BBQ Barn — Restaurant in Aiken County

(TLDR; Saw the owner of BBQ Barn demonstrate kindness on a busy night to a homeless man by providing him with a meal)

This weekend I picked up food for BBQ Barn and I was approached by a homeless man in the parking lot asking for food. The man seemed genuine, and I wanted to help him out. I thought about letting him order some food from BBQ Barn like I did, but the drive thru line was wrapped around the parking lot, and the line inside was growing as well. I knew I couldn't order him food in a reasonable amount of time, so I gave him a fast food gifcard I had and a few quarters and wished him well. He said thank you, and then moved on to Jody, the owner of BBQ Barn, who was out in the parking lot taking orders from people backed up in the drive thru. I was super curious to see how this was going to play out so I watched for a few seconds. To my astonishment, Jody put his hand on the homeless man's shoulder in a welcoming way, nodded his head, and brought him into the restaurant-- to (I can only only assume) provide him with a meal.

I had known from my previous encounters with the owners that they were kind, and likely Christians, but it completely blew me away to see Jody demonstrate Jesus' love by caring for this homeless man in this way, and even more so on a really busy night.

Already BBQ Barn is my favorite bbq place in the augusta area; their bbq is on point, their sauces are excellent, and they have COLLARDS; but to see a demonstration of care and kindness like this makes me want to recommend BBQ barn to...

Always looking for good BBQ and this was the “Top Rated” in Augusta. I had the three meats and two sides and my meat choices were burnt ends, brisket and ribs and the sides mac&cheese and potatoe salad.

I got the a little after 7pm, there was a good line for the drive through but a short line inside. About 5 minutes I had my order in and was sipping on my iced tea. My order was out within 5 minutes so that was good. Now for the food.

I love burnt ends, however these might be the worst I have ever had. They were very dry and some were actually burnt. The cooks should have recognized this and thrown them out, they were past their prime.

The brisket was good, pretty moist and the flavor was not overpowering at all.

The ribs were fall off the bone tender with good flavor.

All the meats come without sauce which I like, I like to get the meat flavor first then sauce it up. The sweet smoke sauce was very good and complimented all the meats.

The Mac & Cheese was nothing to write home about, basic almost to the point of being bland.

The potatoe salad also need something, not just salt & pepper but something more in the recipe.

I also had a banana pudding, that was tasty. Probably the highlight of the meal, tied with the tea. Maybe because I have a good smoker and recipes I’m usually disappointed with large scale BBQ. You can’t put the love into it when you’re serving hundreds of people a day.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating.

Overall it was OK, if that’s the best in Augusta then don’t come...

Usually really good. But this time it was not...at all. We got there about 40 minutes before closing. Every person behind the counter literally turned and looked at us like we were there to arrest them. They were not happy with folks coming in a bit before 8PM. The guy who took our order rolled his eyes twice...that I saw. I placed my order and stepped to the side. My boyfriend and his daughter did the same. Please keep in mind I had told them how good this place was and they would love it. I got the pork loin, green beans and potato salad. The pork loin was so dry And I've had it before, it was not. This was dry and didn't seem well flavored. The green beans had so much pepper on them, I couldn't eat them. The potato salad was good. They got the chopped pork barbecue. They said it was decent, I didn't taste it. And he said the hash & rice wasn't bad either. Her fries must have either been warmed in the microwave or something. She ate three of them. She is 15 and not a picky eater. Regardless of the bad food, the customer service, or lack there of is inexcusable. The young lady who brought our plates out, literally sat them on the table with force as if to make us know she didn't appreciate us coming in at the late hour we did.

Let me add...this is not a place I"m unfamiliar with having been there several times in the past and having only had one other negative experience. But this put a really bad...