Cool, thanks! I also reached out to ND Sol. The unfortunate thing is that my trip will be so short I can only really check out one or two places.

I dunno about best BBQ in Houston, but I had some excellent smoked sausage at Goode Co on Kirby Rd.

If only we had something similar out here in So Cali.

Oh yes - heaven. IIRC you can do some train spotting too!

That is indeed a poor indictment of the state of BBQ in Southern California. ;)

Seriously though, I always heard that the Santa Maria style indigenous to that region was very good and I was looking forward to trying it someday.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

The central Texas style around Austin and San Antonio was until recently hard to find good examples of in Houston. Most of the places, I hear, are more of a Southern/KC style with the sweet sauce. True Texas BBQ should always come with sauce on the side if at all.

I visit Houston regularly, and in the past year and a half found Gatlin's and Brisket house to do a decent job in the central Texas style. Gatlin's in particular has been very good the last couple times I've had it. Very flaky with the take out orders, though. Check your order before you leave. Brisket House has been good in my experience but a little more uneven and hasn't quite matched the highest Gatlin's level the times I've tried it.

People bag on Luling City Market near the Galleria, partly because of their bad history with respect to City Market in Luling, TX, but it's been good not great the couple times I've tried it.

There are a couple other places that I've been to that were sort of promising but not quite up to the same level as the above three.

Snow's in Lexington, Smitty's and Black's in Lockhart, City Market in Luling and City Meat Market in Giddings all dwarf the Houston places, but they're 2 hrs away. Kreuz had excellent sausage as I recall.

According to a friend of mine who travels to and competes in 20+ BBQ competitions a year, the answer is a definite yes. He says it's almost impossible to place well without at least some in the rub. He also says it's rarely discussed in public.

Had a BBQ lunch at one of my favorite joints, the Original Q-Shack in Durham, NC. They do a baked potato with sausage, bacon, cheese, sour cream and onions with a side of hush puppies. Mmmm.

I like Louie Mueller, Big Bob Gibson, and 17th Street Bar & Grill, and Ed Mitchell’s whole hog. When forced to do BBQ in NYC, I think the best are Hill Country and Fette Sau. I want to try Mable’s and John Brown’s soon.

Have you tried Baby Blues? http://www.babybluesvenice.com/#/home There's a branch in West Hollywood, but I prefer the authenticity of the original in Venice.

Lulling City Market's suasage just melts when you eat it. Its like nothing I have eaten before or since.

There is a new place in Dallas at the Farmer's market only open for lunch a few days a week called Pecan Lodge. I have not been but it has recently been voted the best bbq in texas by Texas Monthly. It won over the likes of Franklin's, Hard Eight, City Market, Coopers, etc.

It's not the low and slow method like Texas BBQ, but the flavor of the red oak they use in Santa Maria is great.

Besides their BBQ which is incredible, Santa Maria is the only place in the US that I've had better tasting steaks in restaurants than I make at home. Cooked over oak mmmm!

Do you have a quote citation for that? I don't think they've put out a new poll since Snow's won it last.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Blue Grass BBQ vs Regular
 

I have an event in NYC that will serve Blue Grass barbecue. Pardon my ignorance, but how is that different from what I think of as the "regular" kind?

Based on the nickname, I presume something to do with Kentucky. If so, how authentic can it taste in Manhattan?

Blue Grass BBQ vs Regular
 

Not familiar with Blue Grass BBQ but being from NC always on lookout of good BBQ.

Amazingly I've actually found a couple of REALLY good BBQ places in NYC.

According to their website, they were picked "Best BBQ in Dallas for 2011" by D Magazine and the Dallas Observer.

Do they serve mutton BBQ?

http://bbq.about.com/cs/lamb/a/aa102000a.htm

I grew up near there, and I was never a fan of it.

Well, I know this post is several years old, but it gives me the opportunity to mention my favorite BBQ.

4 Rivers, in Winter Park (Orlando,) is some of the best BBQ I've ever had. The place has only been open a couple years, and has already opened 3 new restaurants around Orlando. The original, in Winter Park, is about to move to a larger location because there is always a long line out the door, and parking has become a serious issue. This place has taken Orlando by storm. Excellent BBQ.

Once I went to my friend at Colorado and had such kind of BBQ at Front Range BBQ. I saw a blur grass band played there and it was so refreshing. There is an extensive menu. I settled on the trio combo with pulled pork, pulled chicken, and brisket. The brisket was shredded, which surpised me. All three were moist and fairly tasty. The original tangy BBQ sauce was good. The sweet and spicy was also good, with a mild kick to it. The baked beans and the cheddar corn muffins get the thumbs up, but the green beans were uninspiring.

Thanks to those who were kind enough to respond to my question earlier about sweet barbecue sauces. I have found a product that is exactly right for me.

http://www.lloydsbbq.com/products_wf_pulledPork.asp

My one issue was avoiding sweetness in the sandwich, didn't care if I bought the sandwich at a barbecue place or assembled it at home. The above Lloyd's non-sauce-covered "Woodfire" Barbecue Pulled Pork is made with very little sugar evidently, as I didn't discern any in the taste. I have difficulty with finding a non-sweet barbecue product in stores, including Lloyd's barbecue products as well, those few which I have tried seeming to be aimed for buyers who do like sweeter sauces--or at least my own experience has been that, though I haven't tried all products.

The only product i have found is this Lloyd's Barbecue Pulled Pork, which is outstanding in that it does not IMO have a sweet taste! (IMO, of course, can't guarantee that others will have the same thoughts.)

They also make a shredded brisket "Woodfire" as well. I haven't tried it and won't be in any hurry to--though I probably will eventually--because the label indicates brown sugar and molasses in the ingredients, as well as regular sugar. OTOH, the pulled pork is pork, cider vinegar, sugar, sugar, salt, spices (and the sugar I couldn't taste!--or did I already say that? :D ) Also a shredded chicken Woodfire, which also has a long list of ingredients.

I'll stay with the shredded pork "Woodfire" for now.

If your grocery store carries either, it will probably be either in the deli or meat departments, but in any case wherever the "blister-packaging" meat products are sold.

Perfect sandwich, toasted whole wheat bun, fairly lean--just right--pork with slight vinegar taste maybe, not sure--topped with coleslaw made with olive oil and vinegar, with mustard on the bun. ^

NOTE: It MUST say "Woodfire" and "pulled pork" on the package! Otherwise, wrong Lloyd's product!

I've had most of the BBQ in central texas and they are all great.... Had Franklin's on Friday and thats the best.... Judgement may be swayed because I drank to much while waiting in line.

10am lined up ...... finally served at 1:15 :)

brisket blew me away!! Found out I can order to go for office lunches finally without waiting in line.

Brisket being carved by the man himself...

http://s9.postimage.org/s2r3nw5ov/IM...0706_00180.jpg

Another trip to the Salt Lick on Friday night. Good as ever! And hard to beat the combination of the great BBQ with a stop in the Wine Cellar before dinner.

Comes with some heavy lifting as far as caveats are concerned, however:

Pre-ordering information.
*We do fill up quickly, so please let us know the date you have in mind, and we will let you know if we have any available space.


We accept pre-orders on either whole briskets, whole pork butts, or whole racks of ribs.
We also accept orders for meat by the pound, with a minimum of 5 pounds.

Sides may be added in pints or quarts.

Orders must be placed at least 3 days in advance, and in order to skip the line, may only be picked up between 10:30 am and 10:50am. If you are unable to come during this time, you must wait in line. We can only do a set number of pre-orders per day, so make sure to order sooner rather than later.

No plates and no sandwiches.

Cost- Whole briskets generally weigh 6-8 pounds, racks of ribs are generally 2.5 pounds, pork butts are generally 5 pounds.
Here is the full restaurant menu, which includes current pricing for meats by the lb. --
http://www.franklinbarbecue.com//menu

For fastest response, please order by email.

They don't hold a date without a solid order having been placed. We placed ours for this coming Thursday on the 9th of July and almost didn't get it. As it is, they won't be able to give us the ribs we wanted.

So, if you are going to do this, my best advice is to communicate via email because they rarely, if ever, pick up the telephone. Also, have your order ready to place two weeks in advance.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

pre-order at Franklin is a good way to go if you have several hungry people that can polish off a whole brisket.

Worked out great for my friends and I back in May.

That's good to hear, but it's getting harder and harder as the word gets out. I guess that was my only point.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

we must have gotten lucky. :) We called out less than a week out from our visit. Wanted to do a pre-order for saturday, but they were all allotted. We were able to get one on Sunday.

It was kinda fun. Long line. Walk right on past, up the stairs, and into the "back" door. Walk in. Get order. as they pack it up, we got samples of sausage. Then we walked out with a bunch of meat. All before the place even opened.

If you have a large group to feed, it's woth a shot.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que - New York, NY

Being a North Carolinian who's traveled to Kansas City and Texas for BBQ recently, I was really skeptical about this place. However, I kept an open mind and ended up really liking it. It's in Harlem on 125th Street and 12th Avenue (two blocks from the 1 train at 125th street station). The building is quite nice although very loud (the bad music they play doesn't help). Amazing, amazing beer selection is the best part. Annoyingly, they won't seat you until your whole party is there (even if you have 5 of 6 like we did) and service isn't the best. However, the food is very good. I split a rack of ribs with four sides with someone ($29.99) and also sampled the pulled pork. Everything was tasty (good BBQ sauces too) and far better than I expected for being in New York ^

Had the opportunity once again to have dinner at the famous Ridgewood Barbeque in Bluff City, TN last night. Here was their barbeque platter, half pork, half beef.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...97418564_n.jpg

It is so big, 2 people usually share it. They also give you a big bowl of homemade coleslaw and dinner rolls (with which many people make BBQ sandwiches). I split this one with FlyerTalker me4yankees, who also took the pic.

One more vote for Dinosaur BBQ - I was working in Rochester for several months and tried to stop by at least once per week.

Also a big fan of Honkeytonk BBQ in Chicago - best in the city I found in 15 years.

We had ours last Thursday and it won't be the last time we do this. I just have to be mindful of all the rules and set it up three weeks in advance. ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Hmmm...probably have to go with the burnt ends platter at LC's as my #1 choice. Crown Ribs at Jack Stack with sides of beans and cheesy corn get honorable mention. I've always liked Oklahoma Joe's but ever since it's been heavily featured on Food Network, etc. and proclaimed as one of the top 15 (12?) restaurants in the world, I've stayed away. Lines are too long.

For Texas 'cue, I flew into SAT and out of AUS one weekend and made a Black's trip in the middle. I was very impressed...wish I had had the time to stick around and sample the other two or three places in Lockhart as well...

Oh my... I was just at Black's last night. Incredible links, perfect brisket, and the single greatest beef rib I have ever eaten in my life. Maybe the greatest meat, period. Moist, smoky, complex, burnt edges... there are no words.

Love all of those places, but I'm sorry to hear that Oklahoma Joe's has become the Franklin BBQ of KC. :(

Black's is definitely my favorite Lockhart BBQ place. ^

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Had really good Q at Black's on my last trip back in May. Best I've ever had from them. Brisekt was the best. Better than Kruez on that trip and better than City Market in Luling on that trip. But not Franklin or JMueller level.

FWIW, Full Custom Gospel BBQ recently awarded Louie Mueller 6 stars. Only the third place to get that many. One of my favorite places. IMHO, best atmosphere. And really great BBQ. You just have to like black pepper. They make a great beef rib, too.

Best BBQ in the USA
 

Went to Arthur Bryants in KC today for the first time. I was skeptical but thought it justified the hype. Wish I had more right now. Amazingly good, IMO

I miss that place, and I've only been there once. Something you never forget.

I hear you, I went last year and absolutely loved it. The burnt ends...oh man. I'd give a lot for a plate of them right now!

CMK10 if you making it to my retirement party we are doing bbq. I can't promise(or pretend) it's the best but it's good.

www.hillbillysbbqsteaks.com

One more thing there is a thread in the US forum if you're in Clt on 6Oct

Hey man, I don't care if we eat McDonalds, the point is coming to celebrate YOU! Are you leaning towards the Gastonia location or the other one listed?

It will be the one in Lowell right off 85 South Lowell Mcadinville exit. I spelled it wrong to lazy to look it up:D