the barbeque exchange

the good people at the barbeque exchange in gordonsville have a lot to learn, especially in the basic areas of hospitality and serving hot food at a hot temperature. a bun steamer on the kitchen line might help. the ribs might have been better than the brisket or the pulled pork, but after an experience like ours, well …

the bbq exchange is wonderful! i highly recommend the fried pickles, the cornbread, mac & cheese, hushpuppies, and pulled chicken bbq! the qx sweet sauce is also delicious. good food all around!

best bbq around. i have eaten here many times over the past year, food is excellent, wait staff is super friendly and i have never had a bad meal here.
only downside is the gravel driveway, i'm a biker and the gravel is loose, not compacted at all and it's small so you tend to fight with cars and on a motorcycle it's difficult in that driveway. if they added a load of crushed run to the big gravel that would help tremediously!
all and all a fantastic place to eat and a great value!

great little place! worth the trip off the interstate.

great service, very friendly staff, the only complaint i have is that the collard greens were a little bland as well as the macaroni and cheese today. great little atmosphere and definitely worth stopping in!

great bbq spot to stop for lunch. very well-kept little restaurant in a quaint small-town setting. the menu has lots of options all good. pulled pork, brisket sliced or chopped, and chicken. were what we tried. you can get sandwiches or plates. the sandwich buns are small or large but not too big so easy to add sides. we enjoyed the cole slaw, french fries collard greens, and broccoli salad along with our sandwiches. the meat was so flavorful but we had to try a few of the barbecue sauces -they had 6 different kinds! i definitely recommend a stop here for a delicious meal. they even have a front porch if you want to eat outside!!

what do people like about this place?. this place is like a cafeteria with the food already prepared, except for the 1/2 chicken that took them 45 minutes to give us undercooked. they had the world's grossest foods on the tvs playing in the restaurant. nasty all around. very expensive for the nastiness too!

poor service--inept cashier. cashier was very slow, disorganized, inept. it took her 15 minutes to ring up "to go" order who cut in front of me and did not have to wait in line. i was unaware if you had a "to go" order, you can cut in front of the line. my order was to go and i stood in line for 15 minutes while the "to go" decided to purchase cupcakes, additional food items, etc. by the time i got to eat my food, it was cold. the food is okay, not worth waiting in line for 30 minutes plus. i will never go back.

beef brisket undercooked and tuffi. tried the large beef brisket sandwich, server said sliced or chopped. i tried sliced and could not bite thru the undercooked and too tuff portion. they took it back and gave me chopped. pretty finely chopped and no flavor. the regulars say the pork is better!!!

when in gordonsville.... whenever we are in gordonsville, we always make a point to stop here. a must for any lover of smoked meats, we have never been disappointed. the pork, brisket, sauces, and sides are delicious. even our three year old likes the mustard pickles. do not miss eating here!

once great, now below par.. i have had good meals here before, but something has changed. upon arriving, the first thing i noticed that was different is that the smokers weren't being used. i thought perhaps they had smoked the meats for the day. no problem. but when we entered the restaurant, there was also zero smoky bbq aroma. even if the meats had already been smoked for the day, the aroma should come back out of them when reheated. we ordered a pulled pork sandwich with fries and slaw, and a platter with 3 ribs, brisket, beans, slaw, and cornbread. we had sweet tea to drink.

the server attempted to give me the last of the drippings and bits in the bottom of the tray, but i asked for new slices if possible. they were brought to my table after we received everything else and sat down. the portion was small, just 3 small slices, but as the platter is only 11.99, i was ok with it. one third of each slice was fat. right away, this told me that the brisket had not been smoked for any amount of time, because if properly cooked, this fat should render away to a nice crispy layer. there was no smoky flavor at all. the meat was tender and tasted ok, it just didn't have that bbq flavor.

when i picked the ribs up out of the serving tray, i noticed that there was at least a teaspoon of oil left in the tray and the ribs had an oily coating. they tasted ok, and although very tender and falling off the bone, were the only meat we had that had a smoky flavor at all.

the pulled pork was dry and bland with no smoke.

the beans most likely came from a can labeled van camps, as they were the same unnatural orange color. they had added something to them, perhaps mustard and vinegar, but they didn't contain any chipped, smoked meat like i've had at every other bbq house i've ever been to.

the slaw and fries were standard. nothing special.

the meats and beans were all lukewarm. definitely not up to health department regulated temperatures.

on a positive note, the tea was excellent, the service was great, and the atmosphere is very pleasant.

i like to support local restaurants instead of chains any time i can, but it will be difficult for me to try it again. hopefully someone will read this and take constructive criticism and fix the problems. we'll give it a month and try again. i will update my review at that point and hope to post more positive results.

this post was deleted from google reviews within 48 hours of being posted, and i'm sure it will be deleted again.

awesome!

bbq!. worth the hour drive from charlottesville to have lunch here. the bbq is solid and has great flavors. nice choice of sauces at the tables. you can see the smokers behind the restaurant working away. the inside is cool and they have a pack man machine there. very friendly staff. cool place worth a visit for sure.

best barbeque in virginia and north carolina. barbeque is an art, and chef hartman's establishment exhibits the greatness of his craft. i frequently travel along eastern north carolina, and try a bbq joint whenever i see one in a town. the one thing those establishments lack, is hardwood cooking (most use gas.) i was amazed to finally find the barbeque exchange which produces pulled pork the way it should be done, slow on hardwood coals. when you first walk in, the subtle sweet smell of hickory wood is evident. the pulled pork sandwich is served on a fresh bakery roll. at the tables, six unique sauces, ranging from vinegar carolina (eastern), to molasses base sauce are available. the complexity of flavors on the pork were so good i didn't feel the need to put any sauce on the sandwich. the next day, my wife and i went back to pick some for a later date. service was great, chef hartman even took the time to explain to us the process to freeze the pork during the busy lunch hour.

excellent bar-b-q for anyone passing through this area. the meat is clean (no fat) and perfectly smoked. the belly fat (bacon) is excellent. diners, drive-ins, and dives needs to stop by here!