my favorite bbq joint!

[troyhamilton]

My favorite bbq joint is Rivertown bbq in Ozark Ar, wheres yours? ever get my bike finished its the first place im going.

[Caffeineo]

Who would ever think you could get great BBQ from a hole in the wall next to a self serve car wash? I tried it after seeing the reviews and have to agree that this guy knows what he is doing. Talked to him a bit and learned he moved here from Texas to start this business. The brisket is the best I have ever had and is one of those things that if it shortens your life a few years may just be worth it. 
He tows his smoker there before the sun comes up and gives it plenty of time to get the job done right.

Smokin Jims BBQ in Caldwell ID. http://smokinjsbbqcaldwell.com/ Shoot me an email if you ever decide to go and I'll meet you there. 

[Lannis]

I'll have to reserve judgment until I've had a chance to eat at our own "Mayor of BBQ"'s place.   

You can only tell so much from pictures, but it LOOKS like it's done right!!

In the meantime, I never fail to stop at Smokey Joe's in Lexington NC if I'm going up and down the US29/I85 corridor there ....

Lannis

[Madtownguzzi]

Hillbilly's BBQ Dover Tennessee 
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60808-d8674946-Reviews-Hillbilly-Dover_Tennessee.html

Timeline Saloon and BBQ at Doc's Harley in Bonduel, WI
http://www.timelinesaloon.com/

[ITSec]

There's a lot of good BBQ in a lot of different styles all across the country - well, except for that weird stuff they sell in the east.

Ozark BBQ is worthy of praise, but in the end the best is from the Texas Hill Country. You could ride the triangle from San Antonio, Austin and Menard every week and never find every little BBQ, almost all of them excellent. Some are better at brisket than ribs, some have the best poultry, some make their own sausage (German style, in coils), and every one with a rub that's just a bit different from the last.

Sauce on the side, please! (Not that you have to ask for that in Texas)

[Triple Jim]

All my favorite ones are closed now:

Three Pigs of Rockville, Rockville, MD:  Chpped by hand off the shoulder per order
The Georgia Pig, off route 95 in Brunswick, GA: Smoked in their big fireplace and chopped by hand off the shoulder per order
Clem's Place, Norlina, NC: Clementine and the other sweet old ladies made delicious pork and great vinegar based sauce

I still get barbecue, but I haven't found one to replace those yet.

[Gliderjohn]

If you come through Wichita on I-35 get off on 13th St. Exit, go W for about six blocks and there is a place called
"Pig In Pig Out". I consider it the best in the Wichita area. They have a whole wall of cookoff trophies and ribbons.
Quite often an elderly black man is playing blues live during lunch.
GliderJohn

[Green1000S]

Mike Anderson BBQ in Dallas TX.

[motocruz]

Papas soul food in Eugene, Oregan. Papa Grew up in the south as a boy. Good Brisket (cut with a fork) good. Cajun crawfish and all the sides, greens southern style and real hush puppies, and many more. Passed away and now mama runs the joint.

[drburt]

Tyler's Barbeque in Amarillo Texas.
Best pork ribs I've ever had and consistently fall off the bone awesome.
Brisket, sausage, ribs,
Killer green chile stew in the colder months
He's got if figured out!

http://tylersbarbeque.com/

Brent

[drburt]

Tyler's Barbeque in Amarillo Texas.
Best pork ribs I've ever had and consistently fall off the bone awesome.
Brisket, sausage, ribs,
Killer green chile stew in the colder months
He's got if figured out!

http://tylersbarbeque.com/

Brent

Fall of the bone ribs are overcooked and mushy. Racks of ribs should be bite into them and then the meat pulls away clean. Brisket cut across the grain the thickness of a pencil should not fall apart. Held between the thumb and pointer fingers a slight pull and it should break clean.

Sheesh!
They are awesome ribs, awesome barbeque and they are not overcooked or mushy.
Please excuse my lack of correct barbeque lingo.
Thank you for setting me straight!

[kirkemon]

Johnny Rebs' in Long Beach - worth the drive no matter where you are

https://johnnyrebs.com/

[ITSec]

Brisket cut across the grain the thickness of a pencil should not fall apart. Held between the thumb and pointer fingers a slight pull and it should break clean.

A good Texas Hill Country BBQ joint will ask you if you want your brisket dry or wet. Dry doesn't mean dry, it means lean. Wet doesn't mean it's sauced, it means it's fattier (and thus juicier). Either way, it'll have the right consistency.

[PJPR01]

A good Texas Hill Country BBQ joint will ask you if you want your brisket dry or wet. Dry doesn't mean dry, it means lean. Wet doesn't mean it's sauced, it means it's fattier (and thus juicier). Either way, it'll have the right consistency.

Yup!  You know it!

Favorites include Black's in Lockhart, Texas, I find them infinitely better than Smitty's, will have to try Kreuz market next time I'm thru there.  Nice place to stop after watching Moto GP just up in the road at COTA...a bit of Q, a little break and then head home via the backroads (maybe even stop at Orsak's for a piece of pie!)

Here in Houston, Luling City Market is at the top of the stack of the local joints...and they are always generous enough to add a pound of inedible fat cuts for my labrador to enjoy bit by bit as a treat!

[LowRyter]

gotta say.  I gots to try the place in Ozark.  Heck, it's at the bottom of the Pig Trail, so it's worth the ride alone.

I've got lots of favorites but my favorite ribs are from a local chain, Billy Sims.  Probably the best BBQ joint in OKC is Leos on NE 36th & Kelly.  I'll have to say my all time favorites (gone now) were Bob's in Ada Ok and Han's in OKC.

But around the country, I like Arthur Bryants in KC.  I never had really great BBQ in Texas for the time I lived there and visited until I went to Lockhart TX.  Pick any of the places there for brisket, clod, sausage, and beef ribs.  The pork ribs are good too but they are seasoned like bacon which is the same rub used on the beef which is why the beef is so good.  So far as Alabama and VA, well I am sure there are great places there but I've not found one.   In TN, MO and IL I've had some good que but no place that comes to mind. 

I am always on the lookout.  And I am always playing with my grill and smoker at home.  For myself, I like different rubs for pork (BBQ rub), beef (Montreal rub), and chicken (Mediterranean seasoning), and fish (salt & pepper, lemon).  But I could be wrong.

[Sheepdog]

Ever try the Rib Room in Ft Smith, Troy?

[troyhamilton]

no i havent, where is it? I gotta try that Johnny Rebs lol.

[Sheepdog]

It's downtown on the main drag. Great dry rub ribs, a full bar, and live music on the outdoor patio. I haven't been in a while, but had many good times there.

[troyhamilton]

website makes you hungry. I doubt ill ever get that far away from Ark, cant travel much with a autistic son

[Pop]

Well, if I was traveling south, I'd have to stop at Piggy Park in Columbia SC. Locally, (45miles) I would have to say Kingfish's where 206 meets 541 in South Jersey. A hole in the wall, but ,oh my gawd, won-der-ful, heavy accent on 'full'.
My son does a damn fine job but no address will be disclosed.

Pop

[kirb]

BBQ joint basics-
never water another man's whiskey or sauce another man's BBQ...
Proper slaw is vinegar based, not that creamy mayo bullshit
I like Texas BBQ, but don't understand the white wonderbread
Hush puppies are a staple, just do it

From memory-
Chuck wagon BBQ, Madison AL- what they trim off of the pulled pork goes straight into the beans...oh, yea.
Hillbilly BBQ, Lowell, NC
Black's Lockhart, TX- Texas does beef well
A bunch of small joints around TX that seem to be pop-ups on the roadside.
'Bama has a bunch of great joints

[blackcat]

Many years ago, we went to a BBQ place in a particularly bad part of town in Cleveland(early 1970's) , usually around 3am after the bars closed. Don't remember the name of the place and it is long gone by now, but it was the kind of establishment that had bullet proof glass between the workers and patron's where money was exchanged through the same material(door up/door down) along with the food. I finally asked the owner about the glass and he said that he got tired of being held up and the last time he was robbed the guy made him give over the cash AND a BBQ dinner, which was the last straw for the owner.

My experience with BBQ, is that what one thinks is great, another might find to be ho-hum so I never recommend BBQ. 

[bacongrease]

 My son lives in KCMO and the cities favorite is Oklahoma Joes.   I think now just called Joes. 
 Started in an abandoned gas station. 
I believe the Food Network called it the best in the nation.

[cloudbase]

Chappell Hill Bakery and Deli in Chappell Hill, TX. 
Great BBQ, great pies.

[drums4money]

The Perfect Pig - White Bluff, TN. . . about half an hour West of Nashville.  No beer.  No booze.  It's halfway to nowhere, but it's always busy.  People there for one thing only- BBQ.

http://www.carlsperfectpig.com/bbq.php

[PJPR01]

Chappell Hill Bakery and Deli in Chappell Hill, TX. 
Great BBQ, great pies.

Better pies than Orsak's in Fayetteville?  If so...I'll have to stop in!!

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

I try not to get into these things, as I know the varied and expansive universe of American BBQ, and opinions run hotter than a blue-smoke pit on this issue...


BUT

Since the thread is "MY FAVORITE BBQ JOINT" and not "THE BEST BBQ JOINT", I will weigh in.

On that note, there is no "BEST" BBQ joint. I have eaten BBQ in Memphis (& knox & chatanooga & all of Tennessee), Kansas City & all of missouri, all over TX, Oklahoma, Washington, Montana, Missisippi, louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia....  All up & down the east coast from New York City to Southern FLorida, all across the midwest, Southwest..I've probably eaten in 125 BBQ joints just trying Eastern vs 'Western' (really piedmont) vs. Pee-Dee vs. low country vs. mountian/appalachian styles in just the Carolinas alone...
If you put a pig on the sign, I'll pull over & try it.

There is no 'best'. In my observation, it's the places that claim to be 'the worlds best' that will serve you shitty BBQ (if they put WORLDS BEST BBQ on the sign, that's a deff red flag).


This is a cop-out but I can't pick my favorite...  but my top 5 in no particular order

1. Skylight Inn Ayden, NC
2. Payne's Bar-B-Que Memphis, TN
3. Scott's Bar-B-Que Hemingway, SC
4. Arthur Bryant's Kansas City, MO
5. B's Cracklin' Barbeque Savannah, GA

The best BBQ I have ever had in my life was a pork sandwich with the yellow slaw & spicy sauce at Paynes.

The worst BBQ i ever had was some place in Illinois, can't remember the name.. it was atrocious.

I like it all...  even bad BBQ can have redeeming qualities...

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

I'll have to reserve judgment until I've had a chance to eat at our own "Mayor of BBQ"'s place.   

You can only tell so much from pictures, but it LOOKS like it's done right!!

In the meantime, I never fail to stop at Smokey Joe's in Lexington NC if I'm going up and down the US29/I85 corridor there ....

Lannis

That's mighty nice Lannis, I'm not doing much BBQ now-a-days but I find working in BBQ so long has really shaped the way I cook. I definitely use BBQ techniques to influence everything I do. I'm certain I learned more working for Thomas at 12Bones BBQ than I did in all of culinary school, resorts, & fine dining. I am still not above whipping out some French technique around the BBQ pit tho... So I guess it goes both ways.

[Sheepdog]

It's been a while, but I recall that the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, Texas was pretty incredible. The brisket and the smoked sausage was superb...

http://saltlickbbq.com/driftwood-directions/

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

My experience with BBQ, is that what one thinks is great, another might find to be ho-hum so I never recommend BBQ.

This is a very wise position