Foothill Momma's BBQ Juke Joint — Restaurant in Virginia

We were at the Natural Bridge Zoo and were looking for places to eat in the surrounding area and decided we wanted something more than the local sandwich shop or two that we found close by. We decided to drive 10+ minutes and went to this BBQ joint. It is located in a strip mall next to a meat market, vape shop and some other stores. There was enough parking and we parked pretty close to the restaurant. They had a bench outside the restaurant too.

We really liked the atmosphere. It is definitely a BBQ place but it was a little different with the décor and music. They were playing jazzy/blues type of music. A lot of music notes and records were part of the décor. The salt and pepper shaker were in small coke glad bottles. Neat touch.

We went around 1:30 pm on a Saturday during July 4th weekend and it was not busy when we first got in there so we were seated quickly. By the time we left the place at least half of the tables were occupied and service response time had slowed down a little which makes sense.

Our waitress was happy and friendly. She later explained the desserts to us since one or two were out of the norm of what was served locally on our trip thus far. She may have noticed we were from out of town as well.

Condiments we had available on the table were ketchup, sweet and spicy sauce, cackalacky sauce, honey bbq sauce, malt vinegar, and Texas pete.

We only ordered water so we can’t speak on any drinks if they had any. They do have paper straws which I hate.

We ordered the big sampler platter and you get their 6oz. charbroiled chicken breast, one jumbo link of freshly smoked local sausage, 5oz. of smoked pork BBQ, and 5oz. of Delta Blues beef brisket, your choice of three sides, two pieces of cornbread and honey butter. For our 3 sides we got the baked beans and 2 orders of the regular hand cut fries. They do have sweet potato fries available if that is your thing.

Chicken was surprisingly tender. Tasty. Not spicy. Perfectly cooked. The sausage was one of the better ones we have had. The pulled pork was tender and not spicy as well. It was perfectly cooked. The brisket was good but I think the chicken and the pulled pork were a bit tenderer. We do not think the meat was really seasoned but since we used sauce with the meat to eat it with it didn’t really matter in the end. I used the honey bbq sauce and it was awesome. The baked beans had a bit of a kick to them, jalapenos in them we think. Fries were OK but not crispy. Kind of soggy actually. They did not cook them long enough. Ketchup saved them a tiny bit. Yummy cornbread combined with the honey butter – very tasty. He said the cornbread was a little dense and a touch dry without the butter.

Their desserts are different every day. On this Saturday they had grasshopper pie, pecan pie and chocolate chip sandwich cookie. Everything was supposedly homemade. We ordered the grasshopper pie. It was perfection from the mousse to the mint ice cream inside to the Oreo crust. It was the bomb. It was big too and was only 4 bucks for the whole slice. A total steal. We would of paid 12 bucks for it. It was THAT good.

The only downside to this place was truly the flies. They were pestering the whole time we were in here eating lunch. It was very annoying.

We would eat here again if in the area...

ATTENTION- NEW OWNERS!!! And this is NOT a good thing!!!

This place has literally been my all time favorite restaurant once I discovered it two years ago when I started working in Lexington. I live in Roanoke and even have driven the hour drive on weekends to enjoy this place! I cater this restaurant to my referrals office on a frequent basis, and even bring in others to enjoy. Until today!!!!

Foothill Mama’s has now been under new ownership for the last (approximately) 6 weeks. I have tried it and have not been pleased- however, giving the benefit of the doubt, thinking they needed time to learn the ropes and work out any kinks.

Today I dined in and the picture I am including is of my plate AFTER I had eaten a few bites and decided not to finish. The pork was VERY DRY, the cole slaw was bland, the corn bread was cold. My friend got the “new” macaroni and cheese (advertised as if it’s some spectacular new addition to the menu and establishment), when it looks and tastes like Golden Corral. Great job, new owners.

Upon speaking to the owner (who later lied and said she was not- nor was she the one “in charge”- and that it was none of my business) she said “Everyone’s cornbread is cold. That’s how it’s supposed to be”.

Once my server comes to my table to ask how we want our checks divided, I told her I was not paying for my meal. As it was practically still the same that was served to me. She then goes and gets the owner who brings me the ticket. Once she comes back- I express to her that I will not be paying for this meal. She wants to know why? As it had been eaten off of. (Isn’t that what you do when you’re given a plate at an establishment you frequent for a meal?). Thought so.

(Btw, I could understand if I had eaten half of my meal and then complained, but I politely told her the issues when she approached our table wanting to know how everything was. I asked her if she wanted my honesty. She said she did. However, her attitude afterward suggests otherwise.)

Bottom line, the food was horrible. However, I wouldn’t have even left a review over it had the “owner” not been so rude and hateful. I cannot believe someone serving the public could be this ill to a patron that frequents their restaurant on such a regular basis. I will never step foot back in this “joint” and I know none of my co-workers...

Love trying out new places and decided to take a chance here yesterday. Needless to say was extremely disappointed. I don't like to leave bad reviews because I myself am in the restaurant business and I completely understand that 'things happen'. But our visit here yesterday was extremely ridiculous. We arrived around 12:45 pm and waited for just a few minutes until the server could clean a table. They weren't extremely busy but for a small place they had a 10 top, 5 top and 2 other small tables and a couple at the bar. No problem I'll wait. The server then seated us, got our drinks and orders all pretty relatively quickly. It was 1:10 when we placed our order. In the mean time my table chatted and drank our drinks while we waited. 45 minutes passed our drinks were empty and our server hasn't bothered to stop and check on us at all. The 10 top was before us so I let it go because I know how things go. But when an hour passed before she even bothered to stop and refill our teas I NICELY asked if she had any idea how much longer our food would be. I was extremely polite because I do this for a living and I understand things happen. She then rudely answered me and said look we are slammed, we have pick up orders too ya know , and I know there's still two more orders ahead of you and rudely walks away. This upset me more than anything!! As a server myself when things happen you apologize to the table. Explain what's taking so long and try to make it right. Not be rude about it and act like its a bother to serve us!! I don't know if she took our order and then forgot to put it in the system or what happened but after this two more tables that came in much later than us received their food even still before we got ours!! At this point I was ready to pay for my drinks and leave. Ridiculous!! But at about that time, now over an hour and 15 minutes after we ordered, she finally returns to the table with our food and never once apologized. The food was okay. Nothing special but if you want people to return you need to better train and work on your wait staff. We...