I had heard for a while now that Southern Hospitality BBQ wanted to expand past their NYC and Hell’s Kitchen locations, but didn’t realize that Denver, Colorado would be the next stop. Per this story in the Denver Post, the new location with be in the historic St. Elmo hotel in Lower Downtown (LODO) and they are looking an October opening.

From the article, “The original restaurant , which opened in 2007 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, as well as its 2011 Hell’s Kitchen successor are both models for the 30-store franchise roll-out agenda.” Interesting to see where the next locations will be. Have you been to a Southern Hospitality BBQ before? What are your thoughts?

Here is where the LODO location will be:

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I kind of pride myself on knowing about a new BBQ Joint before anyone else (or at least among my immediate friends), but this one slipped through the cracks big time for me. Randolph’s Smoke House, nestled east of Inglewood and north of Compton is a already a gem (only over a year old) and a joint that I am dying to head out and try one of these weekends.

Photo courtesy of Yelp

Per LA Weekly, you may recognize owner Stephen Randolph from his recent job as owner of Chambers Shine Parlor and Shoe Repair. Seems he just followed his passion for BBQ and turned the kitchen next door to his business a BBQ Joint.

Photo courtesy of LA Weekly

From the LA Weekly article, “Once those heady fumes of smoke and meat have bombarded your senses, ordering anything less than a half-rack is nearly impossible. Randolph’s spareribs might be the most intense in town — sinewy bows of pig covered in a peppery black bark, gnarled by smoke until the layers of tender flesh have been cured as pink as an Ozark ham. Randolph swears against salt in his barbecue — it’s the salt, he proselytizes, that keeps the smoke from reaching total saturation. A week later you are elated to find that the sweatshirt you wore that day is still imbued with the sharp tang of hickory.”

Photo courtesy of Yelp

The article continues, ” There are smoked half chickens, thinly sliced tri-tip sandwiches, a rather decent beef link, and whole smoked tilapia on weekends, but to order any of them might be missing the point. You want those pork ribs: rubbed with spices, bathed in smoke and sauce, served in lean meaty strips or chopped up into thumb-sized rib tips, hunks of hog that spend an extra hour or two in the smoker until their stratum of gristle and fat collapses into edible bliss.”

Photo courtesy of LA Weekly

Really nice to hear of another quality BBQ Joint in Los Angeles. I’ll let you know my thoughts (and take tons of pics) after I visit. Please let me know if you’ve been and what your thoughts were.

Check it out yourself here:

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Just was forwarded this article by Tan Vinh of the Seattle Times on a new BBQ Joint in Seattle, Washington called Bitterroot BBQ.

Photo courtesy of Daily Candy

Tan Vinh writes, “What to write home about: The buttery strips of beef brisket, with the fat glistening, were juicy and tender. Don’t you dare cut off that slab of fat. Two sides that stand out: the sweet and spongy apple-pretzel stuffing and the salty fries. The pork belly ($14), cured and smoked, is one of your cheaper meat options. Some cornbread with honey butter goes well with that.”

Photo courtesy of Dan I – Yelp

Vinh continues, “Summing up: An order of mac ‘n’ cheese, a pulled-pork sandwich and two entrees of briskets and pork belly with four sides, enough to feed three people, totaled $49. The bill is higher than at other barbecue joints in the city. Food, though, is more polished, the quality of the meat better.”

Photo courtesy of Justin – Urbanspoon

I’m seeing more and more ‘high-end’ BBQ joints cropping up in major cities across the United States. I’m a little hesitant to drop a good amount of money on a dinner (BBQ or otherwise) since I’ve been burned so often by expensive meals that left me completely unsatisfied and worse yet, hungry. It appears Bitterroot BBQ has their act together and the price tag is worth it. Would love to know if you’ve been there yet and what your thoughts are.

Follow them on twitter HERE
Check them out on facebook HERE

Read the entire piece HERE

See Bitterroot BBQ yourself here:

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Here’s a nice piece by Annie Drabicky from Community Impact Newspaper on Milt’s Pit BBQ in Kyle, Texas.

Photo courtesy of Annie Drabicky

My favorite quotes from the article are, “Milt’s also offers three types of sausage—jalapeño, a more traditional Polish version and rings from Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Milt’s will go through about 1,500 pounds of meat per week, as well as 75–100 loaves of bread and countless pots of homemade sides that include beans, coleslaw, potato salad, green beans made from a recipe from Thurlkill’s mother and more.”

Have you been to Milt’s before? What are your thoughts?

Read the entire piece HERE

Check out Milt’s Pit BBQ here:

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Here’s a great video from Tribeza entitled “Behind the Scenes with Central Texas BBQ Kingpins” featuring John Mueller of JMueller BBQ, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue, Shane Stiles of Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, and Scott Roberts of The Salt Lick. I’d like to make a witty comment or two, but the video pretty much speaks for itself. Enjoy.

What do you think of the video? Have you been to these (4) locations? Which one is your favorite?

Got a chance to head over to see my friend Neil Strawder of Bigmista’s Barbecue on Tuesday at the Sherman Oaks Farmers Market. I got the Bigmista Plate along with a few additional items.

Neil smiling per usual

Hot link and Brisket

Pork Rib and pulled pork

Rib-Eye

Turkey

Pulled chicken

Another shot of the pulled pork

His food was spot on as usual. Loved the pulled pork and brisket. The pulled chicken was definitely a unique way to serve it and had a nice, somewhat spicy (yet used lightly to coat) sauce that added to the richness of the flavor. Note that his hot link is really on the spicy side so be sure to have a cold beverage handy. The only sides I tried (not photographed though) were the slaw and beans. The slaw is mellow with hints of pineapple and the beans have a husky flavor with a backbone of molasses. I realized, on my drive away, that I had forgotten to get BBQ sauce, but after about five bites of the meat I knew that his BBQ doesn’t require sauce at all.

You can visit him every Tuesday from 3PM to 8PM in Sherman Oaks here:

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You can see all of the locations he vends his BBQ at HERE

I am planning on revisiting The Bear Pit in Mission Hills, California in a couple of weeks since I haven’t eaten their ‘Missouri Style’ BBQ in about 20 years.

In the mean time I do want to share their high production commercial that is circling the airwaves in Los Angeles quite frequently as of late. I have no idea when it was initially filmed, but it seems to either be trying to be campy or is simply very corny. The kid at the end creeps me out big time for some reason. See it here:

You can see their menu HERE

For good or bad, there’s always the ‘follower count’ that people look at for Twitter. I’m always interested in how many followers one has, but it’s not the key factor as to whether I will follow someone or not. One’s popularity, when it comes to social media, isn’t always based on one’s real world popularity. Sometimes all it takes is jumping on something in it’s infancy, but to continue to develop a following, especially when it comes to Twitter, you have to consistently put out good content and of course interact with your follower base.

When it comes to followers on Twitter, under the large umbrella of BBQ, there’s the undisputed champion Pork Barrel BBQ (well over 31,000 followers) and everyone else, but out of curiosity, and my penchant for creating tasks that drain my time, I decided to create a monthly list of 47 of the top twitter users according to their number of followers (you’ll see that I included people who tweet about BBQ and BBQ joints as well as BBQ joint and products that are related).

If I have missed anyone (and I know that I have) that should be on this list, please post below or tweet me I’ll be sure to update and/or add them to the next list (note all follower numbers are current as of 4/18/12.

1. Pork Barrel BBQ – @porkbarrelbbq – 31,397 followers
2. Famous Dave’s – @Famous_Daves – 27,494 followers
3. Weber Grills – @WeberGrills – 22,765 followers
4. Scott Roberts – @ScottRoberts – 8,426 followers
5. J.C. Reid – @houston_foodie – 6,140 followers
6. Robb Walsh – @robbwalsh – 6,462 followers
7. Franklin Barbecue – @FranklinBbq – 5,671 followers
8. Daniel Vaughn – @BBQSnob – 5,462 followers
9. Stubb’s BBQ Sauce – @stubbsbbqsauce – 5,426 followers
10. Man Up: Tales of Texas BBQ – @ManUpTexasBBQ – 4,929 followers
11. Jim N Nick’s Bar-B-Q – @jimnnicksbbq – 4,585 followers
12. Adam Perry Lang – @AdamPerryLang – 4,578 followers
13. Jason Day – @BBQAddictsJason – 4,139 followers
14. Pig of the Month BBQ – @iheartbbq – 3,928 followers
15. Danielle Dimovski – @DivaQBBQ – 3,681 followers
16. BBQ Pitmasters – @BBQPitmasters – 3,664 followers
17. Meyer’s Sausage – @cuetopia – 3,331 followers
18. Gary Glen – @GaryGlen – 3,301 followers
19. Steven Raichlen – @sraichlen – 3,287 follower
20. Ray Lampe – @DrBBQ – 3,255 followers
21. Larry Gaian – @BBQGrail – 3,231 followers
22. Kevin’s BBQ Joints – @KevinsBBQJoints – 3,126 followers
23. Hill Country NYC – @HillCountryNY – 2,948 followers
24. Big Mistas BBQ – @BigMistasBBQ – 2,937 followers
25. Amy Mills – @17thstreetbbq – 2,865 followers
26. Big Green Egg – @BigGreenEggInc – 2,711 followers
27. Myron Mixon – @Lord_of_Q – 2,356 followers
28. Meathead Goldwyn – @ribguy – 2,275 followers
29. Big Butz BBQ Sauce – @BigButzBBQ – 2,481 followers
30. Peg Leg Porker – @PegLegPorker – 2,477 followers
31. Fox Bros Bar-B-Q – @foxbrosbbq – 2,345 followers
32. Jack Stack Barbecue – @jackstackbbq – 2,203 followers
33. Kingsford Charcoal – @TweetKingsford – 2,084 followers
34. BBQ Pro Shop – @BBQPro – 2,076 – followers
35. Martin’s BBQ Joint – @martinsbbq – 1,980 followers
36. Oklahoma Joe’s – @OklahomaJoesBBQ – 1,981 followers
37. Southern Soul Barbeque – @southernsoulbbq – 1,833 followers
38. hanneke – @hanneke158 – 1,816 followers
39. Spring St. Smoke House – @SpringStreetBBQ – 1,663 followers
40. Whiskey Bent BBQ – @WhiskeyBentBBQ – 1,644 followers
41. Fulmer – @Fulmer – 1,560 followers
42. Ronnie Halcomb – @smokinronnie – 1,585 followers
43. Lockhart Smokehouse – @DallasLockhart – 1,547 followers
44. Wilfred Reinke – @OshawaOgre – 1,455 followers
45. Dickeys Barbecue Pit – @Dickeys – 1,467 followers
46. JMueller BBQ – @JMuellerBBQ – 1,374 followers
47. Charlotte Gonzales – @PhatMattsBBQ – 1,367 followers
48. Grilling with Rich @GrillingWRich – 1,335 followers
49. Gettin’ Sauced – @GettinSauced – 1,313 followers

You know I’m a sucker for BBQ pics, and here are some great BBQ pics from Hays County Barbeque in San Marcos, Texas.

Have you been to Hays County Barbeque yet? What are your thoughts? What’s your favorite dish?

Follow them on facebook HERE

You can check out Hays County Barbeque yourself here:

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Ever since Eli’s BBQ opened in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 20th, I’ve been getting emails from readers saying I should check it out. Since my travels have not led me to Ohio, I’m glad Eli Samuel Johnson from City Beat has been able to visit to give us a review.

Photo Of Eli’s BBQ by Cameron Knight

Johnson writes owner “Elias “Eli” Leisring, who has been barbecuing for three years, now has a finely tuned barbeque recipe, one that he says has been compared to a Memphis-style sauce, that is being dished out with a fantastic choice of homemade sides and alternatives to the original pulled pork sandwich, such as rib tips and a hickory smoked turkey sandwich.”

He continues with his thoughts. “When it comes down to brass tacks, Eli’s is all about the food. The original pulled pork sandwich ($5) is the result of 18-20 hours of smoking and absolutely worth the wait. Served on a charred honey bun, smothered in Eli’s BBQ sauce and coleslaw, at your discretion of course, the sandwich is the standout on the menu. For an extra three bucks more, you can add two sides. The macaroni and cheese is rich and creamy, packed with love (and butter) while the jalapeno cornbread is as country as it gets: spicy, hearty and full”

Read the entire review HERE

Have you been to Eli’s yet? What are your thoughts? Your favorite dishes?

Check out Eli’s BBQ here:

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