Best bbq in the south

Squanchy

Squanchy

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So I was pretty pumped this morning my wife sent me a link - southern living has ranked top 50 bbq restaurants in the south. 8 of them are from NC. I look at the list and haven't had a single thing from one of these NC top 8.

I find the actual 50 list and I've only ate at one of them. #22 southern soul bbq in St Simons. Honestly it didn't even make my personal top 5.

What say yall? Is the list jacked up?

Southern living list

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Squanchy said:
@Geezer have you been to any of these places in Texas?
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I haven't been to any of the ones on the list nor any of the large, touristy BBQ joints here. Good BBQ is pretty easy to come by here and I prefer the smaller mom n pop places. They are all over the place and even have trailers set up to serve people.

Rudy's BBQ is a smaller chain that is mainly in the Southwest. There are none in my small town but, they are in Houston and Katy. I always try to go when I'm over there. Their brisket and jalapeno sausage is great. I tried their ribs once and was underwhelmed. They were good but, I can do better myself. I just stick to the brisket and sausage now.

Lumberton is the next town over from us and there is a Goings BBQ there. They do an awesome job and it is a treat to watch the guy slice the brisket. It is not sliced until you order it and he slices it in front of you. He's quick as lightning and every slice is identical in thickness, a treat to see him slice it.

Big Frank's BBQ in Liberty, about 45 minutes away, is good, too. And, as the sign says, "Swine Dining".

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Geezer said:
I haven't been to any of the ones on the list nor any of the large, touristy BBQ joints here. Good BBQ is pretty easy to come by here and I prefer the smaller mom n pop places. They are all over the place and even have trailers set up to serve people.

Rudy's BBQ is a smaller chain that is mainly in the Southwest. There are none in my small town but, they are in Houston and Katy. I always try to go when I'm over there. Their brisket and jalapeno sausage is great. I tried their ribs once and was underwhelmed. They were good but, I can do better myself. I just stick to the brisket and sausage now.

Lumberton is the next town over from us and there is a Goings BBQ there. They do an awesome job and it is a treat to watch the guy slice the brisket. It is not sliced until you order it and he slices it in front of you. He's quick as lightning and every slice is identical in thickness, a treat to see him slice it.

Big Frank's BBQ in Liberty, about 45 minutes away, is good, too. And, as the sign says, "Swine Dining".

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My mom lived in Spring; my sister lived in The Woodlands. There was a chain, the name of which I cannot recall, that was pretty good. Of course 'their' BBQ was beef, but I never bought into the beef vs pork fight, I thought it was pretty good. We did go to some of the mom-and-pop joints and really never had a bad experience.
 
The correct answer has been posted.


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elmostump said:
Only one I can say is jacked up is Stamey‘s, I can‘t believe that Stamey’s makes anyones top list. Particularly in the Greensboro area, there is much better BBQ in the area. I have to assume it‘s the namesake longivety.🤷‍♂️
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I'm glad to see the validation since I was unimpressed.
 
Get Off My Lawn said:
I prefer The Broken Spit in Siler City over Prime in Knightdale.
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We tried the broken spit. Food was bland as hell. We got the sampler, large selection of bland meat with no seasoning and 8 different sauces to cover up the blandness of the meat. The ribs were the best thing and that was because they came out covered in sauce. Hard not to be critics when everything we cook at home tastes better.
 
Lexington BBQ is garbage. It isn’t even the best in the city. Speedys is 100x better and not far up the road. BBQ Center is decent but more for desserts and sides than the BBQ. Tarheel Q on 64 heading towards Mocksville or Backcountry BBQ in Linwood are much better than the 2 in Lexington that made their list.
 
Broken spit has gone downhill lately in my opinion it was really good when it first opened but last few times meat have been really dry.

Only have gone to the smoke pit (pictures) in Salisbury once but it was some of the best bbq I've had in the area. Been too poor to go back but I've been craving it. First time someone has asked me how I wanted my brisket. I like it fatty and greasy so they gave me a center section and gave my wife what looked like a piece towards the ends.

I enjoy chop bbq but I feel like anyone can make it if they have a quality sauce. Smoking meat that is sliced or served whole is where the real skill and detail work is needed.

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DCGallim said:
Lexington BBQ is garbage. It isn’t even the best in the city. Speedys is 100x better and not far up the road. BBQ Center is decent but more for desserts and sides than the BBQ. Tarheel Q on 64 heading towards Mocksville or Backcountry BBQ in Linwood are much better than the 2 in Lexington that made their list.
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Speedy's was my choice of all the places in and around Lexington.
 
Geezer said:
Speedy's was my choice of all the places in and around Lexington.
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I grew up in Clemmons going down there to eat.
Also the Mr. Barbecue on Peters Creel Parkway.
Speedy's was good during C19 when I stopped by, have not been to Mr. Barbecue in many years.
 
Squanchy said:
Broken spit has gone downhill lately in my opinion it was really good when it first opened but last few times meat have been really dry.

Only have gone to the smoke pit (pictures) in Salisbury once but it was some of the best bbq I've had in the area. Been too poor to go back but I've been craving it. First time someone has asked me how I wanted my brisket. I like it fatty and greasy so they gave me a center section and gave my wife what looked like a piece towards the ends.

I enjoy chop bbq but I feel like anyone can make it if they have a quality sauce. Smoking meat that is sliced or served whole is where the real skill and detail work is needed.

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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled is convincing people that Texas can do barbeque.
 
Very surprised to see Lexington BBQ listed. Stopped there after buying a truck awhile back. Portions were ridiculously small and nothing taste worthy to write home about.

The smokehouse in Southport should 100% be on that list though.
 
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I took one of my son’s to Lexington BBQ maybe 15 years ago when we were looking at schools over that way. First and last stop there. I don’t know how they can make any list anywhere.
 
I think these lists are written by National level people, who have probably never even been to the major places they list. They just heard about them. And they don’t write about other places because they don’t know the area. It’s just name recognition.
 
Pogue said:
Very surprised to see Lexington BBQ listed. Stopped there after buying a truck awhile back. Portions were ridiculously small and nothing taste worthy to write home about.

The smokehouse in Southport should 100% be on that list though.
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Never had anything bad at the Smokehouse! Planning a trip there very soon. 😍
 
The BBQ House on Oak Island and the Smoke House in Southport are mighty good if you are down this way. I just finished some a little while ago. The two listed in Ayden, Pete Jones and the one with the dome, are excellent. B's in Greenville is outstanding if you can get there before they run out of food.
 
CZfool68 said:
And is Missouri really in the South?
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Missouri is considered the MidWest right?

And typically in the south BBQ is pulled pork, if you’re cooking BBQ chicken, you call it BBQ chicken, ribs are called ribs (I’ve never had any unsauced so lol) and brisket is called BBQ (or Smoked) Brisket.

All that to say if they’re a native of the Carolinas or Georgia and they say they’re cooking BBQ or having a BBQ, the main “dish” is 99% of the time gonna be pulled/chopped pork, either the whole hog or Boston butt!
 
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CZfool68 said:
What kind of best barbecue? Whole hog, ribs, briskets, chicken, goat? That’s a very broad, general thing. Food writers and Best of’s usually are idiotic.

And is Missouri really in the South?
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It is not mentioned in The BBQ Song, which I consider to be canon.
 
fieldgrade said:
I took one of my son’s to Lexington BBQ maybe 15 years ago when we were looking at schools over that way. First and last stop there. I don’t know how they can make any list anywhere.
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I took @Chdamn one day. When we left he was like this is terrible. I told him you can at least say you’ve had the most over hyped bbq in NC now.
 
Bobby's BBQ in Fountain Inn, SC is pretty darn good. Tiny place, but darn good BBQ!

Our Roots — Bobby's BBQ & Seasoning

www.eatbobbys.com www.eatbobbys.com


Back in 2009, when I went to San Diego to work on a carrier there, I found what may be the best BBQ I've ever been to. I THINK it was Phil's BBQ in Point Loma. I'll have to ask around and see if anybody still here remembers it for sure.
 
Squanchy said:
So I was pretty pumped this morning my wife sent me a link - southern living has ranked top 50 bbq restaurants in the south. 8 of them are from NC. I look at the list and haven't had a single thing from one of these NC top 8.

I find the actual 50 list and I've only ate at one of them. #22 southern soul bbq in St Simons. Honestly it didn't even make my personal top 5.

What say yall? Is the list jacked up?

Southern living list

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I've eat at all these and I take off Lexington and add B's in G,ville NC
 
DCGallim said:
Lexington BBQ is garbage. It isn’t even the best in the city. Speedys is 100x better and not far up the road. BBQ Center is decent but more for desserts and sides than the BBQ. Tarheel Q on 64 heading towards Mocksville or Backcountry BBQ in Linwood are much better than the 2 in Lexington that made their list.
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I'll second that, waste of my time and money.
 
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