We just got back from a Rocky Mountain Vacation, and we patronized some additional BBQ restaurants that were pretty good:

Caldonia's BBQ (Aurora CO): Good food! My wife got BBQ chicken and I got brisket and smoked sausage:

Bubba's BBQ: Ate here in Cody, WY, Jackson Hole, WY, and Greeley, CO. Supposedly they also have locations in Pocatello, ID and Breckenridge, CO.

Each was a little different. Their smoked sausage was outstanding, and my wife said the BBQ chicken was among the best ever. Fried cream corn appetizer in Cody was nice! In Greeley the restaurant was a BUFFET with pork, several varieties of brisket, chicken, etc. in a BBQ Buffet. Pretty good!

I've been there and it is quite good! Damn I need to go there now.

Being from Syracuse myself I was quite excited to actually find the sauce in my grocery store here in New Hampshire (now if only I could find their BBQ macaroni salad I would be so happy). And I need to give a thumbs up as well to Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington, MA - great everything and awesome greens. Not really a fan of Redbones myself. I found it far too dry.

I never found a favorite BBQ place when I was living in Dallas a few years back, seemed we always went to a different one each time we got BBQ for lunch.

Absolute Best - Smitty's Market, Lockhart, TX
A Close Second - City Market, Luling, TX
Three Way Tie for Third - Kreuz's Market, Lockhart, TX; Black's Market, Lockhart, TX; Louie Mueller BBQ, Taylor, TX
Honorable Mention Rudy's Country Store, Leon Springs, TX; Cooper's BBQ, Llano, TX; Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, TX

Of course, the measuring stick here is the pure smoky goodness of a slab of beef brisket. Unadulterated with "sauce" (if it needs sauce, it ain't cooked right). Sure, most all make a sausage, Coopers cooks lots of chickens, Kreuz's cooks a shoulder clod and a prime rib, a few of them will cook various and sundry pig parts, some even cue a goat or venison or even fish. But I'll forgive them for these silly distractions if they can make a good brisket.

I'm a steak lover and think I grill 'em to near perfection, but the single best piece of meat I've ever eaten was a 1/2" slab of fatty brisket from Smitty's - rich, moist, smoky, tender, pure heaven.

There's a cook book out "Dinosaur Bar-B-Que" which has the BBQ Macaroni salad recipe and MANY other great recipes! We have it, and every recipe in there is delicious. We have made the mac salad, and black beans and rice quite a bit. There are also quite a few more recipes not found in the restaurant. Well worth the purchase!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...80082653&itm=1

Informal surveys of locals seem to mention Smitty's the most. Of course now that I know all of these, I haven't had to travel back there!!

Another one I would add to this list is Ironworks in Austin. It is roughly on par with Salt Lick in my experience. Certainly not as good as, say Blacks. But the advantage is that it is right in Austin and hence a lot more convenient than the places in Lockhart or where Salt Lick is if you are short on time. At certain times of the year, especially when the wildflowers come out, the drive to Lockhart from Austin is really beautiful. But it does take a while and Ironworks is very convenient.

As a British transplant to Kansas City, who has now caught the meat smoking bug, you can't beat KC BBQ! I've eaten my way around a lot of the more popular joints in town.

Best ribs (and fries): Rosedale BBQ. Truly the best tasting, leanest and moistest fall-off-the-bone-est ribs I've ever had. You REALLY don't need the sauce - they're SO tasty without. A true sign of quality. Dinner (rather than lunch) has always produced the best ribs for me. Fries MUST be cooked in something very lard-y. So crispy on the outside, softy and fluffy in the middle. Screw the diet, you GOTTA try this place for ribs and fries.

Best sandwiches: Arthur Bryants. The "downtown" location is an institution - even visited by celebreties and ex-presidents! Order a sandwich and fries and you will have another meal for the next day right there too! HUGE! Fries, in complete contrast to Rosedale, are the soggy soft kind, but OH so good too. Ribs no-where near as good as Rainbow. Bryants location out by the NASCAR track has comparible food, but somehow it just doesn't taste the same in the yuppified location!

Avoid at all costs: The yelled "HI, MAY I HELP YOU" from Gates, and the hugely variable food quality and and frequenty dried out ribs.........

BBQ. It's not just for breakfast, lunch, and dinner anymore.......

1 - Please report this place to the North Carolina SBI. Our constitution bans calling anything BBQ that is made with catsup.

2 - Kansas City BBQ in San Diego. You know, the place made famous by the movie Top Gun. Look for my convention IDs on the wall. It's a long story involving recipes, but oddly enough, my favorite place for eastern NC style BBQ is now in San Diego.

3 - For the record, there are two styles of NC 'Q. Vinegar with no tomato is the eastern style. The barbarians west of Bahama (middle 'a' is long) seem to think they live in Texas, based on their penchant for tomato paste from Food Lion.

While travelling through NH, stumbled upon the Yankee Smokehouse in West Ossisippi. Excellent cue.

Funny you should mention KC BBQ, I was also just in San Diego and ate their. Pretty good. Their onion rings are probably the most fatty deep fried rings I've ever had... they were great! Sausage was quite different .. but good. Brisket was quite good. Some scene from "Top Gun" was filmed there....

Having just watched the great Bamaque cookoff from Mobile it brought back many memories of Alabama BBQ. Haven't found anything close to it since leaving Alabama in 1962 except what I cook myself. Babybacks and pork shoulders cooked with sauce on from the beginning. In fact at one point I gave some thought to starting my own BBQ cafe modeled after "Chessers BBQ" in Fairfield, Al.
This topic is making me hungary, I have a BBQ pork shoulder for dinner tonight. Along with corn on the cob and watermelon, what could be better?
Bob

I would vote for Cooper's in Llano, TX. Great place!!

Otto's in Houston Texas. Brisket that falls off the fork . . .

I live in Seattle now and so far haven't found any good bbq here (seems like thick ketchup-based sauces, a little bit of Pulled pork and lots of Beef brisket passes for bbq in the Pacific NW ...now, that just isn't considered bbq where I'm from.) I grew up in eastern North Carolina where everyone knows that BBQ is Chopped PORK, not pulled or sliced pork.... and Absolutely NO, and I do mean NO... beef or ketchup are allowed on the premises! Try the "Barbecue Hut" in Fayetteville, NC just off I-95 or "Wilber's Barbecue" in Goldsboro for some authentic eastern NC bbq.