Woodlands BBQ was recommended to me by a friend who is an Appalachian State alum. It was a good recommendation because I really enjoyed our lunch here. It hit the spot. The full name of this restaurant is The Woodlands Barbecue & Pickin' Parlor. It's located on Blowing Rock's main drag, Valley Blvd (US Route 321). If you can't find parking out front, there are plenty of spaces in the back.
This is a fairly spacious BBQ restaurant with two levels of dining. Seating is all at picnic tables with a tray of sauces and a roll of paper towels at every table. Unless you're sitting against the wall, your seat will not have a back. The restaurant is clean and has somewhat of a vintage feel to it. It's got a mishmash of decor, from pig-themed paintings to banners for App State's three national championships in college football (I-AA/FCS). There's a big screen TV downstairs and the picnic tables can be combined for large groups (there was a birthday party going on downstairs during our visit). The atmosphere is casual.
Woodlands offers a good variety of BBQ including pork, brisket, chicken, turkey, and pork ribs. You can have the pork or brisket served chopped or sliced. You can get chopped chicken, 1/2 a chicken, a grilled chicken breast, blackened or jerk chicken, and wings. Like other BBQ restaurants, you can get a BBQ sandwich, tray, or plate. The plate comes with three sides and bread or hush puppies. The prices are very reasonable with sandwiches, which come with chips and a pickle, costing $5.25 to $8.95 each; trays with slaw and hush puppies at $5.95 to $7.95 each; and plates at $8.95 to $10.95 each. You can get $1 off BBQ plates from 11am to 2pm, Monday through Friday. You can also order meat and sides in bulk.
In addition to BBQ, Woodlands serves burgers, tacos, and burritos.
There were six of us. We split into pairs and ordered three Hogs per pair. "The Hog" comes with two pork ribs, two jumbo wings, a tray of chopped pork, a tray of chopped brisket, three sides, and bread or hush puppies. At $19.95 per Hog, it's a great deal. I ordered our hog with BBQ slaw (a.k.a. North Carolina vinegar-based red slaw), fried okra, collards, and hush puppies. The meat is served on a paper-lined tray and the veggies are served on a separate disposable plate.
Woodlands has two kinds of coleslaw: what they call "regular slaw," which is mayo-based chopped slaw and the aforementioned BBQ slaw. Our server mixed up our slaw order and accidentally served us regular slaw. She ended up giving us BBQ slaw on the house so it was like our Hog came with four sides and hush puppies. It was a lot of food for two people.
I would rank the BBQ as follows, from most favorite to least favorite:
1. Chopped brisket
2. Chopped pork
3. Pork ribs
4. Jumbo wings
I recommend the chopped brisket and chopped pork. Chopped (or pulled) pork is something you typically see at a BBQ restaurant, but chopped brisket (beef) isn't something I've encountered much. Usually, it's sliced. I thought both the brisket and pork had pretty good flavor on their own and no sauce was needed. The two were very similar. Both had tender, appetizing consistency with the brisket having a bit more chew. Both also were served with bits of outer edges which I liked because of the additional smoky flavor added by the char. The brisket and pork were served in paper trays.
I tried the house BBQ sauce with the brisket and pork and it was A-OK.
The ribs weren't bad, but far from the best I've had. The ribs were slathered in a relatively thick sauce. Each rib was nice and meaty, but not soft nor fall-off-the-bone. Ribs don't necessarily have to be fall-off-the-bone to be good, but these seemed a tad too chewy. Like the ribs, the jumbo wings had plenty of meat on them. The wings tasted fine, but they would have been better if they were juicier. If I ever came back, I'd be willing to give the ribs another shot, but I doubt I'd order the wings again.
I thought all of the sides were tasty. Here are the sides I tried, ranked from most favorite to least favorite:
1. Fried okra
2. Regular slaw
3. BBQ slaw
4. Collards
5. Fries
I wouldn't say any single side was outstanding, but they were solid all-around. I like how finely chopped both the regular slaw and the BBQ slaw were. Compared to collards at most other BBQ restaurants I've tried, Woodlands' collards weren't as flavorful. I love greens though, so I still enjoyed them, especially with the table-supplied Texas Pete Pepper Sauce. Woodlands' greens are big and leafy. The fries were home-cut and par for the course.
The hush puppies were crispy and delicious. They're oblonged-shaped. Rolls and hot or mild cornbread are the alternatives to hush puppies.
The staff here is friendly. We had a sweet server. For some reason, it took a long time for us to get our food even though the restaurant wasn't very busy. I'm not sure what was up with that.
TL;DR - Woodlands BBQ serves yummy pork, brisket, and sides. I'd come back. read more