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Corner Market BBQ is located at 22902 Cox Road in Petersburg.
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Co-owner Al Marek on the hillside of Corner Market BBQ
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Marek's son, Jason, cooks a big pot of collard greens.
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A pulled pork sandwich from Corner Market BBQ
A beautiful cut of meat is typically the star when it comes to barbecue, but what is a smoked hunk of deliciousness without good company and plenty of side dishes? At Corner Market BBQ, nestled on an inconspicuous street corner in Dinwiddie County, diners can find all three.
Located on the site of a former farm at the intersection of Cox Road and Airport Street in Petersburg, the new restaurant is a family affair, run by Al Marek, his wife, Sue, and their son, Jason. Since its opening at the beginning of November, ribs, baked beans and pulled pork sandwiches have flown out the serving window every weekend.
“It’s almost like there’s some kind of a spirit behind barbecue,” Al says.
A history buff, Al is enamored with the cultural heritage of barbecue, in the context of indigenous peoples and American versions of the cooking technique. But what really gets him going is the history of barbecue in Virginia.
“You can’t tell me the Powhatan tribe wasn’t smoking meat long before we got here,” Al says. “And right now they’re unearthing BBQ pits at James Madison’s house. In fact, there’s a great quote from George Washington’s diary that says something like, ‘A hundred years from now, men will still be sitting around arguing with each other over the best way to smoke a pig.’ ”
Before opening Corner Market, the Mareks had been smoking meats for years.
“I’ve had tons of friends ask me when we were going to open a BBQ restaurant,” Jason says. “Sue had all these recipes for side dishes, and we had thrown Saturday-night football parties for years with barbecue, so it sort of seemed inevitable.”
Al grew up helping his father on the farm site where Corner Market is located now, and he says working with livestock from an early age made it easier for him to feel comfortable handling meat. In the mid-1970s, Al’s father built a permanent produce stand on the property, which was rebuilt in the early ’90s and now sits adjacent to Corner Market. Across the parking lot is the long farm patch where Al grows produce to sell at the stand. The fresh produce is also used at Corner Market; coleslaw made from fresh cabbage is an item regularly available on the menu.
Almost all the smoking equipment was hand built by Al, including the smokehouse itself, which is constructed from a former train car. He says the whole process took somewhere between eight to 10 years to finish.
“I get tired just looking at it all,” he says, “but it sure is fulfilling.”
Al begins smoking meats around 6 or 7 a.m. every Thursday morning in preparation for lunch service on Friday. When it’s ready to come off the smoker, he seasons the meat with salt, pepper and his secret “mop sauce” rub.
“We use hickory and white oak wood, and it doesn’t have a drop of moisture in it,” Al explains. This is thanks to a greenhouse, also built by Al, where the wood is dried.
Corner Market began by serving pulled pork sandwiches and “Dinwiddie Dogs” — loaded hot dogs with chili — and has since expanded its offerings to include ribs and chicken wings. Al is looking to serve more smoked chicken options, as well as smoked brisket. But no matter what’s on the smoker, when meat is being prepared, fragrant clouds waft across the highway and pull in customers from all across Virginia.
“We get a lot of folks who come in just from smelling the smoke while sitting at the stoplight out front,” Jason says. “We even had one customer come up from Gloucester every weekend for over a month when we first opened.”
Jason helps work the kitchen and counter with Sue, but he also assists Al with the smoking. The signature sides, such as fresh coleslaw, baked beans with beef and peppers, and cornbread "fritters," are predominantly the work of Sue.
“The fritters are basically a cornbread hush puppy,” Jason says. “They’re sort of a tribute to my grandmother’s cornbread recipe.”
Offering takeout and outside seating only, Corner Market’s serving strategy is in keeping with the changing landscape of dining in a global pandemic.
Moreover, the Mareks have been able to share their collective passion not only for the edible aspects of barbecue, but its communal nature as well. Two family friends lost their lives to COVID-19 this past year, and the Mareks delivered trays full of pulled pork and sides to the mourning families, according to Jason.
Sue echoes the emphasis on community: “Barbecue is so important to me because I’m from a big family,” she says, “so when we’re open on the weekends, I feel like I’m back home.”
Corner Market BBQ is open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
