Best ribs I think I've ever had. Fries, hush puppies and cheesecake were amazing! Mac and cheese and baked beans were good, but I probably wouldn't get the baked beans again. Cornbread was PERFECT. Staff were lovely. Love this place and will definitely come back when we visit! read more

Recommended to us by a local as the best representation of Virginia BBQ. So good we went here twice (we were in Virginia visiting on for the 4th of July). The pulled pork with Craig's Carolina sauce was our favorite. The broccoli salad and the pumpkin muffins are also really good. After lunch, definitely go next door to the Flea and Antique Market next door. We found so many great things there. Fantastic BBQ, followed by fantastic antiques....the perfect afternoon! read more

Stopped here while driving to camp drop off. Driven by many years but timing worked out well to stop in for lunch. 4 hungry travelers makes for a good food review. 2 bbq chicken sandwiches with fries and hush puppies. Fried foods were tasty, nice flavor on the hush puppies. I ordered bbq chicken platter- very generous portions. Chicken was fresh and tender and juicy. Spicy slaw and potato salad as sides. Spicy slaw has heat (as advertised!) and I missed it with potato salad which worked out nicely. Also an order of bbq pork platter- nicely cooked, the sauces on the table gave it extra flavor. Chose baked beans and Mac n cheese as sides. Also tried mustard pickles- why aren't these a thing? Just delicious! Took home dessert (dirt cup and peanut butter pie)- haven't tried those yet, and took home Butt Crack as a souvenir, could not resist! read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Pulled Chicken Family Dinner - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

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We stopped here after visiting the Civil War hospital museum nearby. The food itself was ok--my brisket sandwich was fine and my son enjoyed his BLT with nicely crispy bacon. My southern roots have to say no to the collards. Sorry! It's nice that they have 2 slaws and a variety of pickles to choose from and the hush puppies were perfect. They offer a variety of sauces and I preferred the Carolina sauce with a bit of Virginia sweet. That said, the overall experience didn't quite match the price point. At around $90 for three people, it felt expensive for a very casual, counter-service setting. They have a quick order cafeteria style service with most sides and meats right there to serve from the ordering counter. They offer a variety of pre-portioned desserts, cold alcoholic beverages, and meats and sides in larger portions to go We chose to sit outside, but the noise level was a major drawback--constant truck traffic and a very loud motorcycle shop next door made it hard to relax or enjoy the meal. These are things that the exchange cannot control, so if noise is an issue for you, sit inside and you will have a different experience. Overall, decent food, but between the cost and the noise, it wasn't the experience we were hoping for. read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

tl;dr -- 4.5/5 for BBQ in Virginia, but 3.5/5 overall. A UVA alumnus kept hyping up The Barbeque Exchange, telling me it was a must visit while I was in the Charlottesville area. Coincidentally, I had this spot saved on my list for a couple years. Seven of us decided to family-style our BBQ dinner last Sunday so we could sample a couple meats and various sides and breads. Ordering was pretty simple; we lined up and our food (already prepared) were scooped and plated right in front of us. We got two family meals; each came with a pound of BBQ meat, three pint-sized sides and eight breads of our choice. We decided to try the PULLED PORK ($39) and BEEF BRISKET ($54) meats. For our sides, we tried the mac & cheese (2), green beans (2), cole slaw (1), and baked beans (1). For the bread option, we got 10 cornbreads (!!), 3 pumpkin muffins, and 3 rolls. Both BBQ meats were pretty good, but missing that smokiness that I like in a satisfying American BBQ experience. The brisket was easy to eat, but it wasn't very tender because it was cold. Do they not keep the meats here at warm temps? The pulled pork wasn't warm either, but tasted better than the brisket. I enjoyed the mac & cheese a lot because it was very creamy and thick. The other sides were okay/pretty forgettable. My favorite parts were the carbs for sure. The cornbread was warm, a bit gritty with the perfect sweetness. I took one home for the next day since we had leftovers. The pumpkin muffin was chewy with a fragrant pumpkin flavor that I enjoyed. The roll was surprisingly good on its own, a bit chewy but has that sweet, yeasty flavor that was addicting. I was a bit disappointed with how cold the food tasted. I understand the meats and sides would be the freshest during lunchtime, but it doesn't seem like The Barbeque Exchange maintain the quality of the food throughout the day. Additionally, for the price point (over $100 for the family meals), there wasn't even that much meat. Besides that, I really enjoyed the three different breads, mac & cheese side, pulled pork, and various BBQ sauces that were available. read more

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I got the brisket platter ($20) with two sides (Mac n cheese & collards greens) and it came out in about 5 minutes. The Mac was thick and cheesy. Collards were good. The brisket was smoked nicely I'd prefer it to been a little more seasoned but it was made up with the bbq sauce. Staff and service were really good and the interior had a nice vibe to it. I was happy with my experience here, especially it being in a small area! Food(50%): 7.8 Staff/service(25%): 8.5 Value(25%): 7.0 Overall: 7.8/10 read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Menu - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

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Amazing sauce pork belly delicious fast service fresh made order. Enjoyed eating outside . Deserts looked amazing-plan next time..

My husband and I stopped by the barbecue exchange for dinner while we were passing through. I was sticking to my keto diet so we ordered the pork belly, brisket, and green beans. The pork belly was amazing and our favorite dish. The green beans were covered in marina sauce, which didn't really complement the bbq. Service was friendly and we will definitely be back for more pork belly! read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Pork belly and brisket - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

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Food: love the pulled pork, corn bread, macaroni salad, pumpkin muffin and banana pudding! Oh and the sweet pickles!!! My favorites! I also love the sweeter sauces but my hubs loves the hotter ones, so you can't go wrong with the sauce flavors! Service: Efficient and friendly! Ambiance: Tables with benches and sauces on each table as well as paper as your table cloth. Also go to love the roll of paper towels on each table! County vibes inside! read more

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It's a typical bbq restaurant. You order in a line and food is fixed as you move through the line. It was recommended from locals. The food was mediocre. My brisket plate was 20.00 for 6oz meat, 2 sides and a bread. It was very bland. No smoked flavor. I do not recommend. The Mac n cheese was ok again bland. The baked beans were nasty. They were like hard kidney beans with a red tomato sauce instead of Typical sweetened baked beans. Hubs plate was pork bbq, fries and baked beans for 16.00 and he said it was like plain pork with sauce in it and Fries ok and he did not like the baked beans either. The ambience is casual and a small place. Take it with a grain of salt. But we will not eat here. Was not for us. read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Pork bbq, baked beans, Fries and sweet cornbread - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

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I am so glad that I have finally found the best bbq place in Virginia after looking for years. Everything here is done right. We got there for lunch on a Saturday and there was such a long line but it was worth it. The pork belly and ribs were so tender and seasoned well that I really did not need bbq sauce on there but of course they have so many options that I did. The mac and cheese and potato salad were both solid. The pumpkin muffin and cornbread amazing. I got to try the brisket too and that was great. I need to go back and get more food to try but this is easily the best bbq place in not just in the state but that I have ever had. I can not wait to go back. read more

The brisket was over done and to cut away the burnt pieces, pulled pork was dry even after adding BBQ sauce. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was what you would expect from a BBQ place. Not sure I would give this place a second chance. read more

One of my favorite bbq joints around the country. Fourth time there in about 7 years and I always enjoy what I order. This was my first time trying the pork belly and it was AMAZING! The homemade pickles are the perfect complement to the chopped brisket and the pumpkin muffins were a first for me this time as well! Delicious! The staff were amazing and even let me try a small cup of spicy pickles to see if they were too hot! They definitely had a good level of heat to flavor ratio! 10/10 would definitely recommend!!! read more

We got their holiday catering meal for take out for Christmas Eve dinner and were thoroughly impressed. Everything was delicious and well made, there was so much variety in the menu, and it was very well priced. Highly recommend! read more

Great little BBQ place, with good food and friendly staff. I stopped in Sunday afternoon and was surprised to find a long line of people waiting to order. The line moved at a decent pace and the wait wasn't too long. I decided on the bbq chicken platter, with mac & cheese, spicy slaw and cornbread. The bbq chicken was really tasty, with just the right amount of spice, no additional sauce was needed. The mac & cheese and cornbread were also good, but I found the spicy slaw to be too dry and lacking flavor. Next time I'd probably opt for the potato salad. Overall, this was a great find and I'll definitely stop in when I'm back in the area. read more

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The food was not very good. I ordered the meal for pickup, but the cornbread and roll were missing from my order. I called 11 times to address the issue, but no one answered the phone. Very disappointing experience. read more

Honestly expectations were lowered before walking in for VA BBQ, BUT we kept an open mind as we always do when trying BBQ in states other than TX. Being from CenTX, BBQ , good BBQ is a passion and we are tough critics but we love to try BBQ in other areas of the country on our travels. BBQ Exchange came highly recommended. We tried a bit of everything on the menu. The "purgatory " is highly creative and they get bonus points for that- pimento cheese, large fried green tomato, brisket, their bacon bbq sauce, pickles. This sandwich was a tasty combo. We also ordered plates- 3 meat and a 2 meat and got all different meats and sides. I'll rate each one separately. Brisket: 1/5 horribly over cooked and dried out Ribs: 2.5/5 tender, fall off bone, needs a bit of bite, good flavor, small size Pulled pork: 4/5 best meat they had for sure, good flavor, tender but not mush Sausage: 3/5 interesting texture, a little coarse, good flavor, similar to andouille, nice crisp casing, interesting cayenne seasoning dusted when served Pulled chicken: 3/5 decent sauce coated the chicken, there was a bit of skin, a bit dry but not overly Sides- Macaroni and cheese: 5/5 best thing in the restaurant Collard greens: 1/5 these could have been SO good and maybe it was just this batch but it was OVERLY salty couldn't eat, underlying flavors were great, really too bad Green beans: 1/5 not seasoned, burnt background flavor maybe this was a bad day for these too, tasted like someone burned something in the pot and kept adding to it and cooking anyway, inedible Potato salad: 2.5/5 good flavor, texture too mushy, slightly grainy texture showing over cooked potatoes Tea: 5/5 excellent fresh sweet and unsweet tea! Pumpkin muffins: 5/5 delish Personally we wouldn't go back and sorry but we would not recommend for others, especially Texans, who know what good BBQ TRULY is. read more

It's cute Easy to order Nice staff Sub par sides Pretty good bbq with wide range of sauces I do fucking love the fries That's my opinion read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Bbq cornbread fries collard greens - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

We did not enjoy our experience. The pork bbq wasn't flavorful and it was served cold on a warm bun. The regular slaw was bland. The hush puppies were bland. The pork belly was dry and not worth the $15. The unfortunate addition to our experience was the lack of friendly staff. They interrupted us when we were ordering and had negative things to say about their experiences as employees. While valid, we didn't need to hear that they hated working there. We won't come back read more

The best BBQ in the state of Virginia! This is one of my family's favorite spots. While pricey, it is well worth it. The pork belly is out of this world, crisped to perfection. They have so many yummy side options. Our favorites are their macaroni and baked beans. Lots of sauce options for everyone. Staff is always welcoming! I am so glad they added the outdoor seating to help accomodate their booming business. Truly a Central Virginia gem. read more

Always a treat, from the mini corn dogs to pulled pork to ribs. My daughter so enjoyed the seasoning in the ribs that I purchased the seasoning (by the cash register) read more

Great food and fun atmosphere. If you love barbecue this is the place to go. You can enjoy beef, pork, chicken and so many wonderful sides. Delicious desserts too. read more

Our group of 4 ate here on a trip to the area. The restaurant was extremely hot--it was almost 100° outside that day, order at the counter, they'll help your plate and bring out anything cooked to order. Our group assessed onion rings and potato salad and collards were all quite excellent. Baked beans--eh.... Hushpuppies pretty darn good. Pulled pork was very good and portions quite generous. The brisket was really good and also a plentiful portion. I had a BLT, which can be ordered with chewy or crispy bacon. It was very good--served in a bun with so much bacon I couldn't eat it all. Lots of locally made desserts to choose from. Banana pudding, chocolate pudding and coconut cake all get our seal of approval! read more

My family came for the muffins and barbecue, but I only had the pudding--delicious! I hadn't had pudding in years, and this was worth it. read more

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If you find yourself near Gordonsville, for ANY reason, stop here. Eat-in or take it to go. This is the best BBQ in the area. I've never been disappointed. More recently, I've loved the pork belly and the broccoli salad. Not to be missed! read more

So an update; I just went back to this place since my last review. I have to say that I did not enjoy it as much as before. They still seem to be doing well by how many people were coming in. Unfortunately, the customer service wasn't good this time. I went to place my order and I noticed a lot of the dishes the lady was pulling from was empty or going on empty. Instead of asking me to wait until they're filled back up she takes whatever is left, scraping every little piece of pulled pork she could find and put it on my plate. Which wasn't much. The person in front of me ordered the same thing and received double, what I got. You could tell she was frustrated and just wanted to get rid of me vs serve me. She slid my plate down and as it was sitting there waiting for the next server they brought more pulled pork down. If the first lady had just asked me to wait for fresh meat to be brought down, which I would've been more than happy too. This might've been a better experience. I did however ask the next server if I could get more pulled pork put on my plate. She looked so confused. I told her that I got the bottom leftovers and asked her to look at the plate in front of mine and she'd understand. I think she did, but when she brought back to the first lady, of course she had an attitude about it. I wasn't about to pay the same price as the person in front of me for receiving much less food than they did. There's nowhere that should be right. Unfortunately, the pulled pork was so dry. Even the fresher meat that was brought down. I had to make the meat swim in sauce. The sides were ok. I got baked beans and cole slaw. The slaw made the pulled pork taste better. The baked beans I thought were good enough. Overall my experience this time made me hesitant on whether to come back, at least for a while. Everyone has a bad day, and maybe it was their turn. read more

The food here is simply amazing. All of the meats have a delicious Smokey taste to them and you can tell they're all freshly cooked right outside the door out back by the pitmaster. Everything I've had there from brisket to a barbecue sandwich has been amazing. If you stop in try there BLT made with crispy bacon. It is hands down the best BLT that I've ever eaten! Make sure you ask for CRISPY bacon! read more

Not a fan of! BBQ is precooked ! Very popular! I just don't see it ! It has lasted the test the time ! Just not a true traditional bbq joint ! Service is good and ambience is kinda forced bbq motif! lol its just a very average non traditional bbq joint! Its goal is to make money and it does. Enjoy! If you are a pit master or a bbq snob it would be an interesting experience! It's certainly not the best in Virginia, but who cares! Reviews are just someone's opinion! read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Very poor quality! Beans over cooked! Mac and cheese no flavor ! Meat very subpar. - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

I love the BBQ Exchange, it's really the only BBQ that I like. Our family often orders take out but in the last year the follow through has completely fallen apart. Sauces left out, details missed, and today they sent us home with three quarts of unfinished coleslaw. Literally no dressing, mayo, spices, nothing but chopped cabbage and carrots in the containers. Seriously folks, please up the attention to detail. If I have to finish the coleslaw at home it really detracts from the customer experience. You make really good food when the staff pays attention to completing the preparation and following through on the order. read more

When an episode of "Man Fire Food" aired highlighting this bbq spot, we quickly added it to our list of "must try." Traveling back from the Luray area, we detoured only a few miles to find this spot. They open at 11, and our near noon arrival was timely to get nearly the last parking spot and in line to get our order started. We tried several of the meats by ordering the platter: pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and chicken. The chicken was my least favorite; it didn't pack as much flavor as the other smoked meats. My favorite was the pulled pork. There are several sauces on each table. I tried them all and favored one of the sweet sauces. The green beans are in a stewed tomato mixture. The baked beans are ok. The Brunswick stew is bland but not horrible. But the star...is the pumpkin muffin! Fluffy, flavorful, and moist. So good, we ordered 12 to take home. read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

We stopped by today for lunch. Road trip from northern Virginia. We've been going for my birthday for years. Never disappointed. But today things were a little different. Typically we'd smell the smokers as soon as we opened the car doors. Not today. Unfortunately my ribs and brisket weren't smoked either (if they were, I couldn't detect it) neither was my wife's tofu. The meat was cooked to perfection. She's a vegetarian, which is how I get her to take the road trip. The staff were nice, the ambiance was nice. I'm not sure the tradition will continue. Please amp the smoke back up BBQ Exchange. read more

Great service and even better food. 100% would go back. Burnt ends, pulled pork and ribs. My little one also had the tenders (go figure) but none disappointed. The corn bread and dessert was also a must!! read more

Love this BBQ restaurant! We did a 12 mile hike in the Shenandoah NP and burned over 2600 calories so devoured a smoke brisket BBQ sandwich and took some home. 5 sauces to choose from but I like the original Virginia Sweet BBQ sauce. Service was excellent and I will return to try the Heaven on a Bun sandwich which was huge!! We ate inside the restaurant which was like a log cabin but it was definitely comfortable and warm after our hike in the pouring rain all day!! read more

A former regular customer that always stopped in for an evening meal after a mountain hike with friends. I say former since my last meal - the barbq platter special. Everything was great until I realized that my collard greens had a roach included, not my favorite add on. Our last trip, we still hike, just eat elsewhere. read more

We love good bbq. I mean... we will travel for good bbq. This wasn't it. It was so dry. We live almost 2 hours away and we decided to go on a little weekend get away and we were so excited to try this. The restaurant was a cute place. Most of the staff was friendly but not the girl taking the meat orders. With this being our first time there, you would think someone would have a little patience when you're asking questions but she acted as if we were annoying her. Pulled pork was decent. Pulled chicken, good flavor but dry. Fried green tomatoes, needs some salt and to not be fried as hard. Pork belly, almost choked it was so dry but the flavor was there. Ribs, good. Sausage, spicy and over cooked. We thought that the wings were going to be smoked since it was a bbq restaurant. They were just fried wings but actually they were the best thing we had. Mac n cheese looked interesting but it was just okay. Greens, tasted like they came out a can. Green beans were made in a tomato sauce and it may have been okay but they were undercooked and still had the stems on them. Baked beans, just okay. Cornbread, good flavor but dry. Pumpkin muffin, delicious!! Experience was nice but we won't be back. read more

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This barbecue chicken platter was tasty, but my french fries were stone cold. I don't know if it was because I ordered it to go. But, as soon as I got in my car, I had to try one and was so disappointed. HOT FRIES ARE IMPORTANT! read more

Long wait, they forgot my onion rings, the baked beans were too tomatoey n bbqie. Fatty brisket, regular collards, corn bread wasn't good either. Sorry just my opinion. I don't really think I'm a bbq person though. It has to really hit it out of the park for me. read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

Located in a beautiful quaint town this restaurant is delicious!! We had the pulled pork sandwich combo. Several choices of BBQ sauce. I used the Virginia sweet. My husband chose the hot bbq sauce and didn't feel it had much heat. The sandwich was delicious and very fresh tasting. The fries weren't great. The workers were very quick and helpful. A great stop for some delicious food!! read more

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Cafeteria style. Sides got cold waiting for brisket. Brisket was bland and lots of fat. Baked beans tasted like tomatoes. Macaroni and cheese bland. Cornbread also bland and cold. pulled pork sandwich was passable. French fries hot and seasoned were good but came long after the sandwich was served in cafeteria line. The staff were lovely read more

The food was good. The ribs were tender and fell off the bone. The cornbread was sweet and yummy. The chicken was okay. Don't forget to try a slice of the homemade coconut cake. read more

The Barbeque Exchange - Chocolate and peanut butter cupcake - Barbeque Near Me - Gordonsville, Virginia

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