Well, maybe not ever. I bet we could find a worse one. But this is pretty silly.
(HuffPost) America has a serious love affair with barbecue. It’s an adoration so profound, the people were unable to leave it in the South from whence it came. You no longer have to live in Alabama or make a trip to Texas to eat great ribs, brisket, or awesome BBQ sides. These days, you can get great barbecue in the center of Manhattan or a pulled pork sandwich worthy of a food coma in the Golden City.
A look at Open Table’s 2014 30 Best BBQ Restaurants Diners’ Choice Awards is proof of that — only a few restaurants on the list are actually located in the South. There are restaurants from both coasts, and a good amount hail from Chicago of all places. Fear not, this doesn’t mean that the South isn’t still top when it comes to barbecue. A more likely explanation would be that great Southern barbecue doesn’t exist at places that take Open Table reservations.
Therein lies the problem: this is based on Open Table reservations. Some of the best spots, especially throughout the areas in the South and Midwest known for barbecue, either take no reservations or do not use Open Table.
Let’s be clear, anyone who doesn’t understand that barbecue is only a noun should not be allowed to have an opinion on barbecue. I grew up in the North, where they would talk about barbecuing. Having lived more than half my life in North Carolina, we understand that the word is never a verb. Only a noun.
There are only 5 places in real barbecue country. Four in Texas, one in Oklahoma. The rest are in NY, California, Maryland, and other areas. Granted, many of them may be very good. I’ve seen Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on one of the food shows I love to watch, and it is supposed to be good. But nothing can touch what you’ll get in a good local spot down South/Midwest. Memphis, Kansas City, the different types of Carolina BBQ, Georgia style, Texas. Those are your BBQ meccas.
And, no, I’m not going overboard. BBQ is serious business, and discussing the best is like putting the Crips and the Bloods in the same room for intensity.
BTW, I’ve kinda gotten in to lots of those cooking shows on the Travel Channel, Cooking, and Destination America, along with a few others. I love shows like Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, Man Vs Food, Food Paradise, BBQ Pitmasters, and others. Very interesting, and a welcome diversion from all the rest of the garbage on TV. Lots of other interesting things, like the Buying homes series on Destination America, things on Travel like waterparks.
Anyhow, if you want real barbecue, come down and visit, I’ll take you to places that will blow your tastebuds away.
