Gayot.com rated the nations top 10 bbq restaurants:
City Market - Luling Tx
Daisy May's BBQ - New York, Ny
Everett & Jones Barbeque - Oakland, Ca
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue- Kansas City, Ks
Fox Bros BBQ - Atlanta, Ga
Full Moon Bar-B-Que - Hoover, Al
Montgomer Inn at the Boathouse - Cincinnati, Oh
Smoque BBQ - Chicago, Il
Urban Bar-B-Cue - Rockville, Md
Zeke's Smokehouse - Montrose, Ca
I'm not sure I agree that a bbq restaurant in Oakland, Montrose, , New York, or Rockville can be a legitimate "Top 10 Best" barbecue restaurant in the entire country. I'd imagine that the states of Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, or Missouri have many, many restaurants that could legitimately be in this Top 10. Tennessee and Texas might have enough good restaurants to fill up an entire Top 10 list of their very own. It sounds like more of a marketing gimmick than a legitimate "Best of" bbq list. But, hey....what do I know. I've never eaten at any of these locations. Maybe they really are better than all the rest (I really, really doubt it).
I'm from the Atlanta area and Fox Bros is consistently on the top of the Top Tens produced here. I keep punching myself though because I still haven't been there. Perhaps though, at least for Fox Bros, this list is legit.
ReplyDeleteOn a recent visit to Chicago, Il, I stopped by Smoque BBQ based on how their website read and a piece that the Food Network had done on them. I was not impressed with their version of BBQ and would not classify them as one of the top 10 in the nation.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Everett & Jones in Oakland and, while it IS excellent bbq, I question whether it can compete with bbq from the South. Looks like I need to take a trip to Memphis to find the answer.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, I don't think location should matter for good BBQ. A good pitmaster can work his magic from Miami to Manitoba, and all points in between.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I doubt that many on this list really qualify as the best of the best. I've lived in New York and I wouldn't call Daisy Mays the best BBQ in the city, let alone the country.
I think we can all agree that lists like these are almost always superficial and silly.
I agree that location shouldn't matter. I've lived in Tennessee, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, and Missouri in the past 14 years. I've eaten bad bbq at bad restaurants in all of those states, but I've only found passable bbq in three of the five states.
ReplyDeleteI've never eaten bbq at a restaurant that I'd consider "Top 10 in the Country" good at any of the restaurants I've visited.
In states where the density of bbq restaurants is thicker, the bbq is bound to be better. Competition requires better quality, or you'll probably not be in business for long.
So many people open bbq restaurants these days and scrimp on the quality of the food. I wish they'd save their money and stick to hamburgers. I can't believe what some people try to pass off as bbq.
I've eaten at Zeke's probably 40 times. Good? Very much so. Great? By Southern California standards... maybe. But putting it up there on that list in mind-boggling.
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