That feeling you get at a family reunion? That’s what Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer want you to feel whenever you like. It’s the basis for their barbecue lifestyle brand, AC Barbeque, which uses food to bring people together around family, tradition, and Black excellence. Created by the iconic actors, products in the brand’s line are designed to take grilling to the next level. 

The pair worked with culinary scientists to craft their own special seasonings, rubs, and sauces, which reflect the best in global traditions. They were a hit right out of the gate, evident as a gift set of the items became one of “Oprah’s Favorite Things,” in 2024. AC Barbeque has also partnered with Sodexo to launch campus kitchens at several colleges and have collaborated with Arby’s to introduce two new barbecue sandwiches available through the chain, featuring slow cooked pulled pork and brisket as well as Cedric’s Sweet Bussin Brown Sugar Sauce and Anthony’s Spicy Chipotle Smoke Sauce. AC Barbeque’s first official restaurant will open in Beverly Hills during the second week of May, 2025.

Whether you spell it "barbeque" as AC does per the Southern vernacular, or "barbecue," a more commonly used spelling, one thing is certain. That flavor is tasty.

But Friday, May 2 was a love fest between Anderson, Cedric, and Howard University, as the entertainers turned entrepreneurs visited campus to launch their first food truck. In between the ribbon cutting and scores of selfies, the two shared some insight into their journey as business owners. 

The conversation has been edited for readability; you can listen to the full interview here.

Q: Why barbecue and how did you get into this arena?

Cedric the Entertainer: We just always believed that barbecue was a part of our culture, going all the way back in history. We noticed that there wasn’t a national brand out there that represented Black people in this space. That really was the basis and the birth of how we came up with AC.

Anthony Anderson: We’re not brand ambassadors. We’re founders. It’s rooted in culture and fueled by community. When you go to a barbecue, no matter where you go, it’s like a family reunion. You’ve got the spades, you’ve got the dominoes, you go the good music, you’ve got the great food, you’ve got the great camaraderie, you have family around you, and that’s what this business is for us. That’s the culture of our business AC Barbeque.

Q: How special is it for you, Mr. Anderson, to be back at Howard?

Anthony: I started in these Howard halls back in 1988, so I've seen how this school has grown. I've seen what the Blackburn Center has become for the students, but it feels good to come home. Again, it's about community, and to have AC Barbeque food truck here is what it's all about. It gives the students something to aspire to on the business side as well. That's part of what our company is in the process of establishing, a business program for entrepreneurship and ownership and franchising and learning the ends and out.

Q: You guys have dominated the acting space, but now you're moving into an entrepreneur space. Why do you think that's important for you as individuals, and then why do you think that's important for black people in general? 

Cedric: By being a founder, by taking an idea from its inception and building it and learning what it is — I think it's important. We've seen great examples of people who have post careers of the things that they're known, and our good friend Magic Johnson is one of the one of the key people that inspires us all the time. He’s one that showed us that we are renaissance in so many ways. We are not just a sum of the one thing that we do or are known for and that we can aspire to be everything that's inside of us. We made great strides on the screen and on stage and live performances, but we're also businessmen and we also think about how to build businesses and build real legacy that goes beyond just ourselves, our individual frame. This company can live on and again, it represents barbecue, to the point that no other African American company has a nationally known brand. And so this is something that leads and the next thing you know, we're covering all kind of other spaces. 

Q: What did you learn so far as an entrepreneur that you didn't know going in? 

Cedric: Well, I mean, it's so it's so much to learn, man, but I mean, really, doing business is the ebbs and flow of it. You know, our celebrity gets us in a lot of doors, but we also recognize that we have to sometime take steps back. We have to be not overzealous about things that look like wins, but when we look at them on paper, when we look at what our business is really doing, we probably should slow this down. 

Those are the things that we've been learning step by step. It’s just been great to build a great team, good people around us taking our time, great partnerships with people that we trust and love and want us to win, like a partner like Sodexo, like this university. We know that the culture, when we come in here, that people want us to win, they don't want they don't want to see us fail, so you end up being in an environment that allows you to make a few mistakes then get it back right.

Anthony: You know, it's one thing to manufacture it and produce it and get it on the shelves. That that's only half the job. We've still got to get out and create growth or relationships within the community and within the consumers to not only have it on the shelves, but to also sell it to them. So that that's what I'm learned. It's about building relationships, not only with the consumer, but also with the person who was making the purchases for the stores and the person who is going to position it in the stores. 

Cedric: This is the world we live in. You gotta fight for people's attention and then if you love your business, you gotta fight for it every day. And I encourage all young people who have a dream to know that. Like if you got a music dream, you gotta fight for it every day, get up and believe in it, and go for it again.

Q: The vision? Where are you trying to take this over the next 24 months?

Anthony: It's good to have those short-term goals, but we also have the long-term goals as well. Short term, get the restaurant up and get that running successfully, so, you know, we can take that out and have that franchised across the country. That’s what it is. Getting into airports and getting into the space of not just restaurants, but in the condiment space. Why not have AC Barbecue packages or our sauce next to the ketchup and the mayonnaise and the mustard in sports arenas? Here in Blackburn and at the counter when you're buying any food? Those are our visions, so that that's where we see ourselves more.

Cedric: And it is a full lifestyle brand. We also do tools. We got spatulas and tongs, and so we'll continue to grow in that space. We want to do AC Barbeque backyards. The Martha Stewart of barbecue…we want to cover many facets. We also developed our TV show, so we still want to do our media, you know, all kinds of food sources, shows and stuff. We want to do live events. We want to become the Coachella of barbecue where we [have] big smoke fests and music acts. We've seen these as tiers or rungs on the ladder of businesses that we can do with this lifestyle of the world of barbecue.