Owner and pit master Chris McPherson. (PHOTO: J. Elias O’Neal)
GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — There’s another new player in the local barbecue scene – this time in Goochland County.
Piedmont Smokehouse BBQ is now open at 2030 W. Broad Street Road in Maidens, about 15 minutes west of Short Pump.
Owner and pit master Chris McPherson had been running Piedmont as a catering operation and the space was supposed to serve as its commissary kitchen.
He eventually realized the building, home to the former Carter’s General Store and a feed store, had more potential as a full-on restaurant.
“It’s such a cool space,” McPherson said. “People will come in here and remember as kids buying penny candy.”
Piedmont Smokehouse opened in a former feed store at 2030 W. Broad Street Road in Maidens. (PHOTO: J. Elias O’Neal)
Piedmont Smokehouse serves smoked chicken thighs, pulled pork sandwiches and spare ribs. Other menu items include pit-smoked baked beans, macaroni-and-cheese, potato salad and sweet corn cakes.
“We smoke the mac-and-cheese and baked beans under pork butts,” McPherson said. “That gives them a smoky taste.”
Its dessert menu includes poundcake from McPherson’s 70-year-old neighbor Prissy Taylor, affectionately called Prissy’s Pound Cake.
“I had Sysco come in and say we can sell you desserts,” McPherson said. “I told them, ‘Yeah, you could, but it’s not made by my neighbor.’”
Establishing Piedmont Smokehouse has been a life goal for McPherson, who invested $25,000 to transform the space from feed store to restaurant.
Since graduating high school, he has worked in kitchens in cities including Austin, New York City and New Orleans.
