Posted on 09/19/2025 6:35:16 AM PDT by texas booster
We often hear that the world of Southern barbecue moves slowly, sticking stubbornly to its time-worn traditions. That may have been the case a few decades ago, but here in 2025 tastes and trends seem to be shifting at a faster and faster pace.
It’s been just two years since we released Southern Living’s last list of the Top 50 BBQ Joints in the South, but this year’s rankings look quite different than they did in 2023. The economics of barbecue are increasingly challenging, and the past few years have seen a half dozen former Top 50 restaurants close their doors for good. Other former luminaries are still in operation, but their brightness has begun to fade as they begin to show their age.
But hope springs eternal when it comes to barbecue, and there’s been no shortage of new, ambitious players entering the business and making a splash on the scene. Some are steeping themselves in traditional ingredients and cooking techniques, while others are brashly striking out to forge creative new styles. The best have a foot in both camps, embracing the lessons of the past while looking to the future. They’re simultaneously rooted in their specific geography and local traditions but also look around the South—indeed, around the globe—for inspiration.
A definite theme of this year’s list is expansion or continuous improvement. One well-regarded barbecue operation after another has updated its offering or moved to a new location over the past few years. In many cases these improvements have pushed an existing Top 50 restaurant higher up in the rankings or put a new restaurant on the list for the first time.
There’s plenty of top notch ribs, chopped pork, brisket, and chicken to be found at the Top 50 joints, but there’s so much more to be discovered, too. Lamb chops, pit-smoked steaks, smashburgers, barbacoa tacos, and pork steaks are among the most memorable bites from the arduous research undertaken to compile this list.
I’m often asked how the entries are chosen and what criteria are used to rank them. I would like to say that I employ an elaborate, sophisticated, and completely empirical algorithm. Something, perhaps, based upon a sliding 63-point scale of credits and debits. Serve slaw on your sandwiches by default? Add two points. Line longer than 30 minutes? Deduct three. Located in Texas? Minus 15! (I kid. I love Texas. I do.)
In the end, when it comes to picking the best barbecue, you have to go with your gut.
What informs the selection more than anything else is the overall impression taken away from the full dining experience. That starts with the quality and flavor of the meats, of course, and of the side dishes, too. It extends to the overall ambience of the setting, the “wow” factor of something new and unexpected, and all the little finishing touches. I’m not saying that hanging a taxidermied cow’s head on the dining room wall is enough to put a restaurant in the Top 50, but if that cow is wearing a stars-and-stripes top hat and has a toothpick in its mouth . . . well, that surely counts for something.
In the end, when comparing one joint to the next, it comes down to this question: If I could eat right now at just one of these places, which would I choose? These are not easy decisions to make, especially considering the rich diversity of styles and techniques found across the South. How do you compare an old-school whole hog joint in the Carolinas with a creative, beef-centric new joint in Texas? At some point, you’ve got to just make the call and stand by it.
Here, then, ordered from number 50 down to number one, are my picks for the Best BBQ Joints in the South in 2025.
....nice to see The Old Dominion had a number of BBQ joints on the list...especially the one in Henrico (Hen-RYE-co) Virginia, having lived in neighboring Chesterfield County for many years before moving down here to Texas.....
We’ve tried a couple in Richmond over the years. ZZQ is really good, but the last one we tried — The Fishin’ Pig, I think — wasn’t all that good.
Next time we’re there we’ll have to try Redemption, since it made the list.
The Flying Pig...it’s really gone down hill!
I’ve been to Serious Texas BBQ a few times. It’s good bbq. Is it good Texas bbq? Not especially. I did appreciate that they had genuine Elgin sausage.
Only 3 in Memphis? And none I know of. Peg Leg Porker in Nashville. Never heard of it.
Have to admit as my first time to try pulled pork it was good, with the Texas Pete bbq sauce.
I’m from Texas and they don’t sell Texas Pete in Texas.
It’s not a BBQ sauce, per se. It’s a hot sauce. It has zero sweetness.
“ It’s not a BBQ sauce, per se. It’s a hot sauce. It has zero sweetness.”
At a bbq joint
Sauce on table
Sauce goes on bbq
bbq sauce
I rest my case…
The odds he’s even tried the BBQ in 0.01% of the restaurants in the south is ZERO.
OK, I’ll relent on that logic.
😉🤣
Only 1 I’ve been to is Dreamland in Tuscaloosa. Best ribs I’ve had.
Back in the 90’s I was working in Nashville and our CEO had went to school in Memphis, and he used to speak fondly of “The Rendezvous” for ribs.
Finally, no Cooper’s on the list. Awful place with yankee vinegar sauce.
Raw wings are crazy pricey at $3 for a bunch of bones. I cut the wings off raw whole chicken until there are enough for a batch of hot wings. Whole chicken is half that price. Wings dry out on roasted whole chicken so might as well remove them for something better.
Kreisler clod in Lockhart. Ewwwwee. Good stuff
Whoever made that list missed some good ones.
City Market: Luling, Texas
Doziers: Fulshear, Texas
The Meating Place: Magnolia, Texas
None of these are in the big cities.
Yes sir.
I smoke briskets in the back and my neighbor smokes pork in his driveway. Most of the year, our street smells better than any BBQ joint.
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