Circle B Ranch BBQ

This was the fourth time here and it doesn’t disappoint. The fried chicken is what keeps me coming back. It’s the benchmark by which I measure all other fried chicken. Today was no different. The fried chicken was fantastic. The sweet corn was tasty. The Cole slaw great. The red potatoes were surprisingly flavorful. Circle B didn’t disppoibt.

The chopped pork sandwich must be the only way to go. The roast beef is not.
Stopped in this week for the roast beef sandwich. The roast always looks so damn good. Well, it may be cooked perfectly enough but I suspect it’s a cheap cut. Was gristly and tough. And pre Au jus and horseradish sauce (plus more table salt) it was nearly tasteless. I didn’t finish it and I was fairly hungry when I sat down to eat.
Green beans were as good as usual. The mac and cheese looked good, but wasn’t — it was kind of old and plasticky tasting.
I had the fried chicken about 6 months ago and wasn’t impressed with that either. Kind of greasy. Not as good as the broasted (no, iPhone, that’s not a typo, stop correcting me) chicken at Little Pigs in Asheville (which maybe isn’t a fair comparison since it’s the best around, hands down).
Go for the pork barbecue sandwich with slaw, vinegar sauce and Texas Pete.

Ribs excellent… brisket excellent… chicken sandwich excellent… baked beans, boiled potatoes & cabbage were great!
I didn’t care for the cole slaw (too fine a chop & too much mayo). The green beans were way too salty. We would definitely eat here again! They had carrot cake and coconut cake and free soft serve ice cream. Prices great it was $ 43 (without tip) for 5 people (3 adults & 2 kids). Y’all enjoy!

Great pulled pork sandwiches! We stopped here on our way to asheville from Georgia and we loved it. Owners are VERY friendly and welcoming people. We had a great time talking to him. Mild bbq is what I used on my sandwich and it was awesome. Would stop again if ever passing by!

We just love this place. Huge portions of great tasting BBQ. In the unlikely event you have room for dessert, the array of delicious cakes and pies just may overwhelm — in the best way possible. The staff is top rate. Excellent, close-​in parking.

Saw the restaurant written up in the newspaper as having fantastic chicken and great fixings. The chicken was way too greasy and had an aftertaste. The fixings ALL had sugar in them, even the cabbage and green beans. The only thing I really enjoyed was the pot roast. It was tender and had a good taste. Won’t be making a trip back.

Circle B serves the best fried chicken and cole slaw ever!
We buy pints of slaw for holidays and to take to parties.
The ladies working are always very friendly

Unexpectedly awesome BBQ! Small place with a great wait staff. Get the ribs and share! They were short handed but still made us feel welcomed. I will deffinatly come here again on my next trip through Asheville.

BBQ sauce didn’t really have any flavor. Chopped chx was full of gristle. The sides didn’t taste fresh and weren’t very hot. Fried okra was super oily. Mac and cheese was luke warm and dry. Hush puppies were hard and Room temp. Over all everything was disappointing which was a shame, really wanted to have some good BBQ.

I think the people that gave this place a good review have NEVER had BBQ before. This was our second time to try this place and both times it was horrible. First off we got the ribs and they were boiled which good BBQ is NOT boiled, they had been boiled so long that the meat was drawn up on the bone. Secondly it was smothered in crappy, tasteless, watery bbq sauce. We got the mac n cheese and slaw for our sides and the mac n cheese tasted of powdered cheese. I DO NOT recommend this place. Horrible food not fit to feed a dog.

I had th brisket, which was pretty good. It was moist and tender. The bbq sauces were very good also, I mixed the hot and mild to make a really good mix. The only thing I would have like more of is a smokey flavor to the meat, I couldn’t tell if it was oven roasted or smoked.

Please take the reviews seriously here. This is some the best bbq I’ve had, bar none.
First impression was that this place is slightly hard to find and not exactly what we expected. Not too visible from the road and attached to a gas station, you walk in to a buffet line where you order and then take a seat.
We got the roast beef and the brisket. Holy cow, the roast beef was incredible. Moist, tender, and flavorful! The brisket was also very good. For sides, the scalloped potatoes (a special, I think) and Mac and cheese were very good. We also really liked the hush puppies. And everything was cheap! I could not believe how little we paid for such a great meal.
As a side note, we were greeted by the owner and chef, Bubba, when we arrived. He is very nice and you can tell he genuinely cares about his food. We made sure to tell him how good everything was on our way out.

The best fried chicken I’ve ever had, so worth the wait or you can call ahead. The fried okra was also great. Friendly staff, unpretentious atmosphere and a ton of food for a great price. My hubby had ribs, it was a generous portion and they tasted good, though I can’t get past the fried chicken which is heavenly.

This place has some of the best bbq in Asheville. Everything is fresh and the staff is friendly and accommodating.

Heaping portion of pork, perfectly pulled pork! Sides are delicious. And a free soft serve ice cream treat!

the BEST fried and smoked chicken I have ever had. My mom and I regularly get a half chicken of each and make yummy sandwiches for days. I’m also in love with their spicy BBQ sauce. The roast beef sandwich is the best I’ve had around here, just make sure you ask for it on a hoagie roll. The bbq sandwich is also delicious if you like pulled pork and cole slaw.
Don’t judge them right when you walk in, because you might think your gonna get some cafeteria mystery meat, but you wont. Make sure you call ahead if you want chicken because it takes them a while to get it ready.
It seems they are not the most organized of businesses, which adds to its charm, everyone who works here is very sweet and, although you may have to wait a bit for food, dont worry because it will be worth it.

I got carry out from Circle B today because of the reviews I read on Unilocal.When I went inside though, I honestly thought I was going to be disappointed, but I figured I’d give them a shot anyway.
I ordered the pulled pork plate (looks more liked chopped pork actually) and again thought I would be disappointed from the looks of it. I had actually gone to try the brisket, but they were out of it.
Boy, was I wrong! The pork was SOOO good! Just the right amount of smoke, and just the right amount of moisture. Tastes MUCH better than it looks. The Brunswick Stew was amazing, as were the hush puppies.
The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars rather than 5 was because they were out of brisket at 4:30 PM.
PS: For the other reviewer who dinged them because «ordering was confusing,» seriously?! It was that big of a challenge for you to walk up to the serving table, point to what you want and let them serve you? All I can say is wow. I guess some people are just destined to be unhappy.

The best southern fried chicken in the world!

I went to Nashville last summer for BBQ and found it was all packaged food and canned green beans and the BBQ was actually boxes of Curley’s that you can pick up at your grocery. It was a huge disappointment and I have been determined to remedy that. Glad to say I found what I was looking for in Circle B.
Traveling from Hilton Head to Cincinnati I was searching for some authentic southern BBQ so I Unilocaled (of course). This place popped up and I thought I’d give it a try.
Very unassuming place built alongside the gas station, but service and food were wonderful. Bubba and his family are the sweetest people. I got the pulled pork plate and when they say «plate» they mean they fill your plate with pork THEN you get side dishes. Then a little soft serve ice cream all for under 7 bucks.

For openers this is another of those «most unlikelys» that come to mind when you think barbecue: barbecue served up in a storefront adjacent to a filling station and across the street from an airport… But that’s where you’ll find the Circle B Ranch BBQ. And it’s good… Almost five star good.
Walk past the covered wagon in the parking lot and the riding saddles in the lobby to get in line to give your order, get your drinks and head for a table… The place is spacious and squeaky clean.
The choices go beyond barbecue (fried chicken, but it’s cooked to order — figure 30 minutes) and roast beef, to everything from babybacks, brisket, pulled pork to chicken. And none of them bad. We tried them all.
The Circle B’s best buy is their BBQ plate: $ 6.75 for the pulled pork and two sides. The sides number an even dozen and range from the standards (baked beans and slaw) to Mac & cheese, corn niblets, yams, potato salad, fries, cabbage and even green beans — but more about them in a few lines.
The slaw was some of the best enjoyed. Within smelling distance of hickory smoke; finely chopped, good flavor. The corn niblets were also excellent, the baked beans and Mac & cheese good but slightly short of the aforementioned. The Brunswik stew (not always available) has chunks of potato (not all that surprising) and green beans (which is very surprising) — but pretty good, albeit somewhat different.
The $ 6.75 pulled pork plate was a dinner plate filled from one edge to the other with excellent, moist pulled pork — excellent. The brisket plate, $ 8.50 for the beef and three sides was as good. The brisket cut in quarter inch slices, the rub still visible above the thin layer of fat that provides the flavor.
The baby-​back rib plate, seven ribs and three sides, got mixed reviews at our table. From the Brown Shoe Gourmet’s perspective it had a stew or baked taste to it… Meaning it may have been par boiled or baked before going into the smoker, or spent too much time in the warming unit waiting for the next customer.
Circle B offers three sauces plus Texas Pete. I found their hot sauce not all that hot but very good. The other two are the standards: sweet and vinegar.
For reasons known only to Mr Circle B, they fail to offer the standard accompaniment to good ‘cue — sliced white bread. Offering instead, hush puppies that come bite size and incredibly tasty, and whole wheat rolls that are as out of place In a barbecue joint as a linen tablecloth or a maitre de.
No T-​shirts either.
The service was friendly, the prices significantly less than we expected to pay, and the food much better than a rib ranch at such a location typically provides.
What would take Circle B to the stratified rare air of five stars? Eliminate the foo foo whole wheat roles (who goes to a barbecue joint to eat healthy?), add some good olé slice white bread, and figure out what’s keeping the ribs from being as good as the brisket and pulled pork.
Smiling, friendly service, good (surprisingly) food, and customer friendly prices. Hard to beat that.