Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Born and raised in KS on KC bbq.
Chi City 98-06 and still there every other month.
Married a Memphian and live there now.
I can't attest to the overall scene being better, but from a restaurant standpoint I would definitely put Smoque up against anyone (especially the tourist traps). Love the dad/son combo at Honey1: I'm glad to read they are still around. That plexiglass/aquarium smoker is the goods!

As a Memphis native who has spent some time in Chicago recently, I both agree and vehemently disagree with the article. I still think there are some great barbecue places in Memphis that far outshine what I've had in Chi-town, but most people haven't heard of them or hadn't been. However, I do agree that the restaurants noted above (except for Central IMNSHO) are no longer representative of what Memphis 'cue was/is all about. See, a lot of the 'cue places in Memphis have become "industrialized" - that's our dirty little secret. I grew up about a block east of the original Corky's on Poplar Avenue - I still remember when it was converted from an arcade (and a 76 gas station before that) into Corky's. It was delicious and really was some of the best around. However, over time they have tweaked and adapted their original recipes to service the mass market - bottles, grocery stores, etc. The same thing has happened at all the other places - Rendevous, Commisary, Neely's, Interstate, etc. Once they start changing their recipes to be shelf stable and mass-produced and they start using their mass-produced product in the restaurants, they become just another place to eat.

Right now my two favorite places are Central (I like the Summer Ave location - much more room than the one on Central; they have the best brisket and their homemade bbq potato chips are great - especially freshly made) and Tom's on Getwell and Raines (bbq bologna is a must-try!).

All things considered, Memphis is still my favorite barbecue town, hands down. And, good sir, I do object to your calling it the land of Elvis. I eat only in the good graces of Stax Records.

If it's on TV, it must be true. That being said, man can only eat at one place at a time. I'd rather have one perfect bbq joint, than mediocre ones.

There are several types of BBQ sauce. Most traditional BBQ sauces either use tomato sauce, mustard, or vinegar as a base, and they come a variety of thicknesses. Each state also specializes in certain types of meat.

Kansas City barbecue typically consists of brisket and burnt ends, pork, lamb, and beef ribs, steaks, chicken and turkey. Their barbecue sauces are tomato based, thick, sweet, spicy and sticky.

Meat used in South Carolina is consistent throughout the state, slow-cooked, hickory-smoked pulled pork. They are more mustard based, but feature some vinegar too. North Carolina also uses much pork but their barbecue sauce is usually vinegar based, thin and runny.

Memphis-style barbecue is known for wet ribs made with a mild, sweet BBQ sauce that's basted on the ribs before and after smoking; dry-rub crusted ribs, made with a spice rub that forms a crust on the surface, applied during or right after they've been cooked; and pulled pork.

East Texas barbecue is an extension of traditional southern barbecue, similar to that found in Tennessee and Arkansas. It is primarily pork-based, with cuts such as pork shoulder and pork ribs, indirectly slow smoked over primarily hickory wood. The sauce is tomato-based, sweet, and thick. It's most common in Houston and Dallas. West Texas features "Cowboy" barbecue, cooked over an open pit using direct heat from mesquite. The meat is primarily beef, shoulder clods and brisket being favorite cuts, mutton and goat.

Barbecue in St. Louis often uses pork and features a sauce that is typically tangier and thinner than its Kansas City cousin, with less vinegar taste. It somewhat resembles the Memphis style sauce.

While barbecue is typically associated with tough cuts of meat, barbecue ribs in Chicago BBQ tends to be from very good cuts of pork, perhaps because of the abundance of good meat and resulting higher expectations in this meat industry town. South- and West-side Chicago is noted for smoked ribs and Deep South style rib sauce.

Of course this is all American BBQ. Brasilians and people of other Latin heritage are disgusted at all the sweet sauces we mop on our BBQ. Look up Rodizio in google if you aren't familiar with it yet. There are many Churrascarias that come to your table every 5 minutes and serve up to 15 types of BBQ meat that Americans don't normally define as BBQ. But it's so good that it doesn't need sauce!

Albert Einstein wouldn't exist without his father Hermann, but it's pretty apparent which of the two ended up displaying more brilliance.

Chicago BBQ? As a Texan, I never thought I'd see those two words back to back!

Chicago... Memphis... neither matters to me. I live in central Texas. I need not cross state lines, or even county lines, for good BBQ. I feel sorry for you people who do. :-P

(Ok, I'll concede that Kansas City or Carolina style BBQ sauces pair better with pork. Texans are the experts when it comes to beef brisket.)

I guess you can tell I'm in the "wet BBQ" camp. To each his own, but I just wanted to make sure that west Texas BBQ beef brisket got some love. :-)

Dry rub is just weird. It's like dragging your barbecue through a litterbox. But I had several very good chopped pork sandwiches in Memphis. The thing is, it really IS a sandwich, I mean, the unit here is the sandwich, not the meat itself. You have to eat the meat, the cole slaw, and the sweetish bun together. That's different from other places like KC or Texas where it's about the meat, pure and simple.

damn thing won't let me edit or delete my comment. I meant CRUMBS bakery! haha

If I could get Crubs Bakery to make me a giant cupcake as a birthday cake, I'd be ok with dying on my birthday. That is, after eating the cupcake.

Too many food options. Sixpoint Ales of Brooklyn, instead!