RICHMOND, Va. — There’s more than one bone of contention in the great finger-lickin’ barbecue debate. Pork or beef? Vinegar- or tomato-based sauce? No sauce — or maybe something mustard-based? Travel site TripAdvisor has waded into hotly contested territory with a list of the best BBQ restaurants in the United States.
Not a one of the top 10 restaurants is in Tennessee, North Carolina or South Carolina. Blasphemy? Maybe. But hold on to your judgments; TripAdvisor also ranked the top 10 states for BBQ and all three of those smoking barbecue states make that list.
The review site created its top 10 list for restaurants by looking at barbecue joints with a minimum of 100 reviews and ranked them based on the volume and quality of reviews. More weight was given to reviews written within the past year, and chains with more than 10 locations were excluded.
Top barbecue restaurants in the United States
Joe’s BBQ in Blue Ridge, Georgia, topped the list. “The pork and ribs are the standouts. Both were tender and packed with flavor, and smoked perfectly,” said one TripAdvisor reviewer.
Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que in Kansas City, Kansas, and Bogart’s Smokehouse in St. Louis ranked second and third. Also in the top 10 were three BBQ joints in Florida.
“The Sunshine State is certainly a hotspot for mouthwatering southern ‘cue. Reuben’s, Captain’s and Buck’s have all earned 4.5 out of 5 bubbles on TripAdvisor and have received hundreds of reviews from the community,” said TripAdvisor spokeswoman Julie Cassetina.
Here are the top 10 BBQ restaurants for 2015, according to TripAdvisor:
1. Joe’s BBQ — Blue Ridge, Georgia
2. Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que — Kansas City, Kansas
3. Bogart’s Smokehouse — St. Louis
4. Reuben’s Smokehouse — Fort Myers, Florida
5. Andy Nelson’s Southern Pit BBQ — Cockeysville, Maryland
6. Captain’s BBQ — Palm Coast, Florida
7. HogsHead Café — Richmond, Virginia
8. Buck’s Smokehouse — Destin, Florida
9. Franklin Barbecue — Austin, Texas
10. Pappy’s Smokehouse — St. Louis
HogsHead Café
Yes, that’s right Richmond’s own HogsHead Café made the list. Tucked in a nondescript West End strip mall, the honor came as an unexpected show to owner Kim Logue.
“It’s very overwhelming and exciting. We’re proud of our product,” Logue said. “I’d like to thank all those good patrons [who left reviews] and regular guests. It’s the best form of flattery.”
Logue said HogsHead Café is different from most barbecue restaurants in that each meat they smoke (pork, chicken, brisket, etc.) is smoked with a different type of wood.
“Our thing is good quality, scratch-made food,” Logue said. “People are very finicky about their barbecue. They will tell you what they like and what they don’t like.”
HogsHead Café opened in 2011 at 9503 West Broad Street in Henrico’s West End.
Best states for barbecue
TripAdvisor evaluated the best states for barbecue separately, by looking at the volume of reviews and the quality of ratings for barbecue restaurants. The site also looked at the total number and percentage of restaurants in each state that were classified as BBQ establishments and put more weigh on reviews written in the past year.
Using those criteria, Tennessee is the No. 1 state for BBQ.
Here’s the full list of the best states for expertly smoked meats:
1. Tennessee
2. Texas
3. Missouri
4. North Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Florida
7. South Carolina
8. California
9. Virginia
10. New York
