Road side BBQ just outside of Memphis.

Another vote for the original Dreamland location in Tuscaloosa

Whole Hog in central Arkansas is some good stuff.

Don't really have a favorite but local place is called Cow Burners (Mineola) and another is Stanley's (Tyler)

Several I have eaten in and would again

Naaman's Texarkana TX
Black's Lockhart TX
Cooper's Llano TX
Whole Hog Cafe Little Rock, AR
Rendezvous Memphis TN

Never been to a BBQ restaurant

My wife ate at Cooper's about a decade ago, and still talks about how good it was.

Hickory Hut in Salina, KS

Black Market trailer in St. Paul

Tip, if you walk into a joint and they offer multiple styles of bbq and/or sauce turn around and walk out.

If they ain't confident enough to hang their hat on just one Q then they ain't worth trying.

Here, it's not BBQ country, a few guys have tried opening and lost their investment, the few that are left aren't very good. If you want good traditional BBQ you need to make it yourself

Delta Blues in Bristol, VA.

Southern craft bbq Bristol not sure if is va or tn

OMC in Duluth, MN is pretty darn good...

Famous Dave's.

In Missoula , MT. Their decor is as wonderful as their BBQ. A huge log cabin filled with antiques of the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, trapping. The place is filled during the week and weekends. Many locals with their sidearms . A fun place with amazing BBQ.

When I go to a bbq restaurant, especially a new one, I am after a taste of three things:
Firstly, brisket. I grew up in the panhandle of Florida, and it was all about the beef, particularly the brisket, some with BBQ sauce basted on while cooking, others with the sauce on the side. The sauce was a thinner sauce generally, and mixture of tomato, mustard, and vinegar. Still my preference in sauce, but hard as hens teeth to find.
Second, pulled pork. Love me a good pulled pork sammich.
Third off, sausage. A good BBQ sausage is rarer than the other two, I'm talking homemade, or at least a local butcher, not over cooked, thick and juicy.
I usually order a plate with all three, keep half of each portion for another meal, get a tast of each of my favorites, so the next time I go, I can focus on which of the three at that particular joint stood out... it's a terrible thing when they are all excellent, hard to make a decision the next time around, as I don't hold with being a glutton, and that is hard for me around good BBQ.

Their stuff is good for the area, except the duck fat fries are extremely over rated.

Is all Texas BBQ done with Mesquete? Or have I just been unlucky? The Mesquete smoke has to much of an acidic taste for me.

Famous Dave's. Here In Madison.

Most of the Texas places use post oak, more mesquite is further south and west...generally....

I rarely try the brisket cause it's a crap shoot to get right, I've had some pretty mediocre brisket in Texas...but when it's right.....
I usually just go with ribs, if you can't get those right it's a sad day, same with pulled pork, pretty much anyone can pull that off....

My son makes BBQ places an experiment, lol, gets the combo usually to see how it compares, he's been to a lot of them all over the country, very few do everything right...he takes notes...

Mesquite is great for grilling steak. Once its all coals there is just enough smoke to flavor the meat without being overpowering. Most BBQ's I have been too cook with hickory. Hickory can over power the meat too. There is an art to wood cooked meat.