Bar-B-Q Ranch

I discovered this place when I was a student at JMU… 20 years ago. And it’s still my favorite. I’ve moved to California and Arizona and anytime I am anywhere nearby, I make it a point to eat here. I’ve driven cross country 3 times and stopped every time for pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw and hush puppies. LOVE!

Love it or hate it this place is a landmark!
The barbeque is not your typical pulled pork barbeque. I’m a fan but others may not who go for more traditional flavors.
Love the cole slaw!
Worth a try to see!

Nothing at all to write home about… BBQ sandwich was ok, but pretty bland. Didn’t taste like the real thing to be honest – maybe it came out of a can. The foot long hot dog was fine, and the milk shakes were good – the highlight of the meal, in fact. The service was a bit hectic – they had a full dining room and only two ladies to work the whole place. One of them made a point of avoiding eye contact when we came in, however, as she was in a rush, which was rude. Better to greet the customer even if you don’t have time to seat them.

Nice enough staff, but our pork BBQ sandwich reminded my husband of mushy, flavorless elementary school cafeteria pulled pork and my chili dog was kind of like a gas station chili dog in a bag. Our toddler’s grilled cheese was good (about what you’d make at home) and a vanilla shake was good. We sat at the outside tables in the parking lot and were swarmed with flies. Kitschy vintage deco.

North Carolina transplant and BBQ enthusiast here. Was VERY disappointed with the prices, beverages, sides, and most importantly the BBQ! I feel like most things here are frozen and microwaved in the back. They have a pretty devoted following from the older locals that live here. Other than that, I don’t see why anyone would come here for the ‘que.
THAT being said, there are some pretty decent looking dessert options– shakes, funnel cake, etc. I might return to try some of those this summer, but will not return for anything else.

The food is not horrible but not great either. The BBQ is not the North Carolina style that I love. They seem to have a devoted group of customers. I’m guessing because the resturant was established long before others in the area. If you eat here, I would reccomend going to the bathroom beforehand. You have to go outside and around the building to a gas station like bathroom if you gotta go.

Pretty good, greasy food. Food came out fast and the service was good. The fried green beans were my favorite part. The décor is cute — red checkers and pigs everywhere.

Ok so we’ve been here like 4 times on our way up and down 81 and we’ve unraveled the mystery! The ½ chicken, pulled pork bbq and ribs on the rack are all homemade and awesome (I always get the bbq chicken). After being very disapointed by the rib sandwich we inquired and learned that the items mentioned above are their homemade ones and hence the best. The bbq sauce is great– we always get an extra jar to take home too.

Ate here recently and I was so disappointed. Not only was the food terrible. Frozen popcorn shrimp and frozen fries, way over cooked beef on open face sandwich (it’s a trick to over cook meat so much that it’s dry even when smothered in gravy!)
Then there is the service. It seemed that of the 2 wait staff that one was nice by her customers responses. Unfortunately we didn’t have her. We had someone who was upset that we were interrupting her day from the moment we walked in. While everyone else was complimenting us on our 2 well behaved girls she clearly disliked children. Furthermore I was finally able to flag her down for the one and only time she came to our table after bringing the food. I finally got up and asked for dessert then took it to our table myself. Got up to get check… She was not only unhelpful but in a town of nice people one of the most unpleasant.
Finally adding insult to injury this place was EXPENSIVE. It is billed as this little bque place but the prices for small servings of FROZEN food and cheap cut of meat was ridiculous. For 2 lunch entrees, 1 iced tea, 1 coke and 2 kids milks and (3 fried pickle spears @ $ 4 more than $ 1 a spear) it was $ 53! $ 25/​adult!
Do not go here. For the money you can go somewhere much much better. And have good service.

First time dining at Bar-​B-​Q Ranch. Found the steak I had was fresh great tasting & tasted the ribs also equally very good ! Certainly the best tasting steak & ribs I’ve had since I been in Virginia. Heard sandwiches also are great tasting too! Services was good, place on outside not really fancy but these are the kind of places that usually have the best food ! Don’t get to this part of Virginia often but will have a place to go back to when driving down I-​81. Prices very reasonable, place does have that old time feel to it ! Can’t wait to go back to Harrisonburg, hopefully I’ll be hungry !

This place has decent BBQ. The sweet potato fries. Ahhhh. STAY AWAY! Food is somewhat expensive. There is better BBQ to be found on 81.

Disappointed. Looks like a cute place and wanted to try something that wasn’t a chain. Bathrooms were not appealing (dirty)…old style revolving cloth towel aka germ city to dry hands on. Cute inside and out… kitschy and full of pigs. Nice waitress. Fast service. Almost too fast. Pork BBQ sandwich was ok. Coleslaw ok. Ribs not the best. Chicken nuggets were the cheap frozen kind that are mealy inside. Sweet tea tasted like bottled tea. Cannot recommend unless you like frozen food or are going just for the kitsch.

Stopped here on my way to NC. Saw a sign at the gas station, and thought I would try it, got a BBQ sandwich w cold slaw, it was tasty & just the right amount of spice, so glad I stopped… Will def book mark this place to come again in my travels…

Ordered ribs here and fried chicken to take out. I asked if the ribs were full size and they said yes. when I opened the carry out box when I got in the car, I was shocked to see they were not! They were small and for ½ rack I ordered they seemed like a ¼ of a rack. The ribs are not worth the price they charge either. I normally like my bbq sauce on the side, but they said it comes with it on it. The sauce had no flavor to it and to me it tasted like ketchup Fries came with it and it had to be the worst fries I have had, I literally had to throw them out! The chicken was fairly decent though, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Sorry I will not be back.

I’ve been eating here most of my life, over 30 years… the bbq is good, its not real smoked pulled pork, BUT you dont pay for a real smoked pulled pork sandwich either! This is slow cooked pork with an electric cooker, no smoke which was popular when they opened the place nearly 70 years ago and maybe sometimes its cooked a bit TOO much but usually its still very good for what it is. They have a secret sauce that MANY MANY people have been offering to pay to get the recipe forever. Never once got mayo on my sandwich and I’ve had hundreds if not thousands. I’ve gotten a stale bun once or twice. Some food there needs to be avoided, its frozen and its just not worth eating, but the bbq and the blt, one of the best around. and the slaw are great. Other people LOVE other things, I just dont. The tea… sucks and has for years, a bbq place should have good tea! No excuse for not having good tea at a bbq joint thats been open nearly 70 years! Thats why I give them 4 stars.
Some like it, some dont… but the place has been open for nearly 70 years! I guess they are doing something right.

Bar-​B-​Q ranch is a worth visiting. It should be on Food Network. Its cozy, the food is great and the atmosphere is pure americana. They have drive in service with the tray on your window, pictures of Elvis on the ceiling and a friendly crowd. They have been doing this for 68 years and counting. Noël is the best waitress in the world. Tell her and you’ll get a treat!

For it’s barbecue I would give it no stars if I could. The pork was a n almost tasteless mush with no hint of smoke.
We ordered the spicy fries. There wasn’t even a hint of spice. The sandwiches were cheap but you also get what you pay for. I probably wouldn’t eat here again except for the ambience was quaint and nice, and the service we received was quick and friendly.

Another restaurant that you want to like, but the food won’t let you. This is a pretty easy review:
The high point here is that you get to see quite an extensive collection of little pigs. And that is great if you are in to collectible pigs.
The low point here: Everything else. This establishment touts itself as a BBQ Ranch. First, I don’t think their «BBQ» is even made at the restaurant, and if it was, they should not admit that it is. My guess is that everything here was frozen before serving. You can probably get better BBQ in the frozen food section of a Walgreen’s. This is absolutely not a real Barbeque joint and anyone that rates the food here over two stars should have their Unilocal privileges revoked. I think my one star review is generous, and they only get that because of the collectible pigs.

You’d have to be a heartless pig-​hater to not fall in love with this place.
I’ve stopped there once for take-​out, once for eat-​in. Both experiences were very positive. The sauce on the BBQ was my version of perfection: heavy on pepper, balanced with sweet and not too much vinegar. The fryer was fairly consistent, churning out respectable onion rings. The slaw was fresh and crunchy, on the sweet side with only a dash of mayonnaise. The fried chicken lacked much spice, but made up for that with a precisely uniform and crisp exterior. (They give you honey, salt, and pepper– you can spice your own d*mn chicken. Its the fry that counts.)
Don’t get me started on the pigs. Getting to see that many porcelain pigs in one place is worth the trip. And the service was warm and courteous.
The meat they use is not the highest quality, and I wouldn’t put this place in my top five bbq spots. However it is very convenient to the I-​81, has superb sauce and a good fryer, and a boasts a world-​class porcine art collection. That makes it worthy of a fifth star in my book.

Pig-​a-​rific décor!
But just 3 stars for the bbq and sides. If you’ve had genuine Q from NC or further south, you might be a little disappointed. But it gets the job done if you need a Q fix.