Amazing can't wait to come back! Services was on point didn't have to ask for anything it was already on its way. Cozy feels just like I'm in Grandma's kitchen. All the food was great. I got potato salad, brisket hush puppies and a sausage can't complain about any of it. All of it was amazing. read more

Jake's Place - Brisket Platter - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia

I stopped in with my mom late morning on Strawberry Festival day, fully assuming that they'd be too busy to even park in their tiny lot, as that is what happened in 2024. Surprisingly, we were early enough to be able to park and only experienced a roughly 10-minute wait to be seated. I ordered the catfish nuggets with fries and cole slaw. They also came with hushpuppies. My plate was very fried and brown, and I suppose I'm not used to that anymore haha, so I did have to box up my leftovers. My mom had the crab cakes and added a side of beans, which she loved. She also had a slice of pie and said it was okay. Considering the day's events, service was great. I'd consider a return if in Ashland in the future. read more

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A small restaurant off the beaten path in Ashland. A little crowded when you walk into the small reception area but the delicious smell of BBQ delights your senses. It wasn't crowded mid-week at lunch so we were seated right away. Our server was attentive and helpful with any questions. I had the Orange Crush cocktail and it was delicious. We tried the Redneck Eggrolls, cheeseburger and pulled pork sandwich. Everything was really good. We have eaten in the restaurant twice and had take-out once and each time it has been consistently good. Definitely worth a visit!! read more

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I did finally tried. Jake's place. I won't go back. Pulled pork sandwich. The meat was dry. The bun was not toasted and soggy. The coleslaw was sour. my wife got grits with pulled pork on top. The grits were left over probably from the day before and appeared to be microwaved.The pork was cold on top. Coffee was OK. The service was OK. The restaurant has a great concept and a very nice building read more

The food is very salty. The service was rude and only concerned with getting me out of there. It's the closest restaurant to my house, but I won't be back! read more

Small space and well managed. Has outdoor eating space. Brisket had nice chew and flavor.

Had their food truck at the RMC game. I was not expecting to have the worst pork bbq sandwich of my life today. It was bland...so bland...a few splashes of tomato based and vinegar based sauce didn't save it. Frozen bbq is better, and I worked at a competition level bbq place. This ain't it. I'd say, make sure your food truck is good so that people want to go to the restaurant. read more

First time visiting. Had high hopes, maybe too high. Others we know who have been were kind of sketchy in their reviews. Seemed some things great - pimento cheese - other things not so great. Were in the neighborhood so figured lets give a lunchtime try. Parking lot was almost full, good sign. Room pretty full, another good sign. People must like this place. Was advised of a special of the day, drinks came quickly, and waitress attentive. So still looking good. Meal one - Pork sandwich. Looked good. Came with their version of fries, large wedges of potato. Crisp on outside, soft on inside. Wife said it was OK, had better had worse. The sauces on table, neither were what she would like so had sandwich without which was fine. Meal two - pork and brisket combo. Potato salad was very good. The coleslaw was fine and the soft drink was cold.......If I'm not talking first about the meat there might be an issue. So here goes. The silverware at the table had a fork and a knife, plain Jane knife style. Not going to cut a steak with that kind of knife. But for what I ordered I did not expect to have to cut anything. Tray with food came and on my tray was a steak knife. ?????? Table to our right, guy had just brisket and he too was given a steak knife. Pork first. Heavy is grease / fat on the tray. There is good pork fat and there is bad pork fat. This was more on the bad pork fat. My guess - chopped, held in warming tray with the fat renderings poured over the top to keep moist. It had some smoke flavor to the meat, but neither sauce on the table was complimenting the fat. Brisket came with a sweet sauce layered in a stream over the slices. BBQ being finger food I attempted a pull test to check the tenderness and it was overlay tight. Found that cutting it with the steak knife that was provided with the meal was the way to go. Not trying to be overly critical. My wife says I am a BBQ snob. As one who judges and critiques BBQ all over the US, I do feel I can be overly critical of BBQ. I do not try to compare restaurant quality to that we judge at contests as restaurants cannot baby every single meat as we get in a comp. A comp is a one bite challenge. Restaurants are feeding the masses. But I think BBQ should always be very good to great. I can see some flaws here and things that certainly can be fixed. Maybe it was a bad lunch day for staff. So not going to say one and done. If in the area I will probably try it again. Hoping things will be better on the next trip. read more

Jake's Place - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia

Was quite the nice surprise during our stay. The pulled pork, fried green tomatoes, fries, fries with pulled pork and cheese... everything i had was spot on. Will definitely revisit again to hopefully get pics of my food. read more

Awesome Food and service ! Went on a Saturday for lunch. Prices are great , food is great and people are great. Restaurant is cute . Great atmosphere for a little smoke house. We will go back . I had the smoked turkey sandwich. Highly recommend. read more

Jake's Place - Smoked Turkey sandwich w sweet potato fries. Baked beans Priddy Burger Beef Brisket Sandwich with hush puppies. - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia

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Best bbq sandwiches ever! Best prices in town ad well. Super friendly staff 20-10 recommend

You can't go to a Randolph Macon game and not stop here for some bbq. The bbq was selling food at the game and we had to go check out the location for ourselves and see the full menu. It is a rather small place but there is additional seating outside in back. One fun feature is the tables themselves- old sewing table bases. Everything we tried was delicious the pulled pork, brisket, ribs, Cuban sandwich- fries and hush puppies. I personally loved the Cuban sandwich and ask to add pull pork to the grilled cheese- not on menu but they did it for us and it was good. Staff were attentive even though it was getting busy. They have a Jake's peach ale that isn't bad and refreshing with your food. They had desserts but I will have to try them next time when we come back to Ashland. read more

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Finally got to Jake's Place. We are always anxious to try a barbecue joint, and there was no excuse not to stop in at one that is only 10 miles away. There were highlights and meh-lights. Let me start by saying that I am reviewing this at what I consider to be BBQ restaurant standards (since some of you who know me personally know I am a competition judge.) I am not comparing this food to competition Q, that is a whole different realm, and volume alone can drive differences in cooking in a restaurant. So looking at it as a restaurant: Setting: -- Atmosphere was family-oriented. The staff clearly knew a lot of the patrons, and treated everyone well. -- Service was friendly and attentive and accurate. We could not have asked for better treatment. Drinks were kept filled, several check-backs on anything we needed, prompt take out boxes and check when requested. Food: There were some real stars on some of the plates. For starters, the onion rings were about the best I have ever tasted anywhere. Fresh cut and dipped in a light batter and crumb coat, just once and not double dipped as some places do, made for light crunchy rings without the onion getting steamed to death inside. A real treat! Pro tip -- ask for ranch dressing instead of ketchup for these rings, it is a great combo! Also in the spotlight were the side dishes. Small side portions but good nonetheless, we enjoyed the collards, the potatoes, the hushpuppies, and the mac and cheese. The slaw was a perfect BBQ slaw, not too wet and just the right touch of seasoning (celery salt in this case I think.) The apple sauce was off-the-shelf okay, but served its purpose in breaking up the flavors of the meats I got (more on that in a minute.) Sauces: There are two sauces on the tables -- one was a vinegar based sauce that I supposed was intended to be eastern NC style, but was so thin and single note that it may as well have been Kraft Italian salad dressing. (There was no label on the bottle, so it may well have been intended not as BBQ sauce but salad dressing. hmmmm.) The other sauce, in an identical bottle but with a label, was a smoky red sauce. I was reminded of a specific commercial sauce, and was afraid the smokiness would be too strong but it paired well with the meat, and the sauce was needed. Great barbecue doesn't need sauce, and bad barbecue can't be rescued by it. But average Q sometimes needs a little help with flavor or moisture or both. Among the meats we ordered, the ribs were the star of the show. Well seasoned, cooked perfectly, The half rack we ordered went down easily and will be my order the next time I am in Jake's. The yardbird (smoked chicken half) was just on the verge of overcooked; a bit dry, but had good flavor. Red sauce ended up helping moisture after the italian sauce didn't. The pork and brisket were very dry. The brisket crumbled apart like stringy pot roast, and it needed the sauce the kitchen had topped it with as well as what I added at table to augment the fat in adding the yum factor. Not a bright spot. The pork was also dry and needed help, but the flavor of the pit was definitely there. Better than crock pot / slow cooker pork, not as good as average backyard smoker fare for tenderness or taste. So all in all, it was an average barbecue restaurant experience. I will go back and try things again, it was an acceptable meal in a friendly place. But I hope for better. read more

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Best barbecue ever! Pulled pork sandwich has a time of meat on it. Beans with bits of pork too. And the onion rings are sooooo good served with this fun little tomato relish dip. read more

Great Barbecue and service. We have been there twice, first of many more visits. Pies look good, refreshments are spot on!

Services is amazing and food is out of the world , I love the redneck egg rolls place is just outstanding. read more

Jake's Place - Appetizer redneck egg rolls - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia

Adorable little place in the Ashland area. We were just exploring the area, saw it and decided to stop in for a drink and a snack. As you enter you are hit with the delicious smell of bbq and a friendly hello from the excellent wait staff. Today we weren't really hungry so we just had drinks and an order of hush puppies. Man those hush puppies, crispy, oniony, a tad sweet and just the right texture. They are served with a fresh honey butter. Looking over the menu, the prices are reasonable and the dishes sound great. We will definitely add this to our come and try out. Also extra shout out to that excellent wait staff. They are very hospitable and quick. read more

Food was great, service was fast and friendly. We had our dog with us in the outdoor dining area and multiple employees came to pet her

The food was real smokes bbq not oven baked & sauced. Portions were good and prices fair. Our server Caitlyn, was wonderful, very attentive. I will be back. read more

I would go with a 3.5. 2nd time visiting. Kind of disappointed. The service wasn't that great. Waited to get our orders placed in a cramped place for 3 and almost blocked someone in cause they were really in the corner. The hush puppies are very good. I will go back and try again. One read more

Great food and pleasant environment Waitress was great and was very attentive. BBQ is the best in town read more

Got a chance to have lunch at Jake's Place yesterday. Was greeted by very warm and friendly staff. Which I really appreciate. My sister ordered the pimento and brisket sandwich with Mac and cheese in the side. She said the sandwich was good but the Mac and cheese was really dry. I ordered the brisket platter with collard greens and baked beans. I was disappointed in my meal. The three brisket slices were really thin and tough. My collard greens were good but way over salted. Hoping the baked beans would save the meal but they were cold. The atmosphere was cool so keeping my experience at 3 stars. read more

Great food and cute this restaurant. Love the redneck egg rolls. The French apple pie is not so great but everything else was delicious! Best Cuban ever! read more

Amazing food Beyond welcoming and friendly staff Very reasonable pricing 5/5 If you are in the area and are hungry, you will not be disappointed. read more

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Food was great. i ate there a month ago so can't remember what. I ate just know it was very good

Homey, rustic place set just outside of Ashland. Appears to be a local establishment located in a converted historic gas station or historic convenience store. We enjoyed our visit. To start, we got an appetizer of hush puppies which came with 7 large moist puppies for $5. They were delicious and a great deal! The bbq was very good however below award winning status in our opinion. I had the beef brisket sandwich. It had plenty of meat on it and was served with just a splash of bbq sauce which was perfect. There was extra bbq on the table in case you preferred to sauce it up! I added the coleslaw to the top of the sandwich which came on the side and it gave the sandwich a nice change in texture and a sweet taste. My wife got the pulled pork sandwich which she enjoyed. She said the meat was on the drier side but no complaints. Unfortunately, they did not have a kids burger so we ended up getting the kids adult size burgers which is too much food for them. All sandwiches came with these large curly battered fries except one which we substituted onion rings. The fries were similar to potato wedges but curly. They were very good and we enjoyed the change! Onion rings were lightly battered and tasty. It appears they use sweet onions for these rings and you can really taste the sweetness in each bite. Lastly, our server, Molly, was excellent, knowledgeable and was very attentive. We had a fork hit the floor during our meal and she was over with another clean utensil set before we could pick it up! The kids even received free lollipops as we paid, which was a big hit with them! We will definitely stop by next time we are near! read more

The food was delicious and the service was excellent we had a great time with the family.

3 meat sampler with hush puppies and two sides. Fried soft shell crab sandwich. Delicious would highly recommend this place! read more

Jake's Place - 3 meat sampler with hush puppies and two sides Fried soft shell crab sandwich Delicious would highly recommend this place! - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia

Our experience was dreadful at best. My in-laws, hubby and kids visited the restaurant upon a recommendation. We ordered two appetizers, 1 burger dinner, 2 bbq platters, 3 crab cake dinners, 3 beers and 3 fountain drinks. All was well until we got to the crab cakes. They were awful and burnt...on the bottom. We're respectful customers and have seldom sent a plate back anywhere we've been, but that was unacceptable and embarrassing that the establishment would serve patrons a dish in that state. We asked to send those back and the owner came to the table. We had taken a couple bites and showed her what was wrong and asked to send them back. She was confrontational and loud. She advised us, "that was a waste of a lot of crab" & made us feel small. She then tried to offer us to order something else, but quite frankly, we don't have to eat there. We politely declined. An older male took the plates to the kitchen, both audible and visible from the dining area, and slammed them in a trash can. We were humiliated. Honestly, we were going to order bbq platters, but after being treated poorly, we decided to ask for our check. It took a while to get our check. Probably, because the owner was then arguing with someone over the phone requesting a refund for food delivery (we could hear her on the phone from our table). We will not return again. Our bill was a little over $93 (crab platters were removed from check). On the plus side: The tomato jam was tasty and the waitstaff remained courteous and professional throughout the ordeal. One can only hope the owners learn a thing or two from them. "Waste of crab". Absolutely....by the cook. A patron should not feel obligated to eat subpar food or feel bullied by management. A wasteful night it was. Wasted potential to make more money as more food and drinks would have been ordered, no future sales to us and no recommendations coming from us to others. A little customer service has the potential to go a long way. Did I mention we were celebrating Mother's Day? Just awful. read more

Our first time trying this place and it was great!! Nice place to get some homemade bbq!! Portions are big and plenty, definitely get what you pay for!! Was very pleased!! Will definitely be back soon.. Great service as well!! Thanks Molly!! read more

Jake's is a really good barbecue restaurant. The first way I tell if a barbecue restaurant is good is can I smell it and we could definitely smell the barbecue. The other thing is they try to do a little fun things with their barbecue like the redneck eggrolls that had collard greens pulled pork and was served with a bacon bourbon jam Yum. My boyfriend really liked her vinegar barbecue sauce and I really like the hush puppies! read more

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The Chicken BQ was flavorless and dry. The pulled pork was tasteless and greasy. The sides were good. Service was excellent. It is a nice space. read more

Good food. Cozy little place and quite busy. Has a real small town, homey feeling. We had the Hush Puppies, Battered Onion Rings, Jake's Q-Platter, the Brisket Sandwich and the Jeff Katz Sandwich. Pulled pork on the platter was on point. Moist, tender, and good sauce. The brisket on the sandwich was tasty and tender. The Jeff Katz was unique. Never heard of using corn bread for a sandwich, but it wasn't bad. Definitely different. I loved the flavor and the crunch of the Hush Puppies and the onion rings. However, the absolute best thing on the table was their homemade Tomato Jam! I could eat that stuff with just about anything. It was sweet and tangy and a perfect complement to both the Hush Puppies and the Rings. I even put some on my sandwich. I wanted to buy some to take home, but they were out. I would caution anyone who is grease sensitive, or just doesn't like fried foods. The first layer of both the Hush Puppies and the Rings in the baskets are crispy and crunchy. Great flavor. However, as you get further down in the baskets the grease has pooled and soaks into that bottom layer of whatever is in the basket. Maybe if they put some bread down under them it could soak some of that up. They did put a layer of lettuce under the Puppies, but that didn't do much. Even with the last few being pretty greasy, I'd still go back. The food was still good and the atmosphere was laid back and cozy. Just the way I like it. read more

Took my family here when we were visiting Randolph Macon college. Very nice and quaint place. Had a chance to meet the owner and his daughter, who was a server. They seem like good people. The fried green tomatoes were really good, sweet potato fries were wonderful and the hush puppies kicked ass. I was really excited to try the ribs, of course. They were very good ribs. Meaty and tender. I asked for baked beans, but got some pulled pork instead for some reason. I actually forgot that detail until the end :-) I can't say I was too into the pulled pork but only because it lacked salt which I had to add. The barbecue sauces were superb. I like a lot of sauce and, with the ribs, they did not disappoint. All in all a great experience and, as always, it's great to support a small local business. read more

Little out of the way but worth it. Cute place. Great service and of course the brisket! Didn't care for the cole slaw but spouse did. Sadly out of banana pudding. Hopefully next time. read more

Wanted to love this place, but found it not meeting expectations. Go for the onion rings and ranch dressing. Literally the best of either I've ever had. They're perfection, especially together. The service was superb. Friendly, attentive, and generally a pleasure to work with, the waitress was wonderful. While the mac and cheese was delicious (and my dining partners loved their sides), I just can't get excited about tiny sides served in little plastic cups better suited for ketchup or jello shooters, especially given the pricing. The fries were actually kind of cool though, in their non traditional shape. I will definitely try them again as loaded fries. I tried the chicken, ribs, pulled pork, and brisket, and ALL of them had a sooty flavor and powdery texture, which indicate a dirty smoker and overcooking at too high a temperature. The sauces on the table were not special. One was like an Italian salad dressing and the other reminded me of a Heinz bbq sauce that was dressed up with liquid smoke and maybe a touch of brown sugar. The latter was useful in alleviating the dry texture of all the meats. Dad liked the ribs, and Mom liked them once she got home and steamed them, but I found them to be nearly inedible, due to that weird sooty powder that came off on my hands. Restaurant and bathrooms were clean, but it is weird having a bug zapping/trapping lamp at the same level as your face directly next to the table while you eat. I'll come back and try the burgers, and I'll be a repeat customer for those onion rings, but I think unless I can try a bite of someone's smoked meat to see if it's improved, I won't be ordering any form of smoked meat for myself. read more

As far as appearance and the building itself, Jake's place is one of the most unique spots I've ever been to. It's as if someone took a house and turned it into a restaurant. There's a tiny eating area inside with about 10 tables. The entry way is tight and filled with all different types of photos and antiques. The dining area is even cooler, with posters, antiques and even a deer head hanging from the wall. As for the service it was okay. I think they were a little short staffed. Every waiter and hostess seemed to be rushing around. I won't take any points off for that considering it's something they can't help. Refills came often and the food came out in 15 minutes for my table of 6. We started with the redneck eggrolls which are fired very nicely. The inside tho is just not good for a eggroll. The collard greens and pulled pork just made for a weird flavor. You'd think it would be fine but it was just mediocre. I will say that the tomato jam it came with was spectacular. It was really sweet and I would add it onto anything on the menu. As for our other appetizer, we go the rockfish but had it delivered as an appetizer. The rockfish itself was bland. It could've used some seasoning of some sorts but the tartar sauce helped a little. The coleslaw was meh, a little too watery for me. The fries are abysmal. I really just didn't like them at all. No crunch and too much fluff. Very potatoey and not enough crunch. As for the main dishes I got the Dixie burger. As far as taste, I was actually very please by it. The bacon was super crispy and flavorful and the fried green tomato was in every bite. There was a generous amount of pimento cheese and the burger was cooked perfectly as well. All the flavors combined very nicely for an evenly distributed burger. Every bite had good crunch, and juiciness. The pimento cheese had just enough of a kick to taste it but not to the point where it wasn't bearable. The potato salad I added to it was good as well. I actually liked the large potato chunks and the small bits of bacon in it. I thought that using a sour cream base gave it almost a baked potato vibe. I would order it again for sure. As for my girlfriend's pork, it was a complete miss. Very dry, not seasoned well and frankly it was flavorless. Very disappointed considering this is a place that prides itself on its bbq. I thought the brisket was a little better. The bbq sauce on top added a nice tang and flavor and the cuts of meat were thick and had good portions of fat too. The Mac and cheese was okay. It was nothing spectacular but it served for a decent Mac and cheese. It played its roll but not a home run by any means. The apple sauce was apple sauce, can't really mess that up. And the hush puppies were decent. I thought they were way too dense on the inside, not enough air and fluff in them. It was like eating fudge but in bread form. The crispiness was excellent though and the flavor was there. For a place that's raved about in its community for its bbq, it really just didn't do it for me. I don't know if I'll ever come back here. The servers were hardworking and it didn't take long to get the food but the food itself just didn't hit the spot for me. I've had much better bbq at other places with much bigger portions for less money. I think if this place could also have better sides and deliver on that, it could be better. Sides are a huge part of a good bbq dinner. This place didn't hit on any of them besides the potato salad. I'd try this spot for yourself though, maybe it has something you'd like, but for me, I'll pass. read more

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Too hot outside and tables too close to each other with food portions a bit skimpy. Not a great place to visit with friends for fear of being heard. read more

Best BBQ in Hanover! I heard they are trying to sell the business. Hopefully it stays open for a long time to come!

While I was in the area decided to go to Yelp for recommendations of an awesome place to eat. Oh and the lady at the saddle shop recommended it also. LOL! This place is located in college town but that is what makes it a gem. This is an old gas station that they fixed up as a BBQ joint. This place is so cool inside and out. Not a lot of parking but we managed to find one, probably because we came before the crowds. The place is all about BBQ. They have any and everything, ribs, chicken, pulled pork, homemade sides which were awesome, hush puppies which were the bomb!! We even got a history lesson on the place from the owner. Yes, the owner was walking around introducing himself and checking on folks. They have a small bar with lots of cocktails, beers, wines. They carry the Tim Smith Moonshine and Whiskey. Look him up, he has cool liquors. I tried the Kopperhead and Highly recommended it!!!! It had the Tim Smith Whiskey in it, let me tell you it was liquor up perfect. So you definitely get your money's worth. Service was top notch. Our waiter was the BOMB!!!! From the menu options to the mixed drinks, everything was priced very reasonable. If you are in area HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND this place!!!!! You will not be disappointed!!! I can't wait to go back..... read more

Jake's Place - The Kopperhead!!! Super yummy! - Southern Near Me - Ashland, Virginia