the local area that includes peanuts (in a multitude of forms), honey, jams, and spice mixes. There’s also a deli where you can get a number of different sandwiches, sausages, and even my beloved ham biscuits.
They also offer tours of the smokehouse at 11:00am and 2:00pm Monday thru Thursday that I would to love take. They only ask that you call them at least 30min ahead of time so they can be sure that there is someone at the plant ready to lead your group.
So, it’s off the beaten path, but well worth a visit if you happen to be passing by.

Mail order only.
Surryano Hams: BEST of its type in the USA. (Sorry, La Quercia)
Links: Fantastic! Hot and spicy is the best!
Bacon: Great!
Crab cakes: Surprisingly good!