Interesting BBQ map video

I saw that map yesterday: it’s wrong. It’s wrong the same way an outdated GPS in your car will steer you into the middle of a lake where you will feel the cold, dark water seeping in around you while you tell yourself “But the map said...!”, and you turn your face to the headliner to gasp whatever air is left while thinking “But Trip Adviser says it’s going to be OK!”. That kind of wrong.
 
JERSEY FOR THE WIN!!!!*


*yyyeah, tripadvisor, rrrriiiiiiiiiiighhtt. so from what I can tell, they search comments left by customers on their site, things like "I had the best bbq" and that's how they do their rankings.
 
That right there cracks me up!

Wichita? No Kansas City? St Lous?
 
eman1200 said:
JERSEY FOR THE WIN!!!!*


*yyyeah, tripadvisor, rrrriiiiiiiiiiighhtt. so from what I can tell, they search comments left by customers on their site, things like "I had the best bbq" and that's how they do their rankings.
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There's a sign in the Hard Rock Cafe in London that says, "God Bless Jackson, TN"

West TN BBQ. Pulled, smoked pork. Sauce as you like. - not chopped, not soaked. If you've had some that was cooked by a master, then you know.

Kansas City gets a huge shout out for having their own thing - amazing! Texas and Brisket. well. ok. North Carolina and the sauced-up, chopped up, sugar-loaded, manwich style.... ugh.

So - Texas, Kansas City, West TN. Everywhere else is just adapting what they've done.
 
Barbecue is incredibly regional to begin with. Sorry, eastern NC barbecue has little in common with Texas brisket or California tri-tip, aside from they're all meat that's slow cooked.

Comparing regional bbq is as silly as comparing regional pizza. Both NY and Chicago pizza are good, but they shouldn't be compared.

Further, joints with diverse bbq styles are interspersed in larger metropolitan areas. Hill Country BBQ is DC is good and warrants a 5 for DC, but would probably be a 3 if you compared it with restaurants in Lockhart TX.

Looking at combined ratings in a city is a completely pointless exercise (aside from generating clickbait).
 
I know this video has to be wrong. There are NO good BBQ places in Washington State - none, nix, zip, nada.
 
If it says BBQ on the sign hanging crooked from a run down shack, count me in. Doesn’t matter which city, I’ll give it a try. It might not be good, but I would like to decide for myself.
 
Brad Z said:
Barbecue is incredibly regional to begin with. Sorry, eastern NC barbecue has little in common with Texas brisket or California tri-tip, aside from they're all meat that's slow cooked.

Comparing regional bbq is as silly as comparing regional pizza. Both NY and Chicago pizza are good, but they shouldn't be compared.

Further, joints with diverse bbq styles are interspersed in larger metropolitan areas. Hill Country BBQ is DC is good and warrants a 5 for DC, but would probably be a 3 if you compared it with restaurants in Lockhart TX.

Looking at combined ratings in a city is a completely pointless exercise (aside from generating clickbait).
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Thank you.
 
Matthew said:
If it says BBQ on the sign hanging crooked from a run down shack, count me in. Doesn’t matter which city, I’ll give it a try. It might not be good, but I would like to decide for myself.
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If it's a cooker in a gas station parking lot, it's also worth a try.
 
Texas has great beef BBQ....seems like the rest of the south has great Pork BBQ. Sauces vary from place to place as well....I will say, lately I like Alabama White but I like them all. Prefer more spicy ones lately, not so much sugary sauces. I will be crucified for saying this, but one of the best BBQ places i have eaten was in NYC on a business trip....i know, going straight to hell, but it was excellent and in my shocked state, i asked the waitress about the owner/chef and she said that he was from Memphis, TN, so southern moved to NYC.

I agree with the comment about run down places being the best...always the best no matter what food...burgers, BBQ, etc. The typical problem with big cities being named for great BBQ is that they often try to make the food too Fru Fru. "Would you like a side of white wine reduction beans and kale with your Ribs?" o_O
 
scarcherpilot said:
Texas has great beef BBQ....seems like the rest of the south has great Pork BBQ. Sauces vary from place to place as well....I will say, lately I like Alabama White but I like them all. Prefer more spicy ones lately, not so much sugary sauces. I will be crucified for saying this, but one of the best BBQ places i have eaten was in NYC on a business trip....i know, going straight to hell, but it was excellent and in my shocked state, i asked the waitress about the owner/chef and she said that he was from Memphis, TN, so southern moved to NYC.

I agree with the comment about run down places being the best...always the best no matter what food...burgers, BBQ, etc. The typical problem with big cities being named for great BBQ is that they often try to make the food too Fru Fru. "Would you like a side of white wine reduction beans and kale with your Ribs?" o_O
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Though wild hogs in Texas make for great BBQ, too.
 
I'm going to barbecue a beef tri tip on the grill with some chicken and serve it with white wine reduction okra tonight.

Okay I lied. I'm going to make cole slaw, but white wine reduction okra doesn't sound half bad.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I'm going to barbecue a beef tri tip on the grill with some chicken and serve it with white wine reduction okra tonight.

Okay I lied. I'm going to make cole slaw, but white wine reduction okra doesn't sound half bad.
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I had some wood fired grilled salmon last night. It was awesome.
 
Even the cities in the south are wrong. Charlotte is a Q wasteland. The epicenter of western NC barbecue is Lexington.
 
Brad Z said:
Barbecue is incredibly regional to begin with. Sorry, eastern NC barbecue has little in common with Texas brisket or California tri-tip, aside from they're all meat that's slow cooked.

Comparing regional bbq is as silly as comparing regional pizza. Both NY and Chicago pizza are good, but they shouldn't be compared.

Further, joints with diverse bbq styles are interspersed in larger metropolitan areas. Hill Country BBQ is DC is good and warrants a 5 for DC, but would probably be a 3 if you compared it with restaurants in Lockhart TX.

Looking at combined ratings in a city is a completely pointless exercise (aside from generating clickbait).
Click to expand...
Texas Jack's in Arlington (VA) compares pretty well to Hill Country BBQ even if the waiter did look at me funny when I asked whether they had Big Red.
 
luvflyin said:
Dayum. I thought I was brave defending Washington. I pale to your Valor having the Huevos to bring California into this.
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As #16 out of 50 in cattle production, why would it be surprising California can have good bbq?
 
wsuffa said:
Texas Jack's in Arlington (VA) compares pretty well to Hill Country BBQ even if the waiter did look at me funny when I asked whether they had Big Red.
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Texas Jack is currently our go to place. I think hill country might have a slight edge on TJ for brisket, but TJ has a better overall menu.

Myron Mixon's in Old Town used to be good for the first year after it opened, but has since changed hands (and has very little to do with its namesake).
 
Sac Arrow said:
As #16 out of 50 in cattle production, why would it be surprising California can have good bbq?
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California may have good bbq ingredients, but it lacks the provenance that the Midwest and the south have for good barbecue. The bbq culture of the south developed around former slaves who perfected the cooking of undesirable cuts of meats, while the mid-west and Texas benefited from poor German immigrant sausage makers setting up shop. Add in Native Americans who smoked food to preserve, and BBQ is a reflection of American history...it created a diverse culturally significant culinary traditions.

California is a relative newcomer to the BBQ scene.
 
I'm gonna say this argument is a bit like social justice. There are many individually good barbeque joints, and plenty of junk ones in any region. That said, there are a lot higher percentage of good ones in Texas in my experience.
 
Brad Z said:
California may have good bbq ingredients, but it lacks the provenance that the Midwest and the south have for good barbecue. The bbq culture of the south developed around former slaves who perfected the cooking of undesirable cuts of meats, while the mid-west and Texas benefited from poor German immigrant sausage makers setting up shop. Add in Native Americans who smoked food to preserve, and BBQ is a reflection of American history...it created a diverse culturally significant culinary traditions.

California is a relative newcomer to the BBQ scene.
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Yeah. But the best of em took Horace Greeley’s advice and went out West:biggrin:
 
luvflyin said:
Not quite the point I was makin. I was just tryin to rile up the peoples republic of kalifornia crowd.
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I'm not from California, so it's hard to get me worked up.
 
Brad Z said:
California may have good bbq ingredients, but it lacks the provenance that the Midwest and the south have for good barbecue. The bbq culture of the south developed around former slaves who perfected the cooking of undesirable cuts of meats, while the mid-west and Texas benefited from poor German immigrant sausage makers setting up shop. Add in Native Americans who smoked food to preserve, and BBQ is a reflection of American history...it created a diverse culturally significant culinary traditions.

California is a relative newcomer to the BBQ scene.
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Perhaps. But two words. Tri tip. Like, totally dude. Time to surf brah.
 
Brad Z said:
Texas Jack is currently our go to place. I think hill country might have a slight edge on TJ for brisket, but TJ has a better overall menu.

Myron Mixon's in Old Town used to be good for the first year after it opened, but has since changed hands (and has very little to do with its namesake).
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We may end up running across each other at TJ sometime. I avoid downtown, so it's either TJ or Liberty BBQ in Falls Church for us. If we make a field trip, I do like to stop at Bonnie Blue in Winchester.
 
If you get Netflix, check out this series:


Snow’s, in Lexington, TX and Rodney Scott’s in Charleston, SC are two places I would like to check out. But it might be too late now that they have become so famous.

The love of the game is what makes good BBQ.
 
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