Ace Biscuit and Barbecue, Charlottesville, Virginia

On my way back to Washington from the ride of the Four Horsemen of the Porkapalypse, I made a point of rising early to get to Ace Biscuit and Barbecue before lunch. I’d enjoyed their barbecue, see here, but criticized the quality of the biscuits, thus:

The biscuit itself was a surprise. It wasn’t a cat head biscuit, and the ham and egg flowed far, far beyond the boundaries of the biscuit. And it was overcooked and pretty dense.

My post aroused a storm of criticism, led by the legendary biscuit authority, David Sanders. Not only did he disagree, but he produced compelling evidence in the form of a photo of a large, beautiful biscuit, a biscuit that would honor any filling. Shaken, I returned to Ace in order to check my work.

I entered and perused the menu.

As you see on the left, all biscuit sandwiches at Ace include (1) the biscuit, (2) the meat, (3) an egg cooked to order, and (4) cheese. I really just wanted a simple country ham biscuit without all the other stuff. I fell into line, however, and ordered (1) a biscuit with (2) country sausage instead of country ham, which is best as a solo, (3) a scrambled egg, and (4) pimiento cheese.

I stood about waiting for it and observed the large number of young people being young

and the staff being very attentive to each dish. They were so attentive that it took me over 20 minutes to get my order. That was a bit long, but the youth were entertaining, as was my iPhone. At last it arrived.

The biscuit was larger than on my first visit, but once again, it was pretty bad. Once again it was too dense and overcooked. The country sausage, on the other hand, was terrific, sprawling, hot, fresh, and local. The egg was fine, and the pimiento cheese was quite good. That slice of cucumber at the bottom baffled me. The mix of flavors was over-busy, the biscuit itself undermined the whole. So what happened with David Sanders’ excellent biscuit?

I went on my way with the biscuit dispute still smoldering until my next stop, where I was able to unravel the mystery. They have a different Chef de Biscuit than at the time of David’s visit. That resolved, let’s consider how truly fortunate we are to have biscuits, and honor those who fought for independence from England.

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