It took me a while to come around on NC BBQ. It was tough to get used to the vinegar and the first place I had it wasn't very good. Now I like it. My favorites are:

Hog Heaven - Durham, NC

Bob's BBQ - Creedmore, NC

Parker's BBQ - Wilson, NC

Try Mack Kells for pulled pork if you are in Asheville. Not a typical BBQ joint at all. A bar with pub grub specializing in wings, that happens to have pulled pork perfected.

They are really stretching the meaning of BBQ by including pork and sauces. It's cute and all, but they are the proverbial beans in a true BBQ chili: not necessary.

There isn't, really. It's not a recognized region of its own, per se.

People love or hate the ultrathin St. Louis pizza. We have a place in KC that serves it (Waldo Pizza, a very pro-St. Louis establishment in general) and I like it once in a while. But it seems cheap and easy to make - not really a pizza style that one would consider as a serious category like Chicago pizza.

St. Louis will always be an Italian food town to me...not sure if anything will change my mind on that. (As in, good restaurants with full Italian menus...not pizzerias.)

I see Texas has arrived...

Inspired by this thread I went out for BBQ today at The Q Shack, a Texas style BBQ joint in Durham. Had smoked jalapeno and cheddar sausage, potato salad, onion rings and hush puppies and two beers. Now THAT'S a lunch!

I'm going to have to disagree with that. I've found that pulled pork is the easiest to do well. Even mediocre pulled pork is tasty and quite edible. Bad brisket, on the other hand, is horrendous.

Even here in TX, pulled pork is the safest BBQ bet. While brisket is certainly king here in TX, few places actually consistently get it right. There is tons of bad brisket on offer all over this state.


Absolutely. I would never compare across different styles. They are entirely different things, each wonderful for their own reasons.

Back to Texas BBQ though, this may be heresy but I am going to suggest taking a pass on it unless you really know the place. There is just so much bad brisket around these days that the odds favor something ranging from disappointment to getting something nearly inedible.

As for a few Texas BBQ joints that are worth the trip. My favorite BBQ places in the state, in no particular order, are:

Pecan Lodge in Dallas (brisket is consistently phenomenal, beef ribs less so than at Louie Mueller)

Black's in Lockhart (while it seems to get less publicity, Black's gets my pick among the Big Three of Lockhart; I've been disappointed by both Kreuz and Smitty's)

Louie Mueller in Taylor (beef rib!!!)

One of my usual haunts is The Pit over in Raleigh. The BBQ is good and it has a nice sit down atmosphere but the food is still really cheap. Plus, great beer selection AND the food comes out incredibly quickly.

http://www.thepit-raleigh.com/

This question has no answer.

We just randomly met a couple who live in the same small North Carolina town we did 30 years ago. Within 15 minutes we were passionately discussing the relative merits of the two BBQ places owned by brothers in the small town that to outsiders would be indistinguishable. It was clear that we were not going to be able to come to consensus.

BBQ is a very personal matter.

I could have written that myself. I can't see the appeal of Kreuz
and Smitty's. On the other hand, last month at Black's I asked
for moist brisket, and the girl sold me some overcooked nonsense
that even to visually handicapped me looked dubious, and when
challenged, she said, oh, it's really marbled. So I took it, and lo
and behold my tired eyes hadn't misled me. Giving them full
marks, though, I cut the line and complained, and some guy cut
me a full new order; the original went into the bin.

Do they have a booze license? When I was there a couple years
ago, not even beer. For that reason I would recommend Taylor
Cafe down the street, if Vencil Mares is still alive - but ask for
the sauce on the side.

By the way, I found a new favorite to put in the pantheon with
Black's, Franklin, Snow's, and the Ironworks - Two Brothers in
of all places San Antonio; this might be the best of all if you
like heavy smoke and a salty bark.

Ironworks? Really? I'm surprised to see that mentioned along with those others. It's been probably 5+ years since my last visit, and while it wasn't terrible, IIRC, it was far from the top echelon.

They get high marks for their beef ribs, but everything else is pretty much "meh".

I have had the opportunity to visit Black's on several occasions (when making trips from Austin down to Victoria) and have always had fantastic meals. It's the best BBQ I have had and it's consistently good. Hopefully the place doesn't change.

Thinking of Black's, and the 8 degree whether this morning makes me want to do a road trip to Austin.

Vencil's joint at Taylor Cafe is some of the most disappointing brisket i've had in my life. Gray like a winter sky and dry like the sonoran desert.

Louie's was my favorite. Sure Franklins is top notch but i'm to jaded to put up with 3 hours standing in line for anything.

Recently had some Pecan Lodge and both their brisket and beef ribs were phe-nom-enal. Pork ribs did the trick, too

I travel to Austin every 2-3 months for work, and always head to Rudy's since it's close to our office.

We sent someone out to stand in line at Franklin's once, and it was a 3 hour wait. The brisket was definitely good, but 3 hours is just too long to wait.