Bottom Of The Stairs — Restaurant in Blacksburg

I decided to get the platter with two meats here, from which I selected 1 fried catfish fillet, brisket (came in 2 pieces), and this came with slaw, and two sides, where I chose tater tots and mac and cheese

The first thing that absolutely shocked me was the size of this plate. It was incredibly large. My first thought when seeing the food was "there's no way I'm going to finish this". The catfish fillet stretched across the entire plate to cover basically the entire thing. I didn't expect the brisket pieces to be so large either. Also, the amount of tater tots on the plate was significant as well. That's not even to consider the mac & cheese and slaw coming in separate, decently sized cups.

Starting with the brisket, I thought this was quite good. What jumped out to me at the start was how well this seemed to be cooked, with beautiful char marks throughout and excellently charred edges. The pieces I had that really nice smoky flavor, and the fat in the meat (since brisket is rather lean - there wasn't too much of it) tasted really good as well. I do think it was a bit dry, as cutting it with a knife required a little bit more effort than cutting a perfectly juicy brisket was, and i did notice some of the meat to be somewhat tough, but I do think both pieces were pretty solid

Moving to the fried catfish, I loved how well the breading was seasoned. It had some pepper and other spices that gave it that extra flavor. I liked this less than the brisket, however, due to a) how paper-thin the breading was and b) how easily the breading broke apart from the catfish itself. The entire fillet seemed like it was on the verge of collapse. After my first cut with a fork and knife, a lot of the breading came off, and a good amount of the inner fish spilled out onto the plate. I did think the fish meat was certainly not dry and tasted pretty good, though

The tater tots were also fantastic, and there was a lot of them. the fried batter on these was thick and they were quite crunchy as a result. I also appreciated the relish-like sauce that came with them. Another thing that was really good was the slaw - I found the dressing especially to be really flavorful and the vegetables were done well. I liked the mac and cheese less, though, so when it came to prioritizing, I only ended up eating a few bites of it

As I already mentioned, the portion size here was pretty insane, and for a price of only around 15 dollars for everything, I thought this ratio was astoundingly good. I would recommend ordering just one for two people, as even as someone who can eat a lot, I had to leave a lot of the mac & cheese and tater tots as I prioritized finishing the main dishes. They certainly don't skimp on size - whether it's the main meat or a side

Overall, a strong and diverse combination of traditional Southern barbecue foods at an all-time portion...

I ordered a brisket Reuben and a chicken club, the brisket on the Reuben was tough and very fatty, not the nice tender and melt in your mouth meat that it’s supposed to be, the thousand island dressing was also drenching the sandwich along with a good amount of grease. The smoked chicken sandwich was soaping wet the chicken was okay but the sandwich also had some sort of other meat that wasn’t in the description. I also ordered a side of Mac n cheese with pulled pork, the pork was quite good I didn’t come across any fat on the pork, however I’m wondering if the establishment has a house barbecue sauce cause they have a lot of pork and proteins. When I went to pick up my order they were kind of short with me and it was my first time there. The hush puppies were underdone, when biting into them they were too soft and still very doughy. My overall experience was below average and I wish the food wasn’t as fatty and wasn’t drowning in grease, this place was not worth my time or money(especially for the amount that I spent) and I should have just eaten a soft...

I cannot say enough good about both the food and service here. My buddy and I were spending a long weekend catching up on a close friendship of over 63 years and we're touring area wineries and distilleries when we decided to try this place out. Boy we're we ever glad that we did. Holy smokes delicious! I got the brisket (which is smoked on premises out back). This is indeed the real deal. Beautiful smoke ring, fabulously tender and cut with a feather tender in very generous amounts and fair pricing. The veggies were great, too. Enough beer choices to please most. If ever in the general Blacksburg area - - (particularly if VA Tech is out and it's quiet and laid back) don't...