Barbecue in United States
The BBQ Atlas maps 665 barbecue venues across 447 cities in United States. From Modern, Kansas City, Texas, Carolina and more, it's a snapshot of how United States cooks over live fire. Browse by city below, or dive straight into the venues.
SAW's BBQ
Leeds, United States
Out at the Grand River outlets in Leeds, SAW's brings its Alabama barbecue to the eastern edge of the metro: pulled pork, ribs, smoked chicken, and the white sauce that defines the style. It's the playbook Mike Wilson set down in Homewood in 2009 — smoke, a mayo-based sauce much of the country still hasn't caught onto, and a stuffed baked potato worth the detour. Good barbecue at the end of a shopping trip.
SAW's Juke Joint
Birmingham, United States
SAW's Juke Joint is the one with a stage. In Crestline, Mike Wilson, chef Brandon Cain, and American Idol winner Taylor Hicks built an "upscale dive" that pairs the barbecue with live music — bluesy, jazzy sets, especially on weekend nights — under reclaimed wood and bare bulbs. The kitchen pulls from both the SAW's BBQ and Soul Kitchen menus, so you get the white sauce, the smoked meats, and the stuffed baked potato that made the Alabama 100. Come for the pork; stay for the band.
SAW's Soul Kitchen
Birmingham, United States
SAW's Soul Kitchen is the family's Avondale spin on the original — soul food and barbecue with more room to improvise. Chef Brandon Cain, who cooked in New Orleans kitchens including Emeril Lagasse's NOLA, runs a menu that reaches past the standard SAW's board: signature barbecue sandwiches, burgers, inventive daily specials, and a banana pudding people order without being told. The room is small and cozy — pig decor, vintage road signs, a little indoor-outdoor seating. It's SAW's, with a New Orleans accent.
Schoepf's BBQ
Belton, United States
Ronnie and Staci Schoepf have run Schoepf's in Belton since 1993 — Central Texas barbecue with a Tex-Mex streak: brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage over post oak. It has earned a place in Texas Monthly's barbecue rankings in recent years. Open seven days on East Central Avenue; smoke and time do the rest.
Scott's Bar-B-Que
Hemingway, United States
This is South Carolina whole-hog barbecue done the old way: wood-cooked over embers, served with vinegar-pepper sauce and skins. Scott's has been at it for decades, which is the only credential that matters. Open Wednesday through Saturday. Call ahead.
Shourai Barbeque
Helendale, United States
Shourai Barbeque is a fusion operation run by Brandon Munoz in Helendale, California. The menu runs to tri tip, ox tails, whole turkey breast, and loaded fries — a straightforward list that suggests someone knows what he's doing and isn't interested in explaining himself. Catering is available by inquiry form. Find them on the web or social media for hours and ordering details.
Slap's BBQ
Kansas City, United States
Slap's opened in 2014 and takes the competition circuit seriously — 25 to 35 KCBS contests a season — and it shows in the hickory-smoked Kansas City barbecue, which moves fast enough to sell out most days. Dine in, take it to go, or order ahead. Come early.
Slicen Dyson Smoked Meats
Parkville, United States
Slicen Dyson Smoked Meats serves brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork, and beef rib by the pound, alongside sandwiches and platters. The applesauce barbecue sauce and sweet potato fries round out the menu. Catering by the tray is available for pickup. Open Friday through Sunday, closing when the meat runs out — which it does. No waiting around after service ends.
Slow Bone
Dallas, United States
Jeffery Hobbs opened Slow Bone in 2013 on Irving Boulevard in Dallas. The menu runs to prime brisket—lean or fatty, your call—St. Louis ribs, pulled pork, and fried chicken, backed by made-from-scratch sides. Everything comes off Miss Jessie, the smoker that runs daily. It's straightforward work: smoke meat, sell it at lunch, close when it's gone. No fuss, no pretense. Texas Monthly took notice. If you're on Irving, you know where to find it.
Smoak Town BBQ
Fate, United States
Smoak Town BBQ operates Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until the pit runs dry. Cameron runs the operation with the kind of discipline that matters: they close when the food is gone, not when the clock says so. Texas Monthly named it among the state's top 50 barbecue joints in 2025. Find it on Elmhurst Lane. No pretense, no endless hours. Just barbecue done right, available while it lasts.
Smoke & Bone BBQ
Fort Worth, United States
A barbecue joint on Bryan Avenue in Fort Worth that works an offset smoker and pecan wood, then sells until there's nothing left. They open at 11:30 most days, 10:30 on weekends, and don't bother staying open Monday or Tuesday. Come early or don't come at all.
Smoke Queen BBQ
Garden Grove, United States
Smoke Queen cooks Asian American barbecue in Garden Grove — white oak smoke on heritage pork and California beef, brisket served both Texas-style and California Prime. It reads like two traditions deciding to work together rather than compete. Open Wednesday through Sunday; they sell out, so leave time. Cash or card.
Smoke'N Ash BBQ
Arlington, United States
This is barbecue that doesn't fit neatly into the usual categories, and that's the point. Smoke'N Ash operates at the intersection of Texas pit tradition and Ethiopian culinary practice — a combination that shouldn't work but does, in the hands of people who understand both. The result is something you won't find elsewhere on Cooper Street, or most anywhere else.
Smoked Pickle Barbecue
Knoxville, United States
Smoked Pickle Barbecue operates from a truck on Ebenezer Road in Knoxville, running on 100% hardwood and built around the fundamentals: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, half chicken. Eric Pickle started the operation in 2020. Hours vary by day and inventory moves fast — they close when it's gone. They take pre-orders for catering and events. Call ahead or check their website before you go.
SMOKED. American Barbecue
Great Falls, United States
SMOKED. American Barbecue runs like a meat market in central Montana — you order what's left, they wrap it, you pay — with hickory and oak in the pit. Tight hours (Tuesday through Saturday, 11 to 3) and it sells out. Slow smoke on butcher paper, the straightforward economics of a working pit.
Smokesmith Bar-B-Que
Sandpoint, United States
Sean and Katie Smith run Smokesmith on South Boyer Avenue in Sandpoint — live fire, low and slow, four-time winner of Best BBQ in Bonner County. Open Wednesday through Sunday, with a bar and music alongside the smoke.
Smokin Joe's Pit BBQ
El Paso, United States
Smokin Joe's Pit BBQ operates from Montana Avenue, running Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The menu centers on brisket alongside Texas-style chilli, esquites, and eggy potato salad — a deliberate blend of barbecue tradition and local flavour that doesn't pretend to be one thing or the other. Joe Martinez runs the operation. No fanfare, no awards listed. Just a truck that knows what it's doing and does it on weekends.
Smokin' Al's
Massapequa Park, United States
Smokin' Al's does low-and-slow barbecue in Massapequa Park — indirect heat, wood smoke, time. Open late morning through evening most days, later on weekends. Call ahead or check the site.
Southern Soul Barbeque
St. Simons, United States
Harrison Sapp and Griffin Bufkin started Southern Soul as a pop-up on St. Simons Island in 2006, went permanent in a converted gas station at the island roundabout, and rebuilt with the community after a 2010 fire. Whole hog, ribs, brisket and turkey over local oak, with four house sauces. Southern Living, Garden & Gun and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives have all come calling — but the point was always the pig. Open daily on Demere Road.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Leander, United States
The Bracewells bought Southside Market in 2010, but the sausage recipe and post-oak pits go back to 1882. This Leander outpost on Shimmering Lane runs the same low-and-slow: brisket, pork steaks, and the sausage older than Texas statehood. Meat-market counter attached; open daily to eight, nine on weekends.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Austin, United States
The Bracewells bought Southside Market in 2010, inheriting a Central Texas barbecue operation that's been turning out sausage for more than a century. This location on North Mopac runs the same playbook: brisket, pork steaks, and that sausage, all smoked low and slow over post oak fired pits. There's a meat market attached, because some things shouldn't change. Open daily until eight most nights, nine on weekends. The line moves. The smoke doesn't lie.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Hutto, United States
The Hutto Southside Market runs the sausage recipe and post-oak pits that answer to 1882 — the Elgin institution the Bracewell family bought in 2010. Brisket, pork steaks and the sausage that made the name, low and slow, with a meat market attached at 106 Co-Op Blvd. Open daily, to eight most nights, nine on weekends.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Elgin, United States
This is Central Texas barbecue as it was meant to be: sausage, brisket, pork steaks, all smoked over post oak fired pits at the pace things deserve. The Bracewells bought the business in 2010, but the method hasn't budged in over a century. Elgin built its reputation on sausage, and Southside Market is why. Order it. Then order the brisket. The rest takes care of itself.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Bastrop, United States
The Bracewells bought Southside Market in 2010, inheriting a barbecue operation that dates back to 1882. This Bastrop outpost on Highway 71 runs the same pits and the same playbook: post oak, low and slow, no detours. Sausage, brisket, and pork steaks come off the fire daily. Open seven days, closing at eight most nights and nine on weekends. The tradition travels; the method doesn't budge.