Best  BBQ in Virginia ? I wouldn't say that.  The food is not bad but not great.  I found myself pouring a lot of their BBQ sauce to eat my sandwich.  The pizza was terrible.  Its located at a hole in the wall gas station.  Not something you would expect.  The staff was very friendly.
Review Source:Right off the highway 81, in a truck stop gas station. The sign says its the best dang BBQ in Virginia-- big promise.
I had the Carolina style sandwich. They offer a texans style too--and as I've yelped before, the very best BBQ places don't offer you a choice. They do what they do and if it's not your thing then tough &#%@ and go eat somewhere else. At Smileys this held true--they should stick to doing one thing well.
The sandwich was good--and given what was around--Wendy's etc. this is the pace to eat. Â I was also not looking to wander too far off the freeway. Even so, I was hoping it would be much better. The reality is that a BBQ joint that sells fried chicken and pizza is degrading itself.
The bun was the standard 99 cent - 8 pack grocery store variety. Too thin to really hold up. The pork was really soaked in the Carolina style vinegar sauce and for me was too much for the meat. It was kind of hard to tell what I was eating.
The meat was a little mushy, almost like it had not been "pulled" but chopped up in a  blender. And their fountain soda machine needed to be adjusted--too much carbonation.
I've had much better, and I don't think it is a stretch to say that in this part of the country a lot is expected in barbecue.
As I was leaving, a lady went up to the counterman and said this was the best anywhere, and she had come from such and such a place X miles a way to try it. So, maybe it's what you are looking for...
Hubby and I stopped at Smiley's BBQ on our way back from Floydfest and gave the food and service 4 stars. The brisket and bbq (Texas style) sandwiches were delicious - moist, meaty and yummy. The baked beans and sweet potato fries were equally as tasty. Never had baked beans with green peppers before but am a fan now. Also had the fried chicken and have to say, delicious. RECOMMEND!
Review Source:My wife and I were en route to Cincinnati and were craving some BBQ. She did a quick search on the phone and found Smiley's. As we pulled up and noticed it was in a gas station, I got cold feet. We decided we would just get a snack from there and get something else a little further along in our trip. Once we go back on the expressway and tasted that beautiful BBQ pork sandwich, I immediately wished we had given it more of a chance. Don't let the fact that it is in a gas station fool you...Smiley's offers darn good food!
Review Source:The wife and I stopped at  Smiley's for a tank of gas but left with full happy tummy's as well ! It's not much of a place to look at as it's a "gas station" but the BBQ is so tasty ! My wife loved the Carolina style pulled pork sandwich while I was partial to the Texas style pulled pork .
Review Source:We were on our family road trip as we realized that everyone was hungry. While this area of Virginia is nice to look at, there isn't a lot to see when it comes to restaurants - at least not from the highway - so we pulled out our Yelp app and tried Monocle. Now I can't say that it works all that well at highway speeds, but in this case it did a reasonable job of pulling up Smiley's.
That is, until we pulled into the lot. It was, after all a gas station. And we did need gas, so there was that. But a gas station? For lunch? You can only eat so many sticks of beef jerky (sorry, Randy Savage, the wife won't let me have too much in a confined space, if you know what I mean).
After a few minutes, we realized that back in the corner of the standard-looking convenience store was a small kitchen, and there they served up a good variety of barbecue selections. We chose the fairly standard pulled pork, because it's an easy sandwich to judge, but there are other offerings. And all in all, it was tasty - but it definitely needed some of the sauce they offered nearby.
The sign on the interstate says "Smiley's, the best BBQ in Virginia." Â I'm sure you can find better a BBQ sammich, but not on interstate 80.
For being just 100 ft. from the highway this place is a real find. Good fried chicken (give me a touch more seasonings, please). Very good Carolina style pulled pork (with a nice tangy bite to it).
You made our long day's drive through VA a joy. How nice not to have to eat at McDonald's again.
For my first meal as a Fried Cheegan (Vegan who also only eats Fried Chicken), I stopped at Smiley's! Â It was great, although the ordering process is fairly complex. It goes like this.
Get in line behind a thin southern bearded guy with a NASCAR jacket and wait. Then you order. Then you get the ticket and wait in line behind a FINE VA girl with blue plaid on and cowboy boots and wait, and pay. THEN, go back in line behind the NASCAR dude with the original bluetooth accessory and wait and THEN hand the girl the ticket that she just wrote for you.
"lemme take a look at that sweetheart, I should remember but I want to make sure I get it right"
2 pieces of chicken. Thats it. I got it and ate it and it was tasty! crisp skin, slight kick. Chicken meat was tender, but not KFC slimy style. Also, a big thing for me at Fried Chicken places is that the pieces of chicken are somewhat recognizable.
OK, I'll say it, I like it when a breast looks like a breast and a thigh, the most likely victim of fried chicken-guise, looks like a thigh. Smiley's Got that !
On a trip to North Carolina from New Jersey, I saw a very large sign on a hill side that read; Smiley's, the best BBQ in Virginia. I was skeptical but decided to stop and give it a try on the way back.
Upon stopping, I thought there must be some mistake as it appeared to be just another run of the mill gas station. I was to say the least, apprehensive.
Just inside the main store, way in the back, there is a small kitchen serving up the traditional BBQ fare, Pulled Pork, Brisket, Ribs and typical sides, potato salad, cole slaw and the like.
I opted to try a platter consisting of Carolina style pulled pork, Texas style pulled pork and brisket with potato salad and coleslaw to round it out.
Upon being served, I was impressed with the look and smell of the BBQ. The Carolina Pulled pork was cooked very well and had great flavor. My only complaint is they may have had just a tad to much vinegar on it. It was very moist and melted in your mouth.
The Texas style pulled pork was very good as well. While I'm not a big fan of sauced BBQ, this was exceptional. The tangyness of the tomato based sauce complimented the flavor of the pork, not at all overpowering which is usually the norm for this type of BBQ.
The brisket was sliced a little too thin for my tastes but the flavor was incredible. Absolutely no need for sauce here. The beef just melted away at the back of the mouth and had a nice smokey finish.
The potato salad was very well done. I'm not a huge fan of alot of mustard in my salad and when I saw it, I was very concerned as it looked very heavy on the mustard. I WAS WRONG. The flavor was simply great. The potatoes where cooked perfectly and the flavors all complimented each other well and the salad complimented the BBQ as it should.
Finally, the coleslaw. I'm very careful about this seemingly incredulous side dish. I prefer either my mothers or KFC. I must say again that I was totally taken back. The salad was very well done and worth the leap of faith.
All in all, I was blown away by the entire meal. Who would have thought that a gas station of all places would have had this kind of grub.
I strongly suggest that if you should be traveling Interstate 81 in the future and happen to be in the area of Raphine Va. stop by fill up on some BBQ and some gas. It is a win, win situation.
P.S. If your like me and like to collect BBQ shirts during your travels, be advised, they have none. I STRONGLY suggested to the workers that they come up with some shirts or hats as they are missing out on knuckle heads like me that enjoy chronicling there BBQ adventures with t-shirts.
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