Americans have a fondness for tender meats that require minimal effort to consume.
Americans have an undeniable love for tender barbecued meats. Whether it’s the succulent pulled pork, the melt-in-your-mouth brisket, or the falling-off-the-bone ribs, we savor every bite. These dishes are so tender that we can effortlessly tear them apart with a fork and enjoy them with ease.
Yelp analysts have made an effort to identify the best barbecue spots in the country by relying heavily on the ratings and reviews from its online community. They have compiled a list of the “Top 100 Barbecue Spots” based on this data.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of this year’s entries are concentrated in the South, although there are also notable establishments spread across the rest of the country. Yelp’s rankings reveal that Texas leads the pack with 12 top barbecue joints in the Lone Star State alone. California follows closely behind with 10, while Florida, Missouri, and Arizona each have eight and seven, respectively. The Carolinas also make a strong showing with a total of 10 restaurants featured on the list between the two states. Additionally, Tennessee secures three spots in the top 100, with Delauders BBQ in Gatlinburg, Peg Leg Porker in Nashville, and Elwood’s Shack in Memphis.
According to Yelp, the top-rated restaurant in the entire country is Wright’s Barbecue, an Arkansas establishment with four branches located in the northwest region of the state.
According to a recent five-star review on Yelp, a local user expressed their satisfaction with the food from this place, stating that everything they had was of top-tier quality.
If you’re interested in exploring alternative choices for succulent, tender meats that aren’t overly mushy, take a peek at Yelp’s top 25 barbecue joints. Afterwards, make sure to visit Yelp’s official website for the full compilation of all 100 highly-rated restaurants.
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- Wright’s Barbecue – Johnson, Arkansas
- Eric’s Family Barbecue – Avondale, Arizona
- CorkScrew BBQ – Spring, Texas
- Tyler’s Barbecue – Amarillo, Texas
- Fox Smokehouse BBQ – Boulder City, Nevada
- Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que – Kansas City, Kansas
- Haywood Smokehouse – Waynesville, North Carolina
- Firehole Bar-B-Que – West Yellowstone, Montana
- Hot Spot Barbecue – Pensacola, Florida
- Delauders BBQ – Gatlinburg, Tennessee
- 888 Japanese BBQ – Las Vegas, Nevada
- City Butcher and Barbecue – Springfield, Missouri
- Bogart’s Smokehouse – St. Louis, Missouri
- Miller’s Smokehouse – Belton, Texas
- Q39 Midtown – Kansas City, Missouri
- Tender Smokehouse – Celina, Texas
- Calhoun’s Texas Barbecue – Murrieta, California
- Badlands BBQ – Norco, California
- Buckboard’s Barbecue & Brew – El Cajon, California
- Little Miss BBQ-Sunnyslope – Phoenix, Arizona
- Heritage Barbecue – San Juan Capistrano, California
- Mad Jack’s Mountaintop Barbecue – Cloudcroft, New Mexico
- Federal Hill Smokehouse – Erie, Pennsylvania
- Watson’s BBQ – Tucumcari, New Mexico
- PorChop & Bubba’s BBQ – Bakersfield, California
Yelp’s team compiled its 2024 list of the “Top 100 Barbecue Spots” by focusing on restaurants within the platform’s “barbecue” category. They specifically looked for eateries with reviews that mentioned the word “barbecue” frequently. The rankings were based on criteria such as Yelp ratings and the volume of reviews. To ensure geographic diversity, Yelp limited the number of entries per state to 12. A spokesperson from Yelp confirmed this to News 2’s parent company, Nexstar.
