Wes Wright
Owner and proprietor of Belmont BBQ, home of the Crazy Good BBQ.
Wes & Scotty
Our food is cooked fresh daily and made from scratch. Come by and try for yourself, you can even order online.
In the News
Restaurantarama – 01/01/2008
Slowly but surely, the separate universe that is Belmont is earning its stripes as a dining destination. It’s worth a trip across the bridge to the town–within–a–town for brunch at Mas or lunch at La Taza, and soon you'll have another reason to make the journey (or, if you live in Belmont, to cheer): a fancy barbecue joint, run by a guy who honed his skill with a smoker on the competitive barbecue circuit.
We speak of Wes Wright, who boldly predicts that his soon–to–open Belmont Bar–B–Q will become a “Charlottesville institution.” It's in a cute little building right across Hinton Avenue from La Taza, which not coincidentally is run by Wright's sister, Melissa Easter. Wright's been busy remodeling the building and putting in classy touches: nice ceramic tiles on the floor, corrugated metal on the front of the counter, pendant lights. Oh yeah – and a smoker capable of handling 700 pounds of meat at a time. (Any pigs reading this should leave town immediately.)
“Ribs are what it's all about,” says Wright, waxing nostalgic about his years of reconnaissance in barbecue joints in Memphis, Oklahoma, Kansas City and Texas. Ribs, yes – and brisket, pulled pork, chicken and turkey: a regular carnivore's nirvana. “I can only live so long without eating barbecue,” he declares.
Though he claims inspiration from those down–and–dirty barbecue pits of the Lower Midwest, Wright promises a sparkly–clean establishment meant mostly for takeout. He also says you'll be able to order online, then skip the lines and pick up your dinner at a walk–up window. (No immediate plans for an ABC license, says Wright, who intends to open around the end of January. Maybe you'll carry your takeout across the street and buy a beer from his sister.) His sister, in turn, might be found at still another establishment on this block — Saxx Jazz and Blues Club — where, starting in February, she'll be providing food cooked up in her kitchen next door at La Taza. The nosh? “A sophisticated jazz menu,” says Easter: jambalaya, cheese trays, soul food on Sundays, and prime rib smoked at – you guessed it – Wright's place. If interconnectedness is a recipe for success, this block of Hinton is well on its way to greatness.