gsw

I grew up in the land of Elvis (Tupelo and Memphis), and I love the BBQ there. Personally, I think that both Corky's and the Rendezvous are good but over rated. My personal preference is for Neely's. There are a couple of locations, near the Med Sch and out east. All that having been said, Corky's BBQ at DaBlues in MEM terminal B is a regular stop when I fly home. Seattle has great food, but I have yet to find good BBQ here.

blindbat

If you're ever in the Akron, Ohio area, try thr ribs at the Winking Lizard. Not bad for yankee ribs.

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Blindbat

Bluebonnet

Try the Iron Works in Austin, TX, on 1st Street by the Convention Center. Grab a brew or a Big Red, and prepare to eat. You'll go home smelling like your meal, but that mesquite-smoked BBQ smell is near and dear to many a heart.

DeltaRNOmd-80

Try Sonny's in Jacksonville, Florida. There are 7 locations in the Jax area.

TRRed

With deference to GEO1004 and neverhome, I strongly recommend Wise's Bar-B-Que. Like the other 2 SC establishments mentioned, it also has (and only has) a mustard based sauce.

It is located in Jalapa on Hwy 76 a few (less thn 10?) miles west of Newberry (and within about 10 minutes of the Jalapa exit off of I-26 (turn right on reaching Hwy 76)). $6 or less for all you can eat, including ribs often and, of course, sweetened tea. It is only open on Fri. and Sat.

It's in a white, cinder-block building on the south side of the highway and is frequented by locals (country folk in the best sense of the term). Extremely casual.

Bon appetit!

Watchful

I absolutely agree with Swise that Kreuz Market in Lockhart is among the best anywhere. No BBQ sauce. No potato salad. No forks. No plates (just sheets of brown paper). You can buy a whole tomato or a whole avocado to go along with the meat and bread.

We were there last month...they have built a huge new facility, but everything appears to still be top notch!

The church in Huntsville is still in the BBQ business -- now during the week - 5 days a week I think. It is well known in the area, and they have built a new brick church with the proceeds from BBQ sales.

[This message has been edited by Watchful (edited 08-14-2001).]

geo1004

TRRed:

One of the great things about BBQ is that half the fun is the debate... of course the more important half is the sampling in the never-ending quest for BBQ Nirvana!

By the way, it's "sweet tea", never "sweetened tea"

MEBenson

OTTO's BBQ off of Memorial Drive in HOUSTON is some of the best in the nation (I promise). Don't be surprised to see George Bush (Sr.) eating at the table next to you, as he dines there quite often.

neverhome

Yes, Wise also has excellent BBQ. Unlike Wise, Shealy's is open every day except Wed & Sun. Actually I will be eating some Wise BBQ tomorrow. they're catering lunch for my Civitan group. I'll skip breakfast.

Starwood Lurker

Okay, the Lurker's favorites are as follows:

1) Salt Lick, Driftwood, Texas - just outside Austin. swise is right about the trappings, the trip, & the folks that eat there, but hey...it is the BEST as far as the BBQ goes.

2) Kreuz's Market, Lockhart, Texas - several people have already commented on the food and the atmosphere. The family had a split and part of them opened another pit down the street. The competition is raging, but I confess I haven't been down to see which is the better of the two.

3) The Iron Works, Downtown Austin near the Convention Center. Before I discovered the Salt Lick, this was IT. The beef ribs are to die for and they have their sodas in this old fashioned chest dispenser.

4) Bob's BBQ, Henderson, Texas - this is the hometown favorite...aaahhh the memories. Bob can smoke just about anything you can catch and does a superior job with beef, chicken, and pork of all kinds. Just down the street is the original Sadler's that you see in a lot of grocery stores in the frozen food section. Rumor is that Bob shut them down and forced them to sell this way instead. But that's only a rumor, mind you.

5) Just about any location that the County Line operates is great. The food is very reliable so if you had to pick a chain for BBQ, this would be a good choice.

6) We can't forget the Mikeska family either. I think there are four or five brothers with BBQ joints from Taylor, TX to Luling, TX. They are also really good just about any location. Recently featured on FoodNation with Bobby Flay.

That's about it from Austin, Texas.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Watchful

An added bonus...Otto's is listed in the various Miles for Dining program book!

Sweet Willie

Great quote, now BBQ becomes political in SC,
see NY Times article below. (you will have to register your email w/NY Times to access article).

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/26/ma...26BBQWARS.html

GeorgeBurdell

You wanna talk barbecue? Let's put up the list (especially since Georgia and Alabama are ignored here). I'll only list one's I've eaten at recently although I'm aware of many more.

In no particular order:

1. Dreamland
Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Roswell (Georgia) and Mobile
Just ain't none better when it comes to ribs. Big, smoky, slabs of pork. They have a web site you can order from, too.

2. Slopes
Roswell and Alpharetta (Georgia)
Good traditional Southern pork, good hot sauce, nice people

3. Harold's
Atlanta (down by the Federal pen)
One of Atlanta's older establishments. Good stew and cracklin' corn bread. They only use whole hams for their sliced bbq. The atmosphere appears to be what the folks in Texas have used as their template <ehehe>. I mean, you can't beat a place down the street from the prison that looks like it ain't been re-done in 50 years. Worth a look see. Only a 15 minute cab ride from Hartsfield.

4. Pappy Red's
Cumming and Roswell
Avoid the Cumming location. I like atmosphere but buckets full of water from a leaky roof don't cut it! Roswell location has a Cessna crash-landed on the roof (should make you flyers feel right at home) Good stew and wonderful cobblers. Sandwich on jalapeno cheese bread is heart-attack serious! Out of the way location outside Roswell (north Atlanta) but it worth it if'n you want a little funky Southern culture.

5. BBQ Kitchen
Atlanta
Mentioned here mainly because it's right across the interstate from Hartsfield.
BBQ is decent, nothing fancy. Best deal is the plate lunch. Meat and three with free re-orders on veggies for $6. So you can wind up with meatloaf and mac cheese, green beans, okra, collards, tomatoes...you get the drift. Oh, and BBQ is available on this deal.

6. Smoky Pig
Columbus, Georgia
Man, I used to live down the street from this place. Fella name of Earl (said so on his bowling shirt) used to take my order. Lady with dyed black bee-hive used to run it. Slightly modernized now (they have a drive-through) but the lady with the K-Mart blue eye shadow still remembers me and my kids when we stop in. I don't know how they make that pit achieve 100% efficiency when it comes to getting that smoke in da meat but it is good! No ribs, no chicken, just pork shoulders and a few sides.

7. Country's BBQ
Columbus, GA. Several locations.
More upscale, good variety of pork, ribs and chicken. Fun atmosphere, big local favorite. Sometimes inconsistent. If you're around there at Christmas, order one of their smoked hams to take home. Ummmmm!

8. My house
Roswell, GA.
Steaks, ribs, chicken, pork and seafood. Man, get that Weber rockin' and rollin' cause Daddy's gonna BBQ <LOL>

That's all I got time for today.

clbish

I have to agree with paradocs
The County Line in Austin, or anywhere they are located, has the best B-B-Que. We just moved to the DFW area from Austin, and I am having withdrawl. I emailed them and was told they are looking into building one in the DFW area. Not soon enough for us. They also have a web site www.airribs.com , but the shipping charge will kill you.

AA SLF

Just happened upon this thread and have to add my 2 cents in here:

Dallas - the ORIGINAL Sonny Bryan's on Inwood Road just east of Harry Hines Blvd. Goes without speaking that this is for Brisket. Bring your own towel to wipe the drip off your chin.

Memphis - none other than Corkey's and their dry ribs. None better in the entire world!

[Austin - the Iron Works. ALL other Austin area pits are just that - the pits. BTDT for Salt Lick. Ain't worth the drive!

There is NO good BBQ north of a line from Kansas City to Richmond, Va. or west of a line from KC south to Ft Worth and on down to San Antone. So - that leaves out 3/4 of the USA in my book.

When you are outside of this BBQ zone then I say that these chains can hold you over: Red, Hot & Blue (for the best imitation of Corky's dry ribs) and County Line for all else are acceptable substitutes. If in Texas or Louisiana try Colters/Luthers as another "good" substitute chain.

Keep on searchin' -

dAAvid -

Pulled pork sandwich - I agree order two. One with and the other without.

[This message has been edited by AA SLF (edited 11-11-2001).]

[This message has been edited by AA SLF (edited 11-11-2001).]