Few champion pit masters have achieved the level of celebrity of Mike Mills, whose postmodern barn on a strip of suburban sprawl provides a range of regional styles.

Address:
1711 W. Hwy. 50
O’Fallon, Illinois
United States

Phone:
(618) 622-1717

Prepare yourself for the best traditional Memphis-style ribs ever—flat-out sensational. The velvety, succulent meat at A&R simply glides away from the bone. Go for the dry (not basted in sauce) version so you can appreciate the complexity of seasoning, primarily a result of the residual smoke lingering in the pits out back. The rib-tip sa... Morendwich here is moist, with lingering smoke, and all too easy to eat. As a palate cleanser, get a square of Technicolor sheet cake, available in chocolate, lemon, or strawberry with matching or contrasting frosting. You won’t be sorry.

Address:
1802 Elvis Presley Blvd.
Memphis, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(901) 774-7444Less

Inside this circa-1920’s institution, a snaking line stretches to the door. While waiting, watch as the workers: pulling a whole brisket, blackened and quivering, from the white-enameled brick smoker; throwing down a broad sheet of red butcher paper; slapping on it a few slices of Wonder bread followed by a generous heaping of brisket ribbons... More; piling a fistful of steaming, thick-cut fries on top; then rolling the heaping mass into a package the size of a swaddled newborn. Arthur Bryant’s serves the best: brisket beautifully marbled, lightly smoky; pork ribs perfectly moist, not too salty; the sauce, rust-colored, almost gritty with dried spices, with a delectable Worcestershire-coriander inflection and a brisk vinegar bite. But since the taste, the texture, the flavor is so tied to a sense of place, it stands to reason that the way the establishment envelops you in the process—and its past—matters.

Address:
1727 Brooklyn Ave.
Kansas City, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(816) 231-1123Less

Buy the region’s specialties, snoots, at this takeout window frequented by a steady stream of locals. Like oversize pork rinds, the texture of a rice cake, the snoots are sluiced with a tomatoey sauce that had the right amount of sweetness and heat cutting through its deeply porky hit. Take the platter to the park below the Gateway Arch to en... Morejoy.

Address:
4390 Jennings Station Rd.
St. Louis, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(314) 385-8100Less

Many like Gates for the burnt ends, mixed plate, and fries.

Address:
1221 Brooklyn Ave.
Kansas City, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(816) 483-3880

Housed in an 1888 former bank, steps from the iconic Gateway Arch.

Address:
400 Olive St.
St. Louis, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(314) 436-0002

Located in the thick of honky-tonk bars on Music City’s tourist strip, Jack’s Bar-B-Que nevertheless draws local rockabilly kids and alt- country scenesters for remarkable beef brisket, pork ribs, and smoked chicken.

Address:
416 Broadway
Nashville, Tennessee
United States

Phone:... More
(615) 254-5715Less

A 110-room hotel with a quiet Art Deco lobby and a private rooftop bar.

Address:
79 Madison Ave.
Memphis, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(901) 333-1200

Locals line up for a superb rendition of chopped pork on a bun, as well as excellent grilled short ribs.

Address:
1108 Jefferson St.
Nashville, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(615) 256-7696

The apotheosis of Owensboro’s micro- regional mutton ’cue. Order it sliced and chopped—always with “dip”—and in a meaty burgoo (a rustic Kentucky stew).

Address:
2840 W. Parrish Ave.
Owensboro, Kentucky
United States

Phone:
(270) 684-8143

Beyond the shamrock gas station’s pumps and past the racks of Hostess cakes, a warren of tables and booths makes up this barbecue joint. Oklahoma Joe’s began life on competitive BBQ circuit in the early 90’s as the Slaughterhouse Five, a team of barbecue enthusiasts who got together to cook at weekend championships around the Midw... Moreest and the South. The team won so many awards that by 1996, they opened a restaurant. Compared with Kans as City institutions like the circa-1920 Arthur Bryant’s, O.J.’s was a modern place, using state-of-the-art smokers that cook meat with a combination of natural gas and wood.

Address:
3002 W. 47th Ave., at Mission Rd.
Kansas City, Kansas
United States

Phone:
(913) 722-3366Less

Grand 1920’s European-style property overlooking Country Club Plaza, the first outdoor suburban shopping center in the U.S.

Address:
325 Ward Pkwy.
Kansas City, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(800) 821-5343

The top spot for the Gateway City’s barbecue specialties, such as St. Louis-cut pork ribs, snoots, and rib tips.

Address:
6929 W. Florissant Ave.
St. Louis, Missouri
United States

Phone:
(314) 381-6200

Smoke rings are evident in these perfect pulled-pork sandwiches, which are topped with carrot-flecked slaw and suffused with a medium-hot sauce.

Address:
10880 Hwy. 412 W.
Lexington, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(731) 968-0420

Local legend Martel Scott Jr. serves lunch in a 1960’s dining room Thursdays and Fridays.

Address:
1201 N. William St.
Goldsboro, North Carolina
United States

Phone:
(919) 734-0711

Recently renovated 353-room hotel in the heart of the city.

Address:
421 S. Salisbury St.
Raleigh, North Carolina
United States

Phone:
(919) 834-9900

The most recent in a succession of barbecue establishments cooking whole hogs on this site. Ask for rib meat, pit meat, or tenderloin if you prefer.

Address:
6060 Hwy. 100 E.
Henderson, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(731) 989- 2242

North Carolina’s legendary pit master Ed Mitchell presides over this airy restaurant in a former meatpacking warehouse. (White tablecloth at a ’cue joint?You bet.) The house specialty is the region’s classic chopped pork, hacked from a whole pit-smoked, butterflied hog basted with a vinegary, peppery barbecue sauce. Though Mitchel... Morel still wears his trademark overalls, the place is a barbecue joint for a new age: the kitchen is a spotless, open, stainless-steel affair at the back of a dining room with—you guessed it!—white tablecloths. All the meats—and, one presumes, the fish and barbecued tofu—are organic, humanely raised specimens.

Address:
328 W. Davie St.
Raleigh, North Carolina
United States

Phone:
(919) 890-4500Less

Housed in a former train station, with spacious, whimsically decorated rooms.

Address:
1001 Broadway
Nashville, Tennessee
United States

Phone:
(615) 726-1001

This BBQ mecca opens at 6 a.m. for breafast brains and eggs; country ham; grits. The pork is ready closer to 10 a.m. and is worth the wait. Sit in one of the knotty pine-paneled rooms, with wooden schoolhouse chairs and red-checked tablecloths to chow down on their perfect sandwiches.

Address:
4172 U.S. Hwy. 70 E.
Go... Moreldsboro, North Carolina
United States

Phone:
(919) 778-5218Less