Kevin's BBQ Joints

America loves lists. I don’t know what it is about them, but it seems that people like to put everything into a tidy little batch of something that can be studied and either agreed upon or torn completley apart. When it comes to the BBQ world, lists are almost synonymous with wood, heat, smoke, and fire.

I stubbled across this one today from the San Marcos Local News. Looks like they widdled their list of 10 down to 5 for the final article.

Here are their top five:
Milt’s Pit BBQ
Inman’s Kitchen in Llano
Ronnie’s (Ice House BBQ) in Johnson City
Mann’s in Austin
Cooper’s in Llano.

What are you favorite Central Texas BBQ Joints that they missed?

The University News in Kansas City did a piece on the top 10 oldest BBQ joints in KC. Here’s their list in decending order:

#10 – B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ – 1990
#9 – Smokehouse Bar-B-Que – 1987
#8 – Zarda BarBQ & Catering Co. – 1976
#7 – Hayward’s Pit Bar B Que – 1972
#6 – Winslow’s BBQ – 1971
#5 – Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque – 1957
#4 – Woodyard Bar-B-Que – 1955
#3 – Gates Bar-B-Q – 1946
#2 – Rosedale Bar B Q – 1934
#1 – Arthur Bryant’s – Early 1920s

It’s amazing to consider that Arthur Bryant’s is almost 90 years old and the fact that these restaurants haven’t changed much over the years, but still command the love and respect from their patrons.

You can check out the article here

bon appetit is big on the top 10 list (and even 20), but when they decided to hit the new bbq joint list I was all ears…or is that eyes…whatever it is, I was into it.

Photograph by Roy Ritchie

OK. The pic above doesn’t feel traditional, but their list is a rather strong one as far as newcomers (still, can you pick out which one (or two) of these kids below is doing there own thing?).

Stacy’s Smokehouse BBQ – Phoenix, AZ
Bulldog Barbecue – Miami, FL
Rolling Bones BBQ – Atlanta, GA
The Joint - New Orleans, LA
Zingerman’s Roadhouse – Ann Arbor, MI
Fette Sau – Brooklyn, NY
Formaggio Kitchen – Cambridge, MA
Slows Bar BQ – Detroit, MI
The Pit – Raleigh, NC
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint – Nolensville, TN

If you get the chance, check out Andrew Knowlton’s other work for bon appetit. Good stuff (just not all BBQ), especially the one on chili joints.

Top Ten Lists are all the rage these days and Gayot seems to be one of the masters as a good portion of their site is dedicated to lists of ten in hundreds of categories.

Here’s their BBQ Joint list:

1) City Market – Luling, TX
2) Daisy May’s BBQ – NYC
3) Everett & Jones Barbeque – Oakland, CA
4) Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue – Kansas City, MO
5) Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q – Atlanta, GA
6) Full Moon Bar-B-Que – Hoover, AL
7) Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse – Cincinnati, OH
8) Smoque BBQ – Chicago, IL
9) Urban Bar-B-Cue Company – Rockville, MD
10) Zeke’s Smokehouse – Montrose, CA

There are some great ones on this list, but as you can clearly see, they left out some big ones.