If you go anywhere in the southeast, every town claims they have the best barbecue in the nation. I mean… Every. Single. Town.
But today, a map of the cities with the best barbecue went viral on the internet, and needless to say, there has been some crying and gnashing of teeth. And deservedly so.
The map lists New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and Charlotte as the top three best barbecue cities in the nation. Followed by cities like Newark (huh?) Miami (huh?) and Seattle (WTF?).
That map was originally published by Chef’s Pencil:
And I’ll go ahead and tell you right now, I’ve had Charlotte barbecue, and it has nothing on The Smokin’ Pig in Pendleton, SC….
But hey, that’s my hometown bias coming outta me.
Parker McCollum even had some choice words for the map, as he swears up and down that Austin barbecue is undefeated, and it didn’t even make the list.
No love for the entire STATE of Texas, one of the PREMIERE places for BBQ in the country, no love for Memphis, another PREMIERE spot, Kansas City… who in their right mind would publish this list?
I don’t know what kind of algorithm, or votes casted it took to make this thing, but needless to say, they missed the mark by a little bit. Clearly people rating BBQ in Seattle don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.
Also, this is why we probably shouldn’t trust TripAdvisor for anything…
Even people living in these cities couldn’t understand it.
The fact that Memphis nor Nashville are on this list but Charlotte is, is an immediate red flag for me
— Liz Stegeman (@Liz_Stegeman) May 13, 2021
NC has good BBQ, but Charlotte, eh…
— Stacey Herring (@MsStacey1111) May 13, 2021
Newark folks the only ones trying to defend it with their Portuguese BBQ…
Newark has the best BBQ in the country… Portuguese, Brazilian, Korean, Jamaican, and even southern BBQ. Better then any spot in the south
— Patrick (@primetime_pat90) May 13, 2021
Virginia Beach? I lived there for 25 years, I can count on one hand resturants that even have BBQ on the menu. Drove to the Outer banks all the time just to get decent NC BBQ.
— Tracy Martin (@WeebitIrish1964) May 13, 2021
First off, anything above the Mason-Dixon line gots ta go! Next….. who on Earth would leave Texas off this map?! Third….Seattle who?!
— Get at me dawg… (@Lightripper) May 13, 2021
I’m from Wichita and can confirm this is very inaccurate. 😂
— J.J. (@greegor28) May 13, 2021
Especially the part where Charlotte is on there but there’s no reference to Lexington or Eastern NC BBQ.
— Ed Moye (@ARivalHotep) May 13, 2021
And if you haven’t seen Chef’s Table: BBQ… I HIGHLY recommend it.
