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.
Space Kat BBQ
Austin, United States
Space Kat is an Austin barbecue truck going since 2017 — smoked chicken thighs, baby back ribs, coppa, lamb chops and tri tip, Thursday through Sunday, 11 to 5. Order at the window and eat where you stand. No to-go, no pre-orders: you come when they're cooking, or you don't.
Stiles Switch BBQ
Austin, United States
Stiles Switch BBQ is what Shane Stiles built in 2011: a Central Texas craft-style barbecue restaurant on North Lamar that runs a straightforward operation and doesn't ask you to queue at dawn for it. Pitmaster Lance Kirkpatrick works the pit, and the place has earned its keep — Texas Monthly put it in the Top 50 twice (2013, 2017), and Austin Monthly named it Best BBQ in 2022. It's part of a small group of locations now, but this is where it started. No sold-out-by-noon drama, no ceremony — just a restaurant that opens Tuesday through Sunday, serves until close, and charges fairly for what comes off the pit. Walk in most evenings and you'll actually get fed. That's the point.
Stiles Switch BBQ
Cedar Park, United States
Stiles Switch has turned out Central Texas craft barbecue since 2011 — Shane Stiles owns it, Lance Kirkpatrick runs the pit — with Texas Monthly nods in 2013 and 2017 and an Austin Monthly best in 2022. This Cedar Park location on West Whitestone Boulevard keeps the standard: closed Mondays, open to eight most nights.
Stiles Switch BBQ
Austin, United States
Stiles Switch started in 2011 and made Texas Monthly's Top 50 twice (2013 and 2017); Austin Monthly called it the city's best in 2022. Shane Stiles owns it, Lance Kirkpatrick runs the pit. This Belterra location on Hargraves Drive serves Central Texas barbecue Tuesday through Sunday, past eight most nights.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Westminster, United States
Sugarfire's Colorado outpost, in Westminster north of Denver, carries the St. Louis original's chef-driven barbecue west: slow-smoked ribs, pulled pork and brisket, plus the rotating specials Mike Johnson built the brand on. Carolyn Downs's pastry background is why the dessert case is worth a second look. A St. Louis smokehouse a long way from St. Louis — cooking like it means to close the distance.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Washington, United States
Out in Washington, on Front Street near the river, Sugarfire brings its St. Louis-style barbecue to a smaller town without dialing anything back: smoked ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and the daily specials that keep the menu moving. It's the chef-driven formula Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs built — barbecue plus a pastry case — set down a little further from the city. Come early on a weekend.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
St. Louis, United States
Sugarfire began as a deal between two people who wanted different things: Mike Johnson wanted to cook barbecue, and Carolyn Downs — a pastry chef out of Cyrano's — wanted to make pies. They did both, and Sugarfire was the result. The downtown location on Washington Avenue is chef-driven, fast-casual barbecue: ribs, pulled pork, and brisket off the smoker, a board of rotating specials that's run to smoked duck and lamb, and — thanks to Downs — a dessert case worth saving room for. Order at the counter; the specials are where the kitchen shows off.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Dardenne Prairie, United States
Everything at the Dardenne Prairie Sugarfire is cooked low and slow: ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, and the rotating specials the kitchen uses to keep regulars guessing. It's the chef-driven barbecue Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs built in St. Louis — smoke up front, a proper dessert case in back. Order at the counter, and check the specials board before you commit.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Florissant, United States
Ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and whatever the specials board is running that day — the Florissant Sugarfire keeps to the chef-driven formula that made the St. Louis original. Founders Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs paired serious barbecue with a pastry case most smokehouses don't bother with, a holdover from Downs's original pie ambitions. Come early; the pit runs low sooner than you'd think.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Valley Park, United States
Slow smoke and a specials board that rarely sits still: the Valley Park Sugarfire, on Meramec Station Road, cooks ribs, pulled pork and brisket the St. Louis way, alongside the rotating specials Mike Johnson's kitchens are known for. Carolyn Downs, the pastry half of the founding pair, is the reason there's real dessert at a barbecue counter. Order at the counter and watch the board.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Farmington, United States
The Farmington outpost carries Sugarfire's St. Louis-style barbecue an hour south: smoked ribs, pulled pork, and brisket, plus the daily specials that change with whatever the kitchen feels like smoking. Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs built the brand on that mix of barbecue and invention — and the dessert case Downs is responsible for is worth a look on the way out. Get there before the day's smoke sells down.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
O'Fallon, United States
On the Illinois side, the O'Fallon Sugarfire runs the same St. Louis-style barbecue as the rest: slow-smoked ribs, pulled pork and brisket, a rotating specials board, and a dessert case that traces back to co-founder Carolyn Downs's love of pie. It's fast-casual — order at the counter — but the cooking is chef-driven, the way Mike Johnson set it up. Specials change; the brisket doesn't need to.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
St. Louis, United States
This is where it started. The Olivette location on Olive Boulevard was the first Sugarfire, the room where Mike Johnson's barbecue and Carolyn Downs's pastry case first shared a counter. The formula hasn't changed much: slow-smoked ribs, pulled pork and brisket, a run of creative daily specials, and pie for after. St. Louis-style barbecue from the team that built the brand from this corner outward.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
St. Charles, United States
The St. Charles Sugarfire, on Elm Point Industrial Drive, does the brand's chef-driven barbecue plainly and well: ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and the daily specials that are half the reason to come back. Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs built Sugarfire around exactly that — dependable barbecue and a kitchen that likes to experiment — and the dessert case is Downs's doing. Counter up front, specials board overhead.
Sugarfire Smokehouse
Wentzville, United States
The Wentzville Sugarfire keeps it simple and cooks it properly: ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, and a rotating board of specials, all in the St. Louis style the brand is known for. Founders Mike Johnson and Carolyn Downs paired serious barbecue with a real dessert case — his smoke, her pastry — and this location runs the same play. Order at the counter.
Sunbird Barbecue
Longview, United States
David Segovia and Bryan and Kimmy Bingham started Sunbird in 2021 on North High Street in Longview. Oak in an offset smoker, four hours a day, five days a week — the hours say everything about how this works. They sell out early most days. Show up hungry and on time. No website, no reservations, no second chances if you arrive late. Just barbecue done the way they've decided it should be done.
Tank House BBQ & Bar
Sacramento, United States
Tank House BBQ & Bar runs brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and chicken out of a spot on J Street in Sacramento. It's open seven days a week from half-eleven in the morning until midnight, which is longer than most barbecue joints care to stay lit. Guy Fieri brought the cameras through for Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives in Season 55. The place is part of a small chain, so there are other locations beyond this one. No fuss, just meat and a bar that keeps reasonable hours.
Tastefully Blessed Smokehouse
Springdale, United States
A barbecue operation in Springdale that sells out before the day is done. They run a catering business alongside the restaurant, which tells you something about the volume and confidence in what they're doing. Get there with time to spare.
Teddy's Barbecue
Weslaco, United States
Teddy's does brisket, pork ribs, house-made sausage, smoked turkey breast, ribeyes, and half chickens the Central Texas way — low and slow over oak. Texas Monthly put them in the Top 50. They're open Wednesday through Sunday, five hours a day, and when it's gone it's gone. They only take scheduled orders now. Call ahead to reserve. Show up late and you'll find the shutters down and someone else eating your brisket.
Ten50 BBQ
Dallas, United States
Salt, pepper, smoke and time — Ten50 keeps the Central Texas method short and does the long part properly, with pitmasters pulling twelve-hour shifts. This Dallas location on West Lovers Lane opens at 10:50 (the name is the address) and runs to nine, later on weekends. Modern room, Southern welcome, brisket that earns the wait. The brand started in 2014.
Ten50 BBQ
Richardson, United States
Ten50 has cooked Central Texas barbecue in Richardson since 2014, and the name is the giveaway — it's the street number, and roughly when the pitmasters clock in for their twelve-hour day. Low and slow, salt and pepper, brisket and sausage done the unhurried way, in a suburb that had been missing it. Clean room, warm service. The address named it; the pit earns the rest.
Terry Black's Barbecue
Waco, United States
The Waco Terry Black's opened in 2024 at 228 8th Street — Michael and Mark Black's Central Texas barbecue, built on their father Terry's name and the Lockhart family lineage that earned the brand a Texas Monthly Top 50 spot. Open daily from 10:30, late on Friday and Saturday. Smoke and time.
Terry Black's Barbecue
Austin, United States
Twin brothers Michael and Mark Black opened Terry Black's on Barton Springs Road in 2014 — fourth-generation Lockhart barbecue carrying their family's name (their father Terry, the line running back to Edgar Black Sr's Black's Barbecue, founded in Lockhart in 1932) after branching out on their own. Central Texas barbecue that earned Texas Monthly's notice and grew into several Texas cities. This is the flagship.
Terry Black's Barbecue
Dallas, United States
Terry Black's Dallas, open since 2019, is one of the Black family's outposts — twin brothers Michael and Mark Black carrying the Lockhart barbecue name their father Terry gave it. Central Texas brisket and ribs over smoke, the way the family has done it for four generations. Open daily, mid-morning to late.