Earlier this year Cville welcomed a new barbecue joint to town – Ace Biscuit and BBQ. I have had it several times and loved it the BBQ itself, but I had yet to visit the restaurant until my mom friends and I decided to meet for lunch.
The reason I was so happy to hear that Ace was opening was because they serve pastured pork. As a North Carolinian, I have a high level of nostalgia associated with BBQ but I don’t always feel so good eating as I’ve learned more about the pork industry. But when I asked Ace on its Facebook page if the pork was going to be pastured, they replied yes, and I knew I’d love the spot.
The menu isn’t cheap – $7 will get you a sandwich alone – but I’m willing to pay more knowing the effort and care that goes into free-range pigs. Sides are $2. I’m eager to try that waffles and/or biscuits for breakfast sometime soon!
The restaurant itself was tiny inside but bright, airy, busy and charming. We were lucky to be able to fill up the one and only table with plenty of bar seating left for those coming in for a quick lunch break.
I’ve had the pulled pork sandwich before, so this day I decided to be adventurous and tried the Cuban, which included pepperjack cheese, pickles and mustard. They make the pickles in house and they are fabulous! The sandwich was grilled and pressed and totally delicious. I think my favorite remains the classic pulled pork sandwich (for its overflowing volume!) but there was nothing I didn’t love about this Cuban.
On the side (and extra $): collard greens and fried green tomatoes topped with pimento cheese. Both were great. The bold and spicy BBQ sauce was great (very spicy!!) and I would have loved to get the North Carolina style except I know it has one-too-many onions for my taste! My half-lemonade-half-water was free because I ordered two sides – a fun perk.
Lunch was awesome, and I’m so glad we have another fun spot in town.
Charlottesville is certainly not hurting for delicious restaurants, huh? Collard greens and fried green tomatoes: mmmmmm! I need to plan a return trip…yum.
Cubans are out of this world if made correctly! Really craving one now. Yours had ham as well as pork right?!
Indeed. It was their twist on one
A Cuban is made with ham and pork, that’s traditional- the pepperjack cheese is the twist. Traditionally, it’s made with swiss.
Re: pricing, a side and a sandwich comes to $9? That’s a totally normal price point for non-free range pork, so you really got a deal.
If the onions are cooked down til they provide flavor but no texture, will you eat a dish with them?
is ham not pork? is pork not the umbrella term for all pig derived meats? do you mean pulled pork?
Katie, a traditional cuban sandwich has glazed ham and roasted pork, not pulled pork (unless this BBQ place puts a spin on the sandwich with it). Yes, ham is pork but she is referring to roasted pork when she said “pork”.
Katie, me again lol. I went and read the menu board in Kath’s post and it reads that the “Ace Cuban” version they serve has “pulled pork” and “country ham”.
Sounds amazing! We just moved to Ohio from North and South Carolina and I think I miss the BBQ the most. My mouth is watering bad right now.
I seriously miss BBQ joints! It is nice that some restaurants are really highlighting food that is local, organic, or meat that is grass-fed, etc. It does make it nicer to enjoy and I am willing to spend a bit more $ there!
I love quaint little places like that! I live in Northern California, so good BBQ isn’t too common around here, as you can imagine!
Have you posted anything about your garden beds lately? What do you have growing?
We haven’t planted yet… Coming soon!
I’m in the DC metro area so we’re getting pretty much the same weather on the east coast. I haven’t planted yet either. Hoping to do some this week since we seem to have warmed up permanently. I look forward to this post. Also wondering if i should start from seed or plant since the planting season is so delayed this year.
yum! we have a BBQ place that opened near us that peeps are freaking out over but I have to admit I am quite ignorant about NC-style vs. Texas vs…
I love pork too! I would also pay the extra to know what I’m eating is good 🙂 I absolutely love fried green tomatoes but i havent had them in forever, yum!
I am willing to pay more for animal products when I know the animal has been treated humanely. Personally, I think it tastes better too!
I’m having a Kath day! Whipped banana oats with TJ’s sun butter for breakfast and a smoked trout salad for lunch 🙂
oh yum!! i had no idea about this place in town, must try soon!
lunch sometime??
Totally!
As a girl who grew up in the south I’ve got the biggest soft spot for great BBQ. As a Daddy’s girl I’m still convinced my dad makes the best brisket… even though for the majority of my childhood he had be convinced it was made from an exotic bird. I would love to find a place like that near here in Denver.
Glad you enjoyed it this time! I got the impression from your previous post that you didn’t really care for it b/c of the sauce. I’m also from NC and agree that raw onions are not traditional and I wouldn’t fully enjoy that, although my husband would be all over it!
Also, I can’t think of any restaurant these days that doesn’t charge $9-11 for lunch entrees. Add in higher quality meat and I definitely think Ace sounds like a deal.
Hey! Just curious, and not trying to come off as jerky/offensive, but do you receive free food or financial reimbursement for posts like this? Do local restaurants in Cville usually know you’re reviewing them ahead of time?
No, neither : ) I would write something like “Ace asked me to come have lunch on them” or something to that effect if I had been invited as a guest to review it formally. This was just a group of girlfriends going out and I wanted to spread the word. Thanks for asking though.
Oh, cool! I wasn’t sure because this one seemed like a more formal review. Thanks so much!
Yeah, I don’t normally do restaurants as their own but new format = new options! 🙂
My boys just love Pulled Pork in a Bun…so easy to make in the slow cooker too! 🙂
Hey Kath! I have been following your blog for SUCH a long time now and it is one of my highlights in the day to read your blog. I was wondering if in the future you could possibly do a post on your favorite granolas? I know you have alot going on now but I am trying to find a granola I like and having difficulty with it. There is no rush for the post it is simply an idea for the future! Thank you for inspiring me to live a healthy happy life!
On my list!! Problem is I have a hard time remembering them all, but I’ll definitely start working on this
Thank you! No rush!
Oooo I would love this too!
Dear Kath,
I really need to ask for a clarification: is granola what we call here in Europe “muesli”?
Muesli-girl Ella
My understanding is that muesli is dry oats with dried fruit that gets soaked in milk/yogurt whereas Granola is baked oats with mixins to a crunch served over yogurt, in milk, or as a topping
Thank you Kath, I must definitely try your Granola, it sounds fantastic and I am sure I’d love it!
Yes, muesli is dry oats and fruit and it needs (a lot of) soaking.
Since they do not sell granola in shops here, I should try and prepare it myself…. let’s experiment, I am on a new frontier!
Thank you for widening my horizont 🙂
Ella
I love when restaurants serve free-range. It makes all the difference to me! Too bad more places aren’t jumping on the bandwagon. Now I want BBQ!
Are these big HP ads supposed to be on the site? They keep popping up in weird places for me, fyi.
Sorry about that
I love that restaurants are going local and using more friendly/humane techniques with their proteins. I will always go for a restaurant like that even if its not as good as a place that imports everything. It’s gotta be local and environmentally friendly for me!
WOW! Healthy and really delicious. It makes me excited to try any thing on their shop. Thanks for sharing this information. 🙂
I feel like you have some many wonderful food options so close. Totally jealous! Enjoy them for us all.
I don’t think I’ve ever had fried green tomatoes, but collard greens = yum!
You make me want to move to Cville! Then again it’s still winter in Toronto so I am easily persuaded 🙂
Maybe it’s just where I live but $7 for a sandwich is not a bad price at all.
Everything there looks delicious!
This place looks ace and that pulled pork sandwich looks divine!
The Ace BBQ restaurant looks amazing! The menu sounds so yummy and it seems reasonably priced as well!
Your Cuban sandwich looks delicious! I love a great barbecue restaurant…and $7 is pretty reasonable for a great sandwich! Aren’t Great Harvest sandwiches around the same price? Maybe Great Harvest could do their own variation of the Cuban? : )
They are…also not cheap but made with freshly baked bread. A Cuban would be a fun addition!
I love Cuban sandwiches! That one looks really tasty. Cville sounds like such an incredible food town. Maybe I’ll just have to add it to our list…and eat my way through town! 🙂
Do you have a recipe for pimento cheese? Your blog is the first place I heard about it, years ago, but I don’t think there was a recipe. Deadspin.com just ran a recipe/commentary on pimento cheese sandwiches and I wanted to see how theirs compared (and which was easier to make because I’m super lazy in the kitchen!)
Here are a couple of fun ones! and this one is easy and light!. And this one!
Awesome! Thanks!
I agree, I’ll pay more and be willing to pay more for those little places that go the extra mile to make sure they are using conscientious food principles (pastured pork, cage free chicken, grassfed beef, local veggies, etc.). I figure if we continue to support the little guy, one day they might be cheaper 🙂
Agree that $7 for a sandwich is rather steep, however quality is important too.
Thanks for the Charlottesville restaurant recommendations. We were here today looking at UVA and had a great lunch at Ace BBQ.
Welcome!