Sweet Moses looks at this tripe





https://www.chefspencil.com/americas-best-cities-for-bbq/

Can confirm, all BBQ within at least 150 miles of Boston is garbage. There might be some rednecks in far northern NH or ME that have figured it out, but I've been disappointed way too many times in and around the city by people saying "yeah all those other ones are bad, but this one is different! This one is run by a Texan!"

Having lived there, I can tell you BBQ in Seattle SUCKS.

But the people up there probably think all three places are great.

Lived in Nashville for 16 years. Their BBQ has too much Carolina, St. Louis, and Memphis influence. Good brisket (heck, brisket of any kind) was hard to find.

It's based on trip advisor reviews. Pretty stupid way to create this list with no baseline.

There was some out of town reporter gushing about Pappas BBQ for some reason and everyone here laughed at them, same dynamic. If you haven't had decent BBQ before, Pappas is good, if you've had better, you start getting picky, so we're picky and we'll rate decent food at a three star, but Pappas would blow Newark or Seattle BBQ out of the water.

I myself am pretty easy to please, I can tell some of it is better than others, but once it's over a low bar, I'm probably going to enjoy it.

There was a time when Rudy's was the best BBQ in Houston (I think it's good BBQ and never disappoints). The BBQ scene in Houston has come a long way in the past ten years.

San Antonio, houston easily top ten in the nation

Rudys 20 years ago is the bomb

hedge said:

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Rudys 20 years ago is the bomb

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Ate about three pounds of brisket at the one in Carrizo Leon Springs in 1999.

EDIT - missed it by a two hour drive

Carrizo used to have a Rudy's? I did not know that.

THE_CHOSEN_ONE said:

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Carrizo used to have a Rudy's? I did not know that.

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I thought that's where it was. It looked like it had been there and busy forever, like one of their first locations. I could be wrong.

EDIT - looked it up on the map, I'm way off. I meant Leon Springs. Good lord I need a nap.

I never thought about it that way, hell of smart man right here folks

Not hoss

hedge said:

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Not hoss

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This actually made me laugh. About 4000 more of these and I will think better of you.

For a chain BBQ place, Rudy's is pretty damn good! The best? Of course not, but damn good...

I mean BBQ in Columbus has grown by leaps and bounds in the 10 years I have been here but there is no way we are better than any city or lots of small towns in Texas or entire swaths of the South. I now have some good options but that is it.

AggieVictor10 said:

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wbt5845 said:

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Having lived there, I can tell you BBQ in Seattle SUCKS.

But the people up there probably think all three places are great.

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I used to jokingly argue with one of my friends up here, who was born and raised in Seattle, that Seattle has no good BBQ.

He ended up going to Texas for a long weekend for something work related and tried a few different BBQ places. The next time we talked, he told me he understands what I mean now.

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I lived in Portland for about 3 years. I found one place out in Beaverton/Hillsboro that was ok, not great but ok to get a fix.

Now I'm on Gilbert, AZ and there's a decent place close to my house named Caldwell County, after the TX Caldwell county. We have Rudy's as well.

In Houston, there was Gatlin's and what else before 2010 in Houston?

Trip Advisor has denied any connection to this, other than the fact some blogger took some of their data to complete this map.

h1ag said:

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Can confirm, all BBQ within at least 150 miles of Boston is garbage. There might be some rednecks in far northern NH or ME that have figured it out, but I've been disappointed way too many times in and around the city by people saying "yeah all those other ones are bad, but this one is different! This one is run by a Texan!"

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I rarely go looking for decent BBQ around Boston, for the same reason I would rarely go looking for decent seafood in Texas when I lived there. However, I have discovered that there seem to be more options in the Carver / Raynham / Taunton area than there are up north and west. I only tried one place down there (Little Red Smokehouse in Carver) and it was just okay. Atmosphere was good, brisket was okay, but BBQ sauce was terrible.

There used to be a place on on Martha's Vineyard that we liked (Smoke n Bones), but the owner died and his family sold to someone who decided that the Vineyard needed "Brooklyn Style Barbecue" (Yes, it is as awful as it sounds). When you go there, a clean cut Russian college student carefully weighs each portion on a scale to ensure that they don't accidentally give you an ounce or two too much, and then you sit in a sterile and austere black and white room to eat it.

They do seafood, diner food and hamburgers pretty well up here. If you like Italian (I don't), people tell me that they do that well, also. You can find good Mexican food up here, but you have to look for it (Tacos Lupita in Lynn was a discovery I made years ago, But it's been quite a while since I've been back because....well. you know....Lynn.)

Ginormus Ag said:

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Yes because if New Orleans is known for something it's good barbecue.

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There have been a couple of restaurants open in the last approx 5 years that are pretty righteous. But I get your and others' point. I agree the results are questionable at best.

Ginormus Ag said:

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Yes because if New Orleans is known for something it's good barbecue.

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While I agree with the sentiment, The Joint is actually solid, can't speak for any other BBQ place in NOLA, because none of the others seemed worth my time.

BBRex said:

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In Houston, there was Gatlin's and what else before 2010 in Houston?

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Goode Company in the 80's and 90's was pretty good.

Not so much after that.

Harry Lime said:

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RealTalk said:

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There was a time when Rudy's was the best BBQ in Houston (I think it's good BBQ and never disappoints).

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No, there most certainly was not.

Rudy's is fine and I still eat there sometimes when it's a convenient meat-up spot. But it was never the best.

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I have a friend that lives in Portland with in-laws in Katy and is legit excited every time he comes to see them for Rudy's.

It's good, but I'm sad for somebody that gets excited about it.