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The Best Barbecue Worth Traveling For

Rebecca Ruiz

  
  
 
There are a few tell-tale signs of first-class barbecue, according to Vince Staten, co-author of the book Real Barbecue.

A messy wood pile means the pitmaster regularly cooks over timber, giving the meat a delicious smokiness. If the joint is named after a person, then there's someone willing to stand behind the product. A cross-section of cars in the parking lot--say, a Mercedes, an old Chevy and an animal-control truck--means the whole town eats there. And if the sheriff's car is parked out front, look no further.

Spotting a good barbecue joint is actually the easy part. The hard part is beforehand, when deciding on a location for a barbecue pilgrimage. Barbecue country is big (encompassing states from Texas to Louisiana to North Carolina), which makes for a happy challenge since there are so many options to choose from.

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Staten, who first wrote Real Barbecue in 1988 and updated it last year, went on his own barbecue journey with co-author Greg Johnson. The pair sampled food at hundreds of joints over the course of a year, and the experience taught Staten a few lessons. "You really need to make a plan," he says. "If you don't, you'll be wandering all over."

Instead, Staten recommends that travelers in search of barbecue map a trail before heading out and plan on taking a day off from the food here and there. He also says it's permissible to leave some meals unfinished.

"If you drive yourself too hard," he says, "you don't enjoy the barbecue, and that's what the whole thing is about."

Less Defining, More Dining

Though easy to define, there are endless interpretations of barbecue. Pork is a popular choice, but other common barbecue meats include brisket, sausage, chicken and beef ribs. Hyper-local versions include mutton barbecue in Kentucky and cow's head barbecue in Texas.

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Given the many varieties, barbecue tourists should resist the temptation to categorize by region. Certain areas do have signature styles, but they can easily change depending on the joint and the pitmaster's own preferences.

"To define barbecue geographically is folly," says John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving Southern culinary heritage. "Every rule has six exceptions."

The Carolinas, for example, are known for their vinegar and mustard sauces. At Wilber's in Goldsboro, N.C., the pitmaster uses a whole hog and serves up the pulled pork with a simple sauce of vinegar and hot pepper. But at Lexington Barbecue, also in North Carolina, the tender meat from a pork shoulder is slathered in a tomato-based sauce that's often a bit thicker, which is more characteristic of style found in Kansas City, Mo.

So coming up with a personalized eating itinerary means investigating which styles you'd most like to sample. The Southern Foodways Alliance maintains a continuously updated barbecue trail on its Web site, which can help novices narrow down their choices.

Edge also recommends learning about the local lore. "To understand [Wilber's]," he says, "you need to understand the tradition of tobacco farming there and how [barbecue] feeds were thrown for people who would bring in the tobacco from the farm." Knowing these traditions, Edge says, makes the food taste better.

Favorites of the Connoisseurs

Kenny Callaghan, executive chef and partner at the New York barbecue restaurant Blue Smoke, took a year and a half long crash course in barbecue several years ago. Prior to opening Blue Smoke, Callaghan had no experience with the style, but he soon discovered a few favorites, including Allen & Son in Chapel Hill, N.C. and Southside Market & Barbecue in Elgin, Texas. Allen & Son is known for its hand-chopped pork shoulder with vinegar sauce, while Southside Market is famous for its spicy pork sausages and beef brisket.

Callaghan would probably be the first to admit that a long road trip isn't for everyone, however, and that a one- or two-day festival that showcases several different barbecue styles is easier. To help educate the palates of New Yorkers on the different barbecue techniques and styles, Callaghan has brought roughly a dozen vendors to New York every summer since 2003 for a weekend-long barbecue festival in Manhattan's Madison Square Park. Similar festivals are held throughout barbecue country, including one in October in Lexington, N.C., the self-proclaimed barbecue capital of the world.

What's your favorite spot for barbecue and why? Weigh in. Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.

John Shelton Reed, an author of many books on Southern culture, including Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, due out in October, has at least a dozen favorites across the country. In Holly Hill, S.C., Reed loves the mustard-style sauce at Sweatman's. For an excellent rib sandwich, he enjoys Dreamland, which has several locations in Alabama. At Scott's Variety Store in Hemingway, S.C., he recommends the pulled pork dressed with a spicy vinegar sauce.

If there's something Reed doesn't experience, it's boredom. "One thing I love about it," says Reed, "is that it's different everywhere."