I’m hoping to do a cross-country drive in the near future and want to experience as much good bar-be-que as I can. I’m in Los Angeles and want to make it to the east coast. Do you have a favorite BBQ joint that you think is the best?
I lived in Austin, TX for awhile and use to drive to Kreuz Market in Lockhart about 30 minutes away. Best BBQ I ever had. No side dishes, no sauce, not even plates - just meat.
Let me know what your town boasts about. The more down-home, the better.
Any time a roadtrip is in order, it’s a good thing to check Jane and Michael Stern’s www.roadfood.com Check the restaurant reviews in each state and there you will find many many barbecue joints.
The message boards on http://www.chowhound.com will also provide invaluable information for the best eats in every city along your way. I’d definitely suggest stopping in the Kansas City/St. Louis area, Texas, Memphis Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia, all well-known for their unique barbecue traditions.
www.roadfood.com and the chowhound are both invaluable references.
I was also hoping for some first hand recommendations from the teeming masses as well. 
And if I didn’t hit those spots that you mentioned Voodoo Lou, well, I just wouldn’t be searching for real BBQ.
Well, when I made my pilgrimage to Memphis to check out Graceland and Beale Street and eat barbecue, my favorite place was Corky’s. There are a few locations around town. They had the best pulled pork shoulder, ribs, and sweet, thick sauce. But any of the tourist-friendly places along Beale had good 'cue as well: I think we stopped at the Rum Boogie Cafe and one other place… Blues City Cafe, maybe?
If you make it as far south as Florida, we have a local chain called Sonny’s Barbecue, which started in my beloved college town of Gainesville. They have terrific all-you-can-eat specials, and everyone I know loves the place. Miami in particular has two famous barbecue institutions: Shorty’s (on the Kendall/Pinecrest border, along US1 in South Miami), and The Pit (in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the Everglades. But that would be REALLY going out of your way. If you want, I can always send you more information about those fine Florida establishments.
If you happen to go through Pine Bluff, Arkansas, go to Arthur’s BBQ. They only serve sandwiches. The sauce is nothing like any BBQ sauce I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot. I can’t even describe it, taste-wise. It’s sort of clear and pinkish-brown. I’m guessing it has paprika in it, definitely no tomato. I know that probably doesn’t sound great, but OMG, it’s good!
In central NC, try Allen and Sons. It’s eastern NC barbeque (vinegar based). The meat is hickory-smoked and the sauce is on the table - you put on as much or as little as you want. The meat comes with hush puppies (AKA fat pills), and I surely love those.
In my town, there is no barbecue. Columbus, Ohio is close by, and the barbecue there all sucks with the exception of a place called Pig Iron Barbecue which isn’t so bad.
However, and if you can get Sampiro in here he will agree, Dreamland Barbecue in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is fantastic. Let me set the scene.
You drive out into the sticks–I’m talking shacks with broken down cars in the yard and the whole bit. You pull up to another shack looking place that happens to be Dreamland Barbecue. You go in and sit at a picnic table. When I was there, this enormous greasy, sweaty guy came over and said (add your thick southern draw now) “You wanna half-slab or a full-slab.” That’s it. That is the menu. He wrote our order down on a paper plate!
They bring you a loaf of white bread (wonder bread or something like it), a drink, and your ribs. That is all you can get at this place.
The ribs are incredible! I have never had anything so good in my life. I have heard from my family there, and from Sampiro, that they have branched out, but the branches just don’t compare.
I can’t forget the motto “Ain’t nothin’ like 'em nowhere”.
The Muddy River Marketplace in Eliot, Maine. No, I am not kidding. Maine.
They make eastern-North Carolina style vinegar-flavored pork BBQ as good as any I’ve ever had in eastern North Carolina, with better cole slaw and cornbread, too. Get the party package and you’ll have enough leftovers to feed a family for a week.
Arthur Bryant’s in KC. You will go there.
Here in Greensboro, Stamey’s is the place for Lexington-style Carolina BBQ. Great stuff. I haven’t found any others right in GBO that are in the same class.
CrazyCatLady is from Owensboro, KY, and she introduced me to Western KY BBQ; that was probably when I decided I’d marry her. If you’re in Owensboro, Moonlite is the big-name place, but Old Hickory BBQ is the favorite of most of the locals I’ve known. Everything is good, but the mutton is the real stuff. If you’re in Lexington, KY instead, Billy’s BBQ is a good choice, and probably WKBBQ you’ll find outside the Owensboro area.
This reminds me of a place I hadn’t thought of in years - the New Riegel Cafe in New Riegel, OH. It’s a rural farming town and people come from miles around to eat ribs at this place. They use a sweet molasses-based sauce and you won’t go home hungry, for sure. Or dirty - they give people washcloths to get the sauce off your fingers.
Sims Barbecue in Little Rock, AR. North Carolina style.
Well, if you lived in Austin then I’m sure you know all about the Salt Lick. I’ll recommend it anyway https://www.saltlickbbq.net/
If you’re going to eat BBQ in Memphis, and you should, there are a few places you should try. Interstate Barbeque, The Rendezvous for dry ribs, Corky’s as previously mentionioned, Germantown Commissary, I like Central Barbeque, but a lot of people think it’s too dry. My parents’ favorite place is Payne’s, they have this mustard slaw that’s supposed to be great. (I hate mustard with every fiber of my being). There’s other places that are good, probably as good as the ones I’ve mentioned.
-Lil
Every BBQ place in the OKC is good.
I kid you not.
Two excellent places in eastern North Carolina: Grady’s (located past Dudley) and Parker’s (in Wilson).
Grady’s is family owned and operated; they raise their own pigs, and the barbeque is cooked in a building alongside the restaurant. The restaurant is small, but the people who run it are awesome. They also have traditional Southern foods like brunswick stew, hush puppies, turnips, collards, cabbage, beans, etc.; other meat dishes featured are BBQ or fried chicken, ribs, burgers, hot dogs, and hamburger steaks. They serve very large portions.
Parker’s has been around since the late '30s or early '40s. Their specialty is “family style” meals, but you can order individual plates or dinners too. They’re a bit stingy with the cole slaw; they provide each table with a soup bowl of slaw, and you have to scoop out every bit of it before they’ll give you another one. It’s good though. They offer lots of veggie side dishes, a choice of hush puppies or corn sticks, and other meats.
Lots and lots of great barbecue places in Memphis. I would say skip Corky’s and Central B-B-Q and go instead to the Bar-B-Q Shop at 1782 Madison Ave. It rivals Interstate for the best Q in the city of Q, and it won’t be too hard to get to from I-40. The pulled sandwich is amazing. I recommend getting it with beans and slaw instead of french fries. Kozy Korner is another favorite, but I’m not sure if it’s still in business, and the neighborhood where it’s located is the definition of sketchy. The Rendezvous downtown is a perinnial favorite among tourists, but I prefer the Bar-B-Q Shop’s food.
Aw, the Salt Lick. I remember it well. I always found their sauce on the sweet side but that never bothered me, I like it sweet.
Used to go to Ruby’s BBQ down by the campus for a late night snack. I miss that place as well.
Black’s in Lockhart was good too, not as great as Kreuz, but at least they had side dishes. And they had Kreuz beat in the jackalope department.
The BBQ in Fresno is non-exisitent–I have to go to my mom’s and beg my dad to fire up the deep-pit or wait for a family wedding when the uncles work their magic. Drachillix and I were on our way to Daytona Beach in FL and we stopped by Sonny’s. I ate a pound of pulled pork and bought two bottles of BBQ sauce. Lovely lovely lovely.