MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Nationally --and internationally-- Memphis is known for Elvis, FedEx, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, but apparently not barbecue, even as the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest now is in full swing at Tom Lee Park in downtown Memphis.
According to Chef’s Pencil, not only is Memphis not in the top 5 best cities for BBQ in the United States, it comes in ranked number 47. The Memphis Grizzlies made their feelings about it known on Twitter.
It’s May and for Americans, that means it’s National Barbecue Month. Founded in 1963 by the Barbecue Council, National Barbecue Month celebrates this favored pastime that has become deeply rooted in American culture.
Few other topics generate as much fierce debate as the humble BBQ. How to make a great BBQ or where to enjoy the best in the country can quickly spiral into a very heated conversation.
Knowing these debates will flame around the grill in the coming weeks, we turned to TripAdvisor to find out which cities are the best for enjoying a fantastic BBQ. We analyzed TripAdvisor ratings of all BBQ joints in the nation’s top 75 largest cities and ranked the cities based on their average rating.
We also ranked the cities by the number of BBQ places per capita, as well as those with the highest number of top-rated BBQ places (rating 4.5 and higher).
Overall, our team has analyzed 2,020 places offering BBQ on their menu that had at least 5 reviews. From the final rankings, we excluded cities with less than 10 BBQ restaurants within their city limits (BBQ joints outside the city limits were not included in our analysis.)
New Orleans (1st) and Oklahoma City (2nd) rank as the best cities for BBQ in America.
With a score of 4.25, Charlotte, Wichita, and Virginia Beach tie in 3rd spot.
Anchorage, Plano, and Boston rank as the worst cities for BBQ in America.
Among the nation’s largest 75 cities, Orlando, St. Louis, and Honolulu have the most BBQ joints per capita.
Chicago, Los Angeles, and Austin are the cities with the highest number of top-rated BBQ joints (rated 4.5 stars and higher).
San Antonio, Houston, and Memphis have the highest number of low-rated BBQ joints (rated 3 stars and lower).
Blue Door Smokehouse in Lexington, Kentucky is the best BBQ restaurant in the nation, being the most reviewed 5-star rated BBQ joint.
Wichita and Columbus are the top-rated cities in the Midwest.
Seattle and Portland are the top-rated cities in the West.
Newark is the best place to enjoy a barbecue in the North East.
With an average customer rating of 4.31 (out of 5), New Orleans ranks as America’s top BBQ city, followed closely by BBQ powerhouse Oklahoma City. The third spot is a perfect tie among Wichita, Charlotte, and Virginia Beach.
New Orleans has not always been a mecca for BBQ lovers, but the local BBQ scene is now highly competitive, according to local restaurant critic Brett Anderson. And this hasn’t gone unnoticed. With just one exception, all BBQ joints in the city received high marks (4 and above) from customers. The Joint and BB King’s Blues Club are two of the local favorites with over 1,000 reviews averaging a score of 4.5 (out of 5).
Oklahoma City needs no presentation, as it’s well known for some of the best BBQ in the country. All but two of the 33 BBQ joints listed on TripAdvisor got high scores, including a couple of restaurants with a perfect 5-star rating.
Wichita is a foodie paradise and BBQ is one of its trademark foods. The city’s restaurants average a score of 4.25, ranks just below Oklahoma City (4.26) and well ahead of state rival Kansas City (score 4.04). It’s one of the safest bets in the country for eating out, as all but one of its BBQ restaurants got great ratings (4 and above).
Charlotte has made leaps in the BBQ game in the past few years and patrons couldn’t agree more. With an average rating of 4.25, Charlotte ties with Wichita and Virginia Beach for the 3rd best city for BBQ in the US. It ranks well ahead of local rivals Raleigh (score 4.0) and Greensboro (score 3.95).
Midwood Smokehouse and Mac’s Speed Shop are two of Charlotte’s favorite BBQ joints with over 1,400 reviews each and an average rating of 4.5.
Not that long ago, Virginia was one of the nation’s greatest BBQ destinations, says Joe Haynes, author of Virginia Barbecue. According to TripAdvisor, it should go back on the list, as Virginia Beach ranks 3rd in the nation for the best-rated BBQ joints. All but one of the local BBQ places got reviews of 4 and more (out of 5), which means you pretty much can’t go wrong when having a BBQ in Virginia Beach.
It’s not that you can’t find great BBQ in places like Anchorage, Plano, Boston or San Antonio, but you really need to choose well or you may not like what you get. In Anchorage and Plano, you are more likely to step into an average BBQ restaurant than into a great one, as there are more places rated 3.5 stars and below than there are places rated 4 stars and above. In Boston the odds are on your side, but not by much.
San Antonio and Houston are surprising entries among the worst cities for BBQ in the nation. Both cities are well known for their amazing food culture, which may have something to do with this bad overall rating.
The two cities have some of the highest numbers of BBQ places in the nation: Houston is actually first while San Antonio is 3rd. You can have incredible BBQ in both Houston and San Antonio, evidenced by the high number of highly-rated BBQ places – 67 in Houston and 50 in San Antonio. But there are also quite a lot of low to average-rated places too. More choice doesn’t always mean better choice, so do your research beforehand.
The density of BBQ restaurants in a city reveals quite a lot about the local BBQ culture. Sure, it also helps to have tens of millions of tourists every year that help support a high number of restaurants, but tourism alone was not the deciding factor for our rankings.
With one BBQ restaurant for every 5,325 inhabitants, Orlando ranks first, followed by St. Louis with one BBQ restaurant for every 6,500 locals. This is perhaps not at all surprising as St. Louis is said to consume more barbecue sauce per capita than any other city in the nation.
Top tourist spots Honolulu and Las Vegas rank 3rd and 4th, while Nashville and Memphis, both famous for their BBQ culture, rank 5th and 6th.
Size does matter, but it’s not the only factor that helped these cities get to the top of the charts for the highest number of top-rated BBQ restaurants, defined as restaurants with an average rating of 4.5 stars and higher.
Chicago had 31 top-rated BBQ restaurants, Los Angeles 30, while Austin came in third with 29, ahead of Nashville and Houston.
There are many restaurants with a perfect 5 rating, so we used the number of reviews as a differentiating factor. Consistency in offering a top-level service and high-quality food is after all the key in succeeding in the highly competitive restaurant industry.
Blue Door Smokehouse in Lexington, Kentucky is the best BBQ restaurant in the nation, being the most reviewed 5-star rated BBQ joint. Konan’s BBQ in Tampa, FL ranks as the second-best BBQ restaurant in the nation, while Niwa Japanese BBQ in Dallas, TX comes in 3rd.
Methodology
We analyzed TripAdvisor ratings of all BBQ joints in the nation’s top 75 largest cities and ranked the cities based on their average rating.
We also ranked the cities by the number of BBQ places per capita, as well as those with the highest number of top-rated BBQ places (rating 4.5 and higher).
Overall, our team has analyzed 2,020 places offering BBQ on their menu that had at least 5 reviews. From the final rankings, we excluded cities with less than 10 BBQ restaurants within their city limits (BBQ joints outside the city limits were not included in our analysis.)