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I have a feeling this will be an looooong thread.....

My favorite BBQ place of all time is Short Sugar's BBQ in Reidsville, NC and Danville, VA. Pulled pork, thin sweet/vinegary sauce. Amazing.

I crave it more than anything when I am away from home.

oh arm1970!!! I am so offended, I will never ever read another thread of yours! :P

Hey, if you don't eat the vinegary style BBQ, that just means there will be more for me.

As long as you ALWAYS know that BBQ is a NOUN not a VERB, then you're ok by me.

Bison County, Waltham, MA - Awesome baby back ribs and pulled pork. They also serve up a dish called "Grilled Fire Shrimp" which are big shrimps grilled and glazed in a habanero sauce. Sometimes I'll get an order of that and a wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese dressing and make that my whole meal!

Wes' Rib House, Providence RI - How can you not love the food at a place referenced in The Family Guy by a car bumper sticker that says "I lost my dignity at Wes'." Seriously.

@cdp1223 - BTW, are you on Facebook? We can talk that way if you want! I hate not being able to directly ask people stuff in here! I know it's for the best...but I've actually made some good friends from SE by way of Facebook. Lt me know what you think and I'll give you some info...

happy bbq month all!

Don't know how many Winnipegers are out on Serious Eats but I suggest checking out Lovey's BBQ on Marion in St.B.

http://www.loveysbbq.ca/contact.htm

They're a father-daughter owned traditional smokehouse and they've only opened 9 months ago--AWESOME baked beans (lots of slow-cooked yellow onions in it I think), WICKED poutine (in-house made fried piled high with pulled pork, baked beans and lotsa cheese! oh canada!)

I'm so happy to see that our City has a REAL bbq joint like I see on Diners Drive ins and Dives in the USA; yay!

Adam - It's national hamburger month every month to me. And BBQ and hot dogs and pickles and cheese and chocolate and vegetables and herbs and watermelon....I don't discriminate.

Adam; really? Cheeseburgers too? When' s BBQ month? (I would think summertime)

uh oh gutreactions, don't want to make admin mad! LOL
Damn now I want a burger AND some pulled pork. geez you guys.

I have relatives that would tell me to go to no place but "The Pig" in West Side Jacksonville, and while I've enjoyed the BBQ there, I wasn't wowed by it. I would propose a three scale system of grading that would accurately allow us to review the BBQ dives in any given location.
Scale One Locality: 5:Locally Owned and Operated -> 1:National Chain
Scale Two Taste: 5:Mouthwatering Good BBQ -> 1:Not worth your time
Scale Three Originality: 5:Always Creative -> 1:Been the same since they opened

The Pig in Jacksonville would be a 4:3:2. The place is relatively local and its put out the same decent food for a long time.

This scale doesn't take into account particular styles of BBQ. Vinegary, spicy, or sweet; pig, cow, sheep, or goat; molasses, mayo, mustard, or none of the above are all fine in my book. In the end it can all be good BBQ.

Agreeance on Memphis in May!

Whole Hog Cafe in Little Rock, AR (their original locale). They won First Place for Whole Hog at Memphis in May 2002 as The Southern Gentlemen's Culinary Society. 2nd Place for Ribs at MIM in 2000 & 2002.

Eat the pulled pork fo sho (the bark is the BEST) and the brisket is as good as any Texas brisket that I've had.

Perfect timing. I'm going to Raleigh,NC in May to gorge on BBQ as part of an all you can eat road trip. Who'd've thunk it was BBQ month?

Big Bob Gibson's
Dreamland BBQ
and
Lannings BBQ (but only for their hot mustard slaw dogs)

@huneybumper - anyone that would post Dreamland has to be an AL native or at least lived there. I have not had the pleasure of eating at the original Tuscaloosa location, but I have eaten at the Mobile location. On a trip home, the family ate there and I came away with a quart of sauce. Like a fool, I packed it in my checked luggage. The luggage handlers in SLC took care of this for me. (But I had the best smelling suitcase in the airport.)

The west (at least UT) is not a hotbed for BBQ. But if you are ever in Parachute, CO check out Outlaw Ribs. It is owned by a former Denver Bronco player. Dinosaur Brewhouse in Vernal, UT narrowly trumps Outlaw if only for the blend of woods that they use to smoke their meats.

Slow's BBQ in Detroit. Using the scale i'd rate it a 5:4:? because it's locally owned, makes amazing brisket and pulled pork and i'm pretty sure it hasn't been around long enough to merit a third rating. I'm a fan of their triple threat pork sandwich and the mac and cheese.
Zingerman's Roadhouse in Ann Arbor has some decent 'cue as well, albeit twice as expensive as Slow's. Nice, smokey pulled pork there. Oh, they have cabrito, too. Another 5:4:3

I also remember DC doing a BBQ fest in May. I went one year with a colleague (I think he thought it was a date). There was a stand serving BBQ so hot you had to sign a waiver to order it. What I remember most, though, are the hush puppies. My god they were good.

Can't go in-depth right at this moment, but here are my faves by location...

Lockhart, TX: Smitty's (sublime TX brisket and one hell of a smoked pork chop)

Luling, TX: Luling City Market (probably the best and leanest brisket I've ever had... which actually turned out to be pretty amazing)

Kansas City, MO: LC's (best burnt ends anywhere, by a longshot! http://theeatenpath.com/2008/09/21/the-compare-of-kansas-city/)

Orange County: Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach (the one place in southern CA where I've enjoyed smoked ribs. wouldn't recommend the brisket or pulled pork, though)

Oakland: Chef Edward's (their Piggly Wiggly sliced bbq pork sandwich with neon yellow vinegar/peppercorn slaw has paid rent in my mind for years now)

Memphis: The BBQ Shop (the sandwich award is very close between this one and Payne's, but the BBQ shop does a full spread of BBQ like no other in the country: pork sandwiches on Texas toast, dry/wet pork ribs, BBQ spaghetti and blazing hot red sauce, with great fries and beer to match)

North Carolina: Lexington BBQ #1 (a true classic. last time i ate there, i took away a pound of meat and a pound of BBQ slaw. gone the next day.)

So much BBQ, so few heartbeats...

Black's and Smitty's in Lockhart, TX. I'm in New York, but I actually have dreams about the brisket...

Baileys in downtown Fort Worth. Simple and simply delicious. The potato salad and coleslaw are excellent as well.

Dad's House....just ask my kids !!!

BBQ...the great foodie debate.

When it comes to BBQ I am a pulled pork kind of guy. NC style mainly. Living in Michigan it is hard for me to recapture the flavor of an old pit and its master. But I do have suggestions.

Malbon Bros. BBQ in Virginia Beach. Now they maybe located inside a gas station but it is a true bbq joint. They pulled pork, along with ribs and chicken, rings as true NC as possible. Along with your pulled pork try the sauces. They come in regular and spicy. Both are vinegar based.

Jinx's Pit's Top Barbecue in Charlottesville, Va. This hole in the wall again only does pulled pork and ribs. But both are done by one person Jinx Kern. He spent 2 years working with some of the best southern pit masters to come up with a technique of his own. He smokes his meat with hickory. Which gives it an ethereal taste. This is the place that I miss since I left Va. If you want to learn more about this joint see the Wall Street Journal or Maxim for amazing reviews.

Best pulled pork sandwiches and dry rub ribs I have ever had have been at my house:-) I am originally from Western NC and can remember bringing home to Pa a full side of hickory smoked pork and slaw (pepper cabbage up north)when we would visit my grandmother. Have not had any of that for years. Outside of my kitchen the best pulled pork was in Pooler, Ga. and the best ribs were outside Orlando at Good Dog Eats. Tried to go there last month, but they had a fire. Not such a fun kind of BBQ!

Honestly, my father in law could make himself rich off of his ribs. Done on a well seasoned Weber charcoal grill...dry rub, no sauce. The meat absolutely falls off the bone and it has a great crust on the outside. You can see a sort of smoke ring in the meat...ohhhhh so good!

@NotAmerican -- Are you thinking of Red, Hot and Blue --- founded by Lee Atwater, I believe. Had 2 locations in Arlington, VA.

Although I now live in Georgia, it is Hammy's BBQ in Elgin, SC that haunts my every bbq thought. I read that they closed last summer, and the world is a poorer place for it. Their yellow mustard based sauce on chicken and ribs, was incredible.

Asheville, NC: 12 Bones
Kansas City, KC: Oklahoma Joes
Memphis, TN: Central BBQ
Chicago (Hillside, IL): Memphis Jacks

Wow! Raiders757 made the best comment yet...the best BBQ comes from my backyard...brisket, ribs, chicken, pulled pork...if I cook it it is my favorite! LOW & SLOW!

My husband got home and read the comments and couldn't resist adding his 2-bits. He grew up in Alabama and was weened on Dreamland and Jim-N-Nicks. His philosophy is vinegar is for douche and pickles, tomato sauce is for sloppy joes and spaghetti and BBQ should be right in the middle.

There are many websites devoted to BBQ...Cookshack.com, a major supplier of commercial smokers has a real good one if you are interested.

I'm very glad to see that the best barbecue shack of all of them does not appear on this list. With only five seats, there just isn't room for the rest of you!

ps. Northport, Alabama.

We recently drove to Jazz Fest from Birmingham, Alabama and stopped at Leatha's in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It was spectaclar. The best barbeque I've had in many years. Highly recommended. Worth the trouble to find.

The best Barbecue exisits in Lockhart and Lulling, Texas. period.

Kreuz Market.
Smitty's Market
City Market in Lulling. (Not to be confused with Lulling City Market in Houston)

reger60, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for omitting names from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Austin, Texas, Memphis and St. Louis. By the way, what time should we arrive at your place? All the best.

Having grown up in East St. Louis, Illinois I'm sorry to report that the best BBQ in the area is now in Belleville, IL just up the hill, but a world away. It's Big Mamma's. I know most of you won't know what I'm talking about, but if you go, try a snoot. The E. St. Louis area is the only place in America that I'm aware of that you can get snoots. If some SE reader knows of others, PLEASE post.

I forgot to mention that I've traveled all over the US and there is GREAT BBQ almost everywhere; just ask the locals. I don't get into the regional thing, I like them all, tomato, mustard, vinegar, sweet, spicy, hot, mild and wet or dry. I will say that I've never had a bad piece of brisket in the city of Fort Worth. Something I can't say about Dallas.

Some of South Carolina's best BBQ joints : Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, Schoolhouse BBQ in Scranton, McCabes BBQ in Manning, Browns BBQ in Kingstree, Wise BBQ in Newberry, Carolina BBQ in New Ellenton, Roger's BBQ in Florence ( famous for liver hash Que ) and Hites and Shealy's BBQ of Leesville.

Nestled between the two Brunswick stew states of NC and Ga., South Carolina serves up a unique BBQ hash that you won't find anywhere else and it is always paired with our BBQ pork. It is commonly served over white rice and puts Brunswick stew to shame. Our BBQ pork hash originated in the old hash houses of Greenwood County. SC ETV recently produced a one hour documentary on South Carolina hash.

Many folks in SC have a superiority complex when it come to BBQ as we are the birth place of BBQ on these shores. Since we've had more years to perfect it naturally we believe ours is the best. Twenty years before De Soto, the Spanish made their first contact with the American Indians in 1521 at Winyah Bay, SC . The Spanish brought their pigs and the Indians shared their slow cooking method for the first pig pickin in America.

We have three distinct sauces in our small state which interestingly enough corresponds with the soil type of each region - tomato base is the choice in the Upstate where the soil is red clay, mustard base is preferred in the Midlands where the soil is orange clay and pepper vinegar is the favorite in the Low Country where the soil is sand and loam. There are constant arguments and feuds amongst our citizens as to which is the best sauce.

As one of our state senators once said "South Carolina BBQ is a lot like sex - even when it's bad it's still great!"

Our house.... on our junky char-broil barrel grill with side smoker, soon to be improved by a Cookshack. And, The Shack on the Track in St George GA.

I just wrote a long comment and then hit something wrong and apparently lost the whole thing. So if this is a duplicate, just disregard. We moved to eatern NC in 1973 and shortly thereafter I was invited to a pig-pickin. A pig-pickin is a laid-back social event, a noun/verb combination. A whole hog, split down the middle and laid flat on the grill, is smoked/cooked in a pig-cooker--looks like an oil drum cut in half vertically and hauled around on wheels like a trailer. The pig is basted regularly with a clear vinegar secret recipe sauce and cooked usally overnight. Next day when it's done, the cooker is opened and diners file by to pull (pick) their favorite parts of meat off the pig. Heaven has no food better than tenderloin pulled from the backbone! Then you help yourself to additional vinegar sauce and sides, usually a vinegar/sugar based coleslaw, boiled white potatoes (cooked until they are almost creamy), brunswick stew and hush puppies. That's followed (always!) by banana pudding and sometimes peach cobbler and/or a pig-pickin cake--made with mandarin oranges in the batter and the frosting. I've speculated about the vinegar basting and sauce. Might traditionally have helped as a preservative in the hotter climate? As well as being delicious, it is great for cutting the "greasy" taste of the pork. After the pickin is over, the remains of the pig are chopped and seasoned with additional vinegar sauce and the guests can take home any left-overs. Ideally, these are out-of-doors events but the eating can be done anyplace. There are lots of good BBQ restaurants in eastern NC but pig-pickins, large or small, are purely social events--you'll get only chopped pork in restaurants. Around Raleigh and points west, you come upon tomato based sauces, which I know nothing about, but they are delicious too. My daughter lives in Austin TX and everytime we visit BBQ trips are high on the to-do list--brisket is my favorite, but sausages rate high too. They are BBQ fans too and check out all the places recommended by friends and Texas Monthly! In my memory, though, lingers one of the most delicious BBQ encounters--several years ago, a dry-rub slice of tenderloin at the Rendezvous in Memphis. A final word--BBQ IS a noun! The verb is grilling. Thanks to all the posted recommendations--am I drooling?

A pig-pickin is also an excuse for grown men to stay up all night by a hot fire and drink cold beer.

In the true southern states BBQ is pork. If we say "let's go get some BBQ we ain't talking bout beef or chicken, we're talking pig. And as others have already pointed out BBQ is a noun and not a verb to describe anything cooked over coals. Some Yankees or Texans might say they're going to BBQ a beef brisket but it wouldn't qualify as BBQ where I live.

As far as our sister state to the North, their BBQ is quite good. I've eaten the best in Lexington, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, Wilson and Ayden but I'll take our juicier Q with mustard base over their leaner Q with vinegar/pepper/no base any day. They serve Brunswick stew in NC which is not BBQ while in SC you'll get real BBQ hash. I once asked a hash maker what was in her hash? She replied, "pig". I said, "what else?" and she said "mo pig".

When I hear folks bragging about the Memphis Q they obviously haven't eaten SC's best. Corky's, a highly regarded Memphis chain, opened a restaurant in Columbia, SC but soon went out of business due to the higher quality of the local competition. The ribs I had at the famous Rendezvous were so over cooked and dry ( even though they were wet ) I should have sent them back. The four other Carolinians at our table shared these sentiments.

I've also had the highly over-rated Dreamland ribs of Birmingham which were a huge disappointment. They were tough with their membranes still firmly attached and had little flavor even with that strange watery red dipping juice. Luckily they came with loaf bread or I would have left hungry.

I can honestly say that some of the best ribs I've had were at Carson's in Chicago. According to one rumor, too many of those ribs cost "The Refrigerator" Perry his NFL career.

I had some damn good BBQ last night from Swingbelly's in Long Beach, Long Island. No joke.

If any of you city folk gird your loins for a journey into the Great White North, you will do yourselves a delicious favor by getting off I91 at Putney VT for Curtis' BBQ!