Thrillist: 33 Best BBQ Joints in America


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

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edition.thrillist.com

The 41 American Barbecue Joints You Need to Try Right Now

From Houston to Portland, our 41 joints include smoke meat crusts and crispy ends curated outside of a vacuum.
edition.thrillist.com edition.thrillist.com

You can always debate lists like this, but there are lots of legit joints in this long list from Thrillist, along with some great food photos. Warning: lots of scrolling and tons of ads...keep your eyes focused to the left and ignore all the ads on the right. :)

P.S. Just noticed this list is from 2019...that's OK, it's still a good list.
 
Boy, now if that isn't a way to start a fight.... :)

Okay, having said that..... one of the women that I work with at my client is actually down in Kentucky, & we regularly talk about 'cue. She is very much a fan of barbecued mutton, I'm going to ask her if she knows about Moonlite in Owensboro.
 
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Payne’s BBQ is legit, glad to see their name on here. All the more special is the ice cold Coca-cola they pull outta the freezer, has just the right amount of frosty ice pieces when you get that first pull. If I’m not mistaken, the mom runs the joint, at least they were steppin and fetchin when she barked orders.
 
JKalchik said:
She is very much a fan of barbecued mutton, I'm going to ask her if she knows about Moonlite in Owensboro.
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Very famous. I'd be surprised if she does not know about Moonlite.

tvwbb.com

Kentucky > Owensboro: Moonlite BBQ

On a recent trip to Owensboro, KY my family and I ate at the Moonlite. There is a buffet of anything from PP, brisket, ribs, and mutton with all the fixin's and great desert. They also have burgoo that was incredible, the cost is $12.99 all you can eat. Great place to eat good bbq...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
These are the joints on this list that I've not heard of:
If you've been to any of these and can post a review in the BBQ Restaurant Directory, that would be great.

Sadly, it should be noted that Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas recently burned down. They plan to reopen, there is a GoFundMe set up to help with the cause: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jones-bbq-rebuilding-fund-marianna-ar
 
Two metro KC joints I've never heard of, but that doesn't mean they're not fantastic. Glad to see they made a list instead of the usual.
Thanks for posting this Chris, I really enjoyed it.
 
I've heard of the majority of them but have eaten at only one: Pappy's in St. Louis.

A friend of mine is a big fan of Grady's and loves their fried chicken.

Feges is in Texas but chops and sauces brisket? Is that a southeast/Houston thing?

"33 of the Best BBQ Joints" would've been a more accurate title.
 
Interesting , that for Central BBQ in Memphis, the list featured their smoked bologna , aka Okie Prime Rib .

I ran across an Okie living in Texas, that had discovered central Texas barbecue, and he and a visiting Okie friend went to a new joint with a Texan. His Okie friend asked where was the bologna on the menu ? This soooo embarassed the transplanted Okie that he felt he needed to apologize to the Texan. And it did not stop there, he felt he needed to find an OU sports message forum to dress us Okies down about our smoked bologna and for us to shut up about it.

True story.

And I later saw where a new , avante-garde joint in the DFW, Goldee's , that was started by some young hip barbecuers from Austin, who had learned from Austin's best................. had smoked bologna on the menu.

I saw this list last week from Southern Living ...

The Most Iconic Barbecue Dishes in Every Southern State 2021​


Surprisingly, they included Oklahoma as a southern state, that does not always happen, but not surprisingly they gave us the smoked bologna title.
 
JKalchik said:
Boy, now if that isn't a way to start a fight.... :)

Okay, having said that..... one of the women that I work with at my client is actually down in Kentucky, & we regularly talk about 'cue. She is very much a fan of barbecued mutton, I'm going to ask her if she knows about Moonlite in Owensboro.
Click to expand...
I grew up in West Ky and BBQ mutton is definitely a thing. It's most common to get it chipped with a thin vinager based sauce. A distint flavor you can't find anywhere else. Moonlite BBQ is a Mecca atraction, but there is better bbq in Owensboro. Also, in the Owensboro area the Catholic churches all have bbq picnics as a fundraiser. They put out a calendar to show which church has their bbq each weekend. They cook 1000s of lbs of meat, mostly mutton, and 100s of gallons of burgoo. The meat is all cooked on concrete block open pits. This is where I learned to bbq.
 
Russ in CFL said:
Been going to the Asheville area for over 20 years and don't know the Buxton Hall place. Anyone been there?
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I have. It’s pretty good. They do whole hog BBQ. They have a smoked/fried chicken that was pretty tasty. They also have a mussel dish that is cooked under the whole hog. It is worth the trip for that alone. A friend of mine went during a slow part of the day and got a little behind the scenes tour by the owner.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Interesting , that for Central BBQ in Memphis, the list featured their smoked bologna , aka Okie Prime Rib .

I ran across an Okie living in Texas, that had discovered central Texas barbecue, and he and a visiting Okie friend went to a new joint with a Texan. His Okie friend asked where was the bologna on the menu ? This soooo embarassed the transplanted Okie that he felt he needed to apologize to the Texan. And it did not stop there, he felt he needed to find an OU sports message forum to dress us Okies down about our smoked bologna and for us to shut up about it.

True story.

And I later saw where a new , avante-garde joint in the DFW, Goldee's , that was started by some young hip barbecuers from Austin, who had learned from Austin's best................. had smoked bologna on the menu.

I saw this list last week from Southern Living ...

The Most Iconic Barbecue Dishes in Every Southern State 2021​


Surprisingly, they included Oklahoma as a southern state, that does not always happen, but not surprisingly they gave us the smoked bologna title.
Click to expand...

People love to talk crap on smoked bologna, but I can tell you that if you make it for a party or potluck it'll be the first thing that is gonzo. Yet nobody will admit to eating it. lol. As a proud Okie, I love smoked bologna and am proud it is associated with my state. Both the bologna and our iconic onion burgers are beautiful by-products of our much maligned history of adversity in our state. My grandmother made bologna (Okie Ribeyes) and onion burgers because it was cheap and she had to feed a family of 8 during the dust bowl and through the depression. I make bologna and onion burgers because they are amazing. Thank you Grandma.
 
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