Alright, after reminiscing with Alabamalawyer while purchasing some blades from him, I thought I would start this out. I don't even know if anybody has done a thread like this already, but if they have, it hasn't popped up in the New Posts at least within the span of my short memory. So let's hear it: What is your favorite Barbecue restaurant/dive/shack/shed/whatever? I am sure that many here have their own personal recipes and what not, but right now I am looking for physical establishments that could be visited by someone (like me) if they ever happen to be in a particular area. I'll start it off. As a disclaimer, let me say that I am a Californian. Prior to moving to Birmingham, AL, for grad school, I though barbecue meant cooking something on a grill, or drowning a piece of meat in K.C. Masterpiece. My eyes were opened, and I saw the light. I can tell you that on the seventh day, after God rested from his labors, he sat down for a satisfying slab of ribs from Dreamland Barbecue, with a loaf of white bread on the side and a roll of paper towels to serve as napkins! I am partial to pork, although I have had some tasty beef barbecue. I understand now that barbecue is a noun, not a verb. The phrase "low and slow" now has meaning to me, and I understand that gas grills are of the devil. So anyways, to date, the best I have tried is Dreamland Barbecue. Although I was introduced to it in Birmingham, the original is in Tuscaloosa, AL, made famous due to the numerous sports teams that would travel there to play the Crimson Tide, as well as former players who moved elsewhere. Although their menu has expanded, the best thing on it is still their ribs. They use the larger spare ribs, not the baby backs. Their sauce is a thinner, vinegar/ketchup sauce with a lot of heat. If you are partial to the sweet sauces, this is probably not for you. As their slogan says, "Ain't nothin' like 'em nowhere!"
http://www.ribandchophouse.com/ I've only been to the one in Livingston, the original. Quite amazing food with an atmosphere I can be comfortable in, thick craft paper covering the tables and a very good selection of drafts.
there's a lot of places I'd like to try, but currently at the top of the heap for me is McClard's, a little hole in the wall type place in Hot Springs, AR (man, it pains this Alabama born, Texas raised Southerner to give any credit to Arkansas...) their sauce, too, is thin, but very spicy, and very, very, very, very, very, very good, and the ribs are awesome
Due to the geographic area that I'm in, theres not many great BBQ places within easy driving distance. But on a recent trip to USAF Museum in Ohio, we discovered City BBQ. My wife liked it so much we ate there 3 out of the 4 days we stayed. Nice friendly atmosphere, a great selection of sauces and they give you free Bark just for the asking. :drool
The Golden Rule in B-ham was my favorite for years and years. Luckily in the south we are blessed with the a bunch of hole in the wall BBQ joints that are simply amazing. Some are on side of the road and some occupy building but there is always smoke coming from the smokehouse.
There aren't many BBQ joints around. Really, the only ones are the chains... Damon's, and Smokey Bones. Damon's I don't like, but Smokey Bones at least resembles real BBQ. My wife did find a new place recently, but we haven't tried it yet.
Yeah, we have City BBQ here in Columbus as well. For a "Yankee" establishment, it isn't bad, and it is my go-to barbecue place here. Golden Rule is nice - "Just Ain't None Better." This was actually my 3rd favorite in Birmingham. First was Dreamland, second was Full Moon, then Golden Rule. Right after that was Jim 'n Nick's. I tried to give as many of them a try as I could. There was another one called Dimitri's, but I wasn't as fond of it - their sauce didn't appeal to me.
We have Dreamland here in atlanta and it OK....I think alot has to do with the pitmaster also. I am very anti (chain bbq). Why I dont know. Ever since I started smoking pork butts for hour upon hour I really appreciate the good stuff. The sauce is important also and I prefer Carolina style personally(mustard based). I dont like the thick sweet crap and love vinegar? I only did give Dreamland 2 chances so I might have to revisit. I do also judge a place by their brunswick stew also. I love me some brunswick stew
Well. For the area, I like Dinosaur in on 125th in NYC. In MA, I was a fan of Bubbs BBQ in Sunderland.
Thats the ticket right there! Mmmm, home smoked butt on some apple or peach wood, topped with slaw and then Carolina red sauce for us!
That was dinner at the firehouse last night! I smoked a picnic shoulder overnight at home in between my days and nights, and brought it in for dinner. I used some pecan chunks and two firewood sized logs of fruitwood (either apple or pear) I picked up from a local orchard. First smoke of the season, and it was GREAT!!!!!
I don't have a BBQ place I really like down here, but there is a local restaurant in Denton, TX that we really liked: The Smokehouse. I'm from NE Kansas originally and I still have a soft spot in me for Gates BBQ in Kansas City.
Best BBQ and brisket I've ever had was Rudy's BBQ in Austin TX. They claim that it's Doc Holliday's own personal BBQ recipe, but that may just be some marketing ploy. All I know is that I'm from NC, and my fellow North Carolinians claim to have the lockdown on BBQ, but I have to give that honor to Texas. Stubbs BBQ, also in Austin, is also very good. The sad thing about Stubbs is that its becoming known more for it's live bands than it is for its BBQ, but either way if you're in Austin, there's no shortage of great live music and great BBQ, and at Stubbs you can have both.
Now thats one place I would love to try, ecspecially back in the '70's when Stubbs was still alive and overseeing/doing the cooking and Stevie Ray playing for his meals...::git
Yeah, one of my friends in Birmingham was from Muscle Shoals, AL (they got the Swampers), and they recently opened a Dreamland there. I have heard that some of these newer chains aren't quite as good. I only ever had the Dreamland in Birmingham, which I loved, and has been around a lot longer than some of these newer ones, but was still told that the best was still at the original in Tuscaloosa. In Birmingham they had a manager - a huge beast of a man who was just as nice as could be - who would come around and tease you if you had ordered anything other than ribs, asking why you were ordering off of the kiddie menu! There were several Golden Rules around Birmingham, and I noticed a great deal of variation between them. The older ones were definitely the best. Down where I lived, they opened a new one that was merged with a steakhouse - I think it was called Michael's Golden Rule. The barbecue there was terrible - they would chop the hell out of it, so all you ended up with were finely chopped scraps of pork all in a pile that were dried out, and they would be skimpy with the sauce, whereas at the older ones they had the bottles of sauce on the table. Incidentally, I still need to make a trip to Memphis and try Rendezvous - I have heard that is THE place to go to try the best Memphis dry rub. I have had various dry rubs, but all from chains, and were disappointing. My Birmingham friend had traveled to Memphis and made a trip to Rendezvous and said it put all other impostors to shame. And my wife laughs, but I keep telling her a dream vacation would be to go to the Memphis in May barbecue competition!
Since this thread is only about BBQ establishments. To me BBQ means pork only. Cooking style has to be Kansas City dry rub. In Boulder Colo. the only place to get it is KT's Real Good BBQ. Follow link http://www.ktsbbq.com/index.cfm
