Hit this Mission hotspot for backyard barbecue with a California influence. Eschew tradition and order the duck wings, a nontraditional take with the same finger-licking goodness.
The Flatiron restaurant flies in Kreuz Market sausage, Big Red soda, Lone Star beer, and Blue Bell ice cream daily. Chef Elizabeth Karmel’s penne mac and cheese or green bean casserole are must-tries.
Even hard-core in-towners trek outside the perimeter for the finger-licking feasting (get the KB-Korean-style sauce for a hot-sweet taste).
Head south of Memphis on Highway 61 and you’ll find the Big Abe, a double-decker sandwich topped with slaw and drenched in a peppery sauce you’ll want to drink by the bottle.
If you plan to eat lunch (there’s no dinner service), best get in line by breakfast. Hungry folk are asked to specify meat and poundage picks in advance to keep things as civil(ized) as possible.
After a fire, the smoked-meat haunt returned less than three months later to serve Charlie McKenna’s award-winning barbecue. Bonus: Grab his addictive, spicy marinades, sauces, and rubs to go.
The drive to Driftwood for all-you-can-eat piles of smoked meat and homemade cobbler is a rite of passage when visiting Central TX. It’s BYO, so be sure to take a full cooler and designated driver.
As legit a cocktail bar as hip mess hall. Grab a muddled bourbon cocktail while you wait to weigh-to-pay your portions of pork (belly, shoulder, cheeks), Wagyu beef, and broccoli salad.
The beef brisket is a must-have at the award-winning outpost with a divey dining room and huge patio. Eat up, and then take home a bottle of the knock-your-socks-off sauce.
It’s out-of-the-way location doesn’t deter crowds who chow down on short ribs, pulled pork, and sides of Syracuse salt potatoes — a staple that harks from the original brick-and-mortar upstate.
The legend. Some argue it’s all about the sauce. Others, the caramelized burned ends. Either way, add the cafeteria-style classic to your barbecue bucket list and don’t look back.
Just outside Austin, there's a place known as the BBQ Trail. Hit it to find this smoked-meats oasis, slinging hot links (from jalapeno cheddar to garlic sausage), sandwiches, and single cheese slices.
We love any place that, in addition to fall-off-the-bone meats and a killer live music lineup, serves a dish called the Girlfriend Salad.
The Daddy is a Wicker Park standby. Go for the pulled pork and indulgent weekend brunch (the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich is a must); stay for the giant patio and live music.
Go for the handpicked whiskeys and mesquite-grilled steaks; stay for the Texas brisket chili with smoked chiles, sweet onion, and cornbread. Fri-Sat during the summer, stop in for a crawfish boil.
Kreuz Market, the oldest and best-known BBQ joint in Lockhart (arguably the barbecue capital of Texas), has been smoking for more than a century. Go early before the best cuts sell out.
Settle into the NASCAR-themed spot for a dish of pulled pork as outrageously good as its over-the-top motif. You’d be remiss not to get a heaping portion of fried pickles on the side.
Die-hards head to Smoque, a spot so serious about ’cue a manifesto was written about it. The sliced brisket is known to make grown men cry.
The smoky aroma wafting down South Street lures many a Whole Foods shopper away from her tofu. Stop by for chopped brisket or pulled pork with all the fixings.
Expect nothing more than slightly sweet, tender pork soaked in the tangy ketchup-and-vinegar-based sauce the region is famous for. One look at its giant smokers out back will verify its authenticity.
Choosing a favorite Memphis barbecue spot is like choosing a favorite child, but we give this basement joint top billing for its vinegar-soaked, spice-crusted ribs.
