Had my standby, bbq pork with creamy slaw and baked beans... But I added a rib for only $2. It was meaty, smoky and juicy. Definitely gonna do ribs again. The only issue with this place is it is not closer to where I live! I am never disappointed when eating here. read more

Fresh Air Barbeque - Ribs - Barbeque Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Twice now after purchasing half-pound bbq from the drive through it was mostly fat and not edible. It's unfortunate because it's really good bbq when it's not fatty. The Brunswick stew is fair. The coleslaw is amazing. With food prices and inflation I cannot afford to take the chance on food that I may have to throw out read more

Very good barbecue pork, chicken and sides. Their Brunswick stew is particularly delicious. The casual atmosphere is welcoming and comfortable. The service is impeccable. If you want good pulled pork and tender pork ribs this should be your go to place. read more

Had lunch here on a Saturday fall afternoon. You order up front and they bring to your table when ready. Our server had our food to us in about two minutes. I ordered the pulled pork platter with slaw and Brunswick stew. My wife got the stew and two ribs. I mixed the sweet and thick sauce with the peppery hotter sauce. It was delicious. My slaw was very good and I liked the finely chopped stew. Generally my wife and I enjoy a chunkier stew but this was flavorful and excellent. My wife loved the ribs. Meaty and full of flavor. They pre slice all of the ribs to singles. Still juicy and tasty. The place has a real Georgia bbq feel to it. We will be back. read more

Fresh Air Barbeque - Pulled pork platter with slaw and stew - Barbeque Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Stopped by on the way back home from Watson Mill Bridge State Park. Saw it on the way there and decided to grab some BBQ for dinner at home. Pork and Brisket were both tasty. Brunswick stew was good also, although I prefer the "chunky" version. They do charge a CC fee, but it was prominently noted at the pickup window so I don't have a problem with that. Most places try to hide that with tiny lettering or no notice at all, so kudos to them for being up front with it. read more

Fresh Air Barbeque - Note CC Fee notice in upper left corner. - Barbeque Near Me - Athens, Georgia

The pulled pork is the best in the area. Always consistently great. High quality and cooked to perfection. Can't find a better BBQ place than Fresh Air BBQ. read more

Great great food. Love the bbq & 3 different sauces & fried okra super crispy & cold tangy light Cole slaw. Miss the Buffett, as was greater value for $ then read more

Ordered the chopped pork sandwich plate; the sides (baked beans and slaw) were both great but we didn't love the chopped pork sandwich. It had a sour taste and it was very dry. We'll try again some other time and get ribs instead of sandwiches. Employees were friendly and helpful! read more

I absolutely love, love, love Fresh Air Barbecue! I've been eating their bbq since childhood and it's the best barbecue in Georgia! They're family run & owned and they've been doing bbq the same way since they opened generations ago. The ribs are divine, the pulled pork is mouth watering. We go to eat there whenever we're in Athens. Can't speak highly enough of the food or the customer service that Fresh Air provides. read more

I got the smoked chicken half, slaw and baked beans. The chicken was dry, hardly any moisture to it. Although it was dry, the smoke flavor was good. Just had to saturate it with bbq sauce. The sides were ok. Not one of my favorite BBQ places in the area. read more

Delicious! I haven't been to such a friendly place to dine in a very long time. What a refreshing experience. It reminds me of all of the restaurants I ate at growing up in Georgia. Keep up the great work. We will definitely be back. read more

Consistently good cafeteria-style bbq and southern comfort food, in a casual restaurant. Food: 4/5 We like their pulled pork -they have several choices for sauce. The fried chicken is good, too. The cafeteria line has fresh salad options. Vegetables are southern style -some appear to be canned, maybe? The fried okra is good when they have it. The Brunswick stew is not as thick as we prefer. Regularly have banana pudding as one of their desserts. Service: pretty much serve yourself after you pay at the counter. They do refill serving trays quickly when they are emptied. Drinks are unlimited. Facility: 3/5 Simple decor-nothing fancy. Casual dining. Fine for bbq lovers. Plenty of parking. Location: 3/5. Use your gps-it's easier to find that way. We go back for bbq here, because there are enough choices for various members of the group to choose what they want from the cafeteria line. read more

First thing is you will be greeted with super friendly server or staff who will take your order with friendly smile. Very decent flavor and food will fill you up. The place is really clean with their renovations done. I kinda missed the old buffet they use to have but individually order meals is of course just fine me. Will come back. Thanks, Manny read more

Closed now and that's good. Food terrible, service worse and the atmosphere was old, dirty and covered with grease. Maybe the other location is better but the Atlanta highway one is no more. read more

We had Chris cater for 100 people. The food was AMAZING and everyone loved it! We patronize the restaurant frequently and are always impressed with the service and quality. The folks really care about the food they serve. Delicious!! read more

There are a few of these sprinkled across Georgia and they are all pretty consistent. slow cooker pulled pork with a vinegary barbecue taste which I like among others, not to much as to scare away a softer palate but enough to give it a little kick in the ass for vinegar bbq lovers. On a sandwich or naked, other than that just kind of your standard old timey kinda bbq place feel. I do very much like that they sell they're sauce at the register for a very reasonable price, less than two bucks I believe which is how it should be, some of the places act like they're selling gold $5-10 its sauce! No gold but all in all this place is pretty good and very well priced and good helpings for what you pay. read more

The pull pork sandwich was delicious Fast and friendly service. Tea was delicious. Clean. Wish they were open a little bit longer.

Came here on a Friday with a group of people before graduation ceremony. For about $10, you get a buffet and drink. Restaurant was clean and staff was behind the buffet keeping an eye on the food and serving the dessert to customers. Meat included fried chicken, fried catfish and pulled pork. There was also a limited salad bar (no cucumber or tomato) and veggies included green beans, sweet potatoes, squash casserole, blacked eyed peas and cole slaw. There is outside sheltered seating as well. A decent place if you're in the area and want to fill up on Southern fare. read more

Fresh Air Barbeque - a plate of food - Barbeque Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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I used to go to fresh air 4-5 times a month but over the past couple of years services went way down. The past few trips the service has been excellent the food is good as always and at a good price read more

Visiting the areaa from out off town and just stopped while out and about. Ordered the rib plate and should have known it was going to be bAd when they pulled them out of a cooler and heated the ribs in a infrared oven. The ribs were hardly edible, tough and no flavor. Actually left half of them on the plate. Definitely would not recommend. read more

Very good food! It was my first trip today and I was pleasantly surprised after seeing the yelp rating. I think it's much better than it rates. The quality of the food was excellent and it has a wonderful "down home" feel. I highly recommend coming here. The staff was very helpful as well! read more

The cats outside were more welcoming than the staff and the food tasted like crap. I guess if you are black and/or gay, you are not welcome at this establishment. We walked in and the attitude was surly and hostile from the get-go. We won't be back and if we are there, it will be us standing outside with the picket signs! We have been to many barbecue restaurants and the food wasn't even comparable to anywhere else. Sonny's has five-star meals compared to this place! Was it prison fare from the 1930's???? Horrendous! And, we live in the 21st century! Hello! read more

Just went back for first time since pandemic shut down so much. The folks at Fresh Air wisely chose to use their down time clean up and update. The decor is much improved. There is no longer the buffet but that's okay. Order at the counter and your food is quickly delivered with smiling faces. I enjoy the bbq pork sandwich very much and I'm looking forward to returning. read more

Horrible chopped chicken sandwich tasted like dog food. The pieces were so tiny, it was all mealy, and I wondered if bugs were in there, seriously. The flavor was old and gamey. The lethargic girls at the counter weren't happy to have to wait on anybody, but finally took notice when my husband said, "Hey. We're here to eat " which seemed to annoy these girls who honestly moved with speed of heroine addicts. Will never, ever return read more

Love the buffet Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Delicious food and friendly people. The banana pudding is out of this world!

Clean and friendly. Had the rib plate. The baked beans were awesome. The ribs were better than most but I'm a fall off the rib kinda girl. Sweet BBQ sauce but without the tangy of the Texas style. I was here on a Friday and they have a all u can eat buffet that has fried chicken and catfish and pulled pork. They had a steady flow of customers getting that and it all looked very good. read more

Stopped there for lunch with a co-worker, didn't know what to expect. Community seating is kind of unique. Lunch buffet was good. People who worked there were really nice. I'd eat there again for sure. read more

If you have not tried the lunchtime barbecue buffet at Fresh Air Barbecue on Hull Road you are possibly missing out on best kept secret in Athens. I went on a Wednesday (today) and it was "rib day". Thursday is "shrimp day" and Friday is "catfish day". Holy hog, those ribs were good today!! They serve spare ribs at the buffet and they were large and meaty. Some folks might say the ribs are too fatty. Note to fatty rib haters: it's impossible to serve lean spare ribs! The chopped and pulled pork are devine. The mac & cheese and squash casseroles rock. The cole slaw is as good as any I have ever tasted. I will return often and take friends. read more

I bought a place in Athens about two years ago, after leaving UGA/Athens over 40 years ago. When I was a teenager, my family moved to Macon. My Dad then purchased a lake/vacation home on Lake Jackson. On every trip from Macon to Lake Jackson, we stopped at the original Fresh Air BBQ restaurant in Jackson for our favorite BBQ and Brunswick stew. Searching Yelp for a good BBQ joint yesterday, I noticed a listing for Fresh Air BBQ in Athens. I couldn't believe my eyes, so I checked their website and determined that yes, they are related to the Jackson restaurant. Today I drove out to the Fresh Air BBQ Athens on Atlanta Highway and was relieved to see their rustic building which brought back fond memories of the log cabin style building at Fresh Air/Jackson. I bought the Tailgate Special which included 2 lbs of BBQ (pulled pork), 1 quart of Brunswick Stew, 8 hamburger buns, 8 pickle spears, and I elected to get 2 sides of Slaw, instead of 1 slaw and 1 baked beans. I'm happy to say that the Athens food is exactly like what I ate my entire life at the Jackson restaurant, and the Macon restaurant on Riverside Drive that opened in Macon in the 1980's. It is excellent. I don't understand how Fresh Air BBQ has only 3.5 stars on Yelp. Their pulled pork and Brunswick Stew are worthy of 5+ stars in my humble opinion. I was happy to see that they have a strong business of loyal patrons with people waiting to order their food when I got there, and people waiting to order after I left. Maybe it's an acquired taste, but I haven't had Q in Athens that comes close to Fresh Air. I sure am glad they're here. read more

Some of the BBQ was ok, some tasted not ok (not sure why-might have been the sauce). Neither my wife nor my daughter finished theirs. Slaw was poor. Not impressed. read more

This place makes my list of worst bbq places. It's just not good at all. It is cheap in price though. The pulled pork sandwich taste like a high school bbq sandwich or one of those you can buy at a gas station. The ribs are cooked to death. I actually use this place as a gauge on whether I trust someone's opinion on bbq...if they like it..then every thing they offer up is ignored...if they don't like this place...then i keep listening. If you are traveling or new to the area then do yourself a favor...keep looking. read more

Fresh Air is awesome. Warning it is only open three days a week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It closes at 2PM. The all you can eat buffet is great and a decent price $9.50 w/ tax. When I went, there was pulled pork, fried shrimp, sweet potato casserole, mac 'n cheese, banana pudding, and more. It was all perfect and delicious. There are a lot of great restaurants in Athens, but it is worth making your way over to Fresh Air. read more

I pass the restaurant on a regular basis driving from Athens to Atlanta. I always like stopping at new BBQ places, so I did also at Fresh Air BBQ. Unfortunately the experience didn't match my expectations. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich with fries. I can only say this was one little basket of disappointment. The sandwich bun could have been from any grocery store. The fries can from a pre-frozen bag and weren't even done well. And the BBQ, the main part of the meal, and the only possible item to make this a good stop, had little to no flavor. So sorry and big time disappointed. In fact the question for me was to call this "worst BBQ" or "not good at all" in the title. read more

This is not your grandfathers Fresh Air BBQ. I have enjoyed Fresh Air BBQ for 40 plus years but can't say much for this. I had the buffet and the pork was tasty, but the soupy cole slaw and Brunswick stew that was a total mystery ruined the meal for me. Hard to believe that the original Fresh Air's are associated with this. read more

You have to try the lunch buffet!. It is only served for lunch on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. All three days you can get pulled and chopped pork,as well as fried chicken, and many other made from scratch vegetables. No canned or frozen reheating here. The cool thing is each day has a different specialty item on the buffet. Wednesday is rib day, big meaty spare ribs cooked to ribtastic perfection.Thursday they have large fried butterfly shrimp on their buffet. You would be surprised how delicious the shrimp is with their signature vinegar style barbeque sauce put on them.Friday they have wonderful catfish strips that are as good as you can get. They taste like they are fresh breaded and fried to perfection,definitely not out of a box. Give Fresh Air a try, you WILL be back. read more

I love Fresh Air BBQ and have eaten there for years. I go almost every week to their lunch buffet. They have a great variety of meats, pulled pork, chopped pork, fried chicken and one other specialty meat. The veggies are good too. The hardest part is to leave room for the banana pudding. read more

I ate here recently based upon the reputation of the location in Jackson, GA. I had pulled pork, cole slaw, and brunswick stew. It was the most tasteless barbecue and stew I have ever eaten. The texture was strange, too. The slaw did not taste fresh. I will not be going back. Very disappointing. read more

The food I ordered was a sandwich plate. It came with pulled pork, choice of Cole slaw or chips ( at least that's what I was told at the time), and Brunswick stew. The pork was good the Brunswick stew was plain and the chips are as to be expected. My only complaint was the cashier wasn't very friendly at all. read more

Buffet had a nice variety and a pretty good price which included a drink. Food tasted fresh and there was a server right at the buffet staying on top of it to make sure there was plenty for everyone. Tables were clean and counter service was fast. My only complaint is that no one who worked there seemed to be really smiling. Very polite although I would have appreciated a friendly greeting. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised! read more