Conventional wisdom will dictate that Louisiana, setting aside her many other talents, doesn't really have much to contribute to this particular conversation. Where is all the barbecue in Louisiana? A perfectly reasonable question, considering this near-ancient settlement of cocktail enthusiasts is surrounded by states known well for their prowess at the pit. In a relatively short amount of time, Arkansas-born Robert Adams has created a new South Side classic. Essential to any Chicago tip crawl: the much newer Honey 1 BBQ. We'd be poorer without a place like Lem's on the landscape. James Lemons is gone now, but thankfully the family is keeping on. Come to this South Side institution on a brutal winter day, huddle up with the masses in the narrow holding area between the exterior windows and the bulletproof divider, and you're already feeling warmer, or at least you will when you get out of the cold and into a Lem's plate, which ought to include some of those hickory-smoked, orange-red spare ribs, not to mention the unfussed hot links, all coming out of the city's largest aquarium smoker, yet another only-in-Chicago oddity. When you think rib tips, the slaughterhouse castoff that has been Chicago's primary contribution to American barbecue for the better part of a century, think of Lem's Bar-B-Q, of charred tips dripping deep red sauce, served with white bread to mop the whole mess up. Same goes for Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano, always worth a drive in order to tap into Daniel Castillo's seemingly boundless creativity - the brisket here is textbook perfect. The fact that this is happening on the fringes of Downtown Los Angeles is a minor detail. Andrew and Michelle Muñoz practice a kind of chills-down-your-spine, exacting art, fueled by a palpable passion for their work, something not so easily spotted in the barbecue heartlands as you might imagine. From pop-up to Smorgasburg staple to brick and mortar success story, the search these days begins at Moo's Craft Barbecue in Los Angeles, where the brisket, the ribs, the hot links, and the beef ribs aren't so much as good as Texas, very often they're better. Here's the funny thing about all those Southern Californians moving to Texas, a trend that is very real and not likely to slow anytime soon - one of the greatest barbecue success stories in recent years has been Southern California's deepening appreciation for the classic Texas style some of the finest practitioners in the country nowadays can be found in places not all that far from the Pacific coastline. Nothing tops the locale, but the pork - pulled, spare ribs, baby backs - put in quite the effort. They are not the only ribs, however just south of town in one of the most scenic settings for a barbecue restaurant in any of the fifty states, directly across the highway from one of America's most accessible fjords, Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ has, in recent years, consistently turned out some of the finest barbecue in Alaska, all smoked over local alderwood. Something this good, however, is not all that easy to get rid of on their best days, Roscoe's ribs are the most essential for many a mile. A few moves around town and one extended period of R&R in Hawaii later, Roscoe Wyche III and son (he's #4) opened up a catfish and barbecue place, right behind David Chipperfield's strikingly modern Anchorage Museum - only to see the dream go up in smoke once again, after a 2021 fire. The proper rib joint, located thousands of miles from where you might have expected to find such a thing, became an essential gathering place for the local Black community, a moment in time that ended in a 1997 fire. first opened up shop on the doorstep of Elmendorf Air Force Base, back in the 1980s. Alabama Tourism Department / Art Meripol AlaskaĪnchorage has seen a number of incarnations of Roscoe's since Roscoe Wyche Jr. Big Bob Gibson's chicken in Alabama white sauce.
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