On a sand and gravel roadside along Route 460 in Virginia’s World Famous Peanut Region, you will find Cowling’s BBQ. Cowling’s barbecue is pit-cooked over white oak. They cook only whole long pork shoulders. No sauces, injections or dry rubs are used in the cooking process. The natural wood smoke is where the pork gets its flavor. Most of Cowling’s items are made to order, so this is not fast food. I had the sliced pork dinner with slaw and baked beans. The pork was excellent! It was very tender and juicy without sauce. The excellent sweet slaw consisted of green and white cabbage with a few carrots added. The sweet baked beans were also excellent. Their Q sauce is made of tomato paste, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar and other spices. They also have pan-fried cornbread and homemade desserts.

Note: Pick up some of Virginia’s World Famous Peanuts while you are in the area.

Caution: I know the Virginia Diner is famous and all, but today it is more or less a tourist trap. The service is bad, the food is lousy and they don’t serve Virginia’s famous peanut soup. Save yourself some time and money and go to Cowling’s for your meal and stop along the road for your peanuts.