As a key member of the editorial team that puts together Texas Monthly’s quadrennial Top 50 BBQ list, Daniel Vaughn has spent the last decade traveling to thousands of restaurants across Texas. Now, with Texas barbecue culture spreading across social media and influencing pitmasters nationwide, our BBQ editor has embarked on a new challenge: creating a national list of the best Texas-style BBQ joints outside of the Lone Star State.
Today, Vaughn released the United States of Texas Barbecue, his first-ever list of 53 national barbecue joints that excel in the time-honored craft of slow-cooked meats smoked with the full flavors of hardwoods like hickory and oak. It’s a craft in which the meat, especially beef, shines and brisket is king. To compile the list, Vaughn traveled to 149 barbecue establishments in 37 states. To be considered, restaurants had to be in the lower 48 states, consider themselves Texas-style joints, and have a permanent location with predictable hours. States that weren’t visited didn’t have clear examples of great Texas-style barbecue.
“What I hope people can see from the list is the power of Texas barbecue itself and how influential it has become across the country,” said Vaughn. “When I first started [my career], I couldn’t find fifty Texas-style barbecue joints, period, but now there are too many to be able to get to them all.”
The Top 10 are:
No. 1 – Palmira Barbecue in Charleston, South Carolina
No. 2 – Prime Barbecue in Knightdale, North Carolina
No. 3 – Owens & Hull in Smyrna, Georgia
No. 4 – Moo’s Craft Barbecue in Los Angeles
No. 5 – Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano, California
No. 6 – Southern Junction in Buffalo, New York
No. 7 – Pica Rica BBQ in St. George, Utah
No. 8 – Jon G’s Barbecue in Peachland, North Carolina
No. 9 – Edge Craft Barbecue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
No. 10 – Golden Hour Barbecue in Alliance, Nebraska
See the complete list here.
In 2025, Texas Monthly will publish its new release of the much-anticipated quadrennial Top 50 BBQ List, which debuted in 1997 and focuses just on the Lone Star State.
Food styling: Ali Mendez
