This list will probably anger more people than it will satisfy. Barbecue, for all its community and history, can be like that. It’s a cutthroat sport of iron pit doors and smoke-infused sweat. In the South, pitmasters will be among the first feeding tornado survivors out of their own pockets. They’ll also be the first to tell you that they’re the best at what they do, even and especially if they know you feel the same way about yourself (and if you’re a pitmaster, you probably do). Across the country, barbecue competitions list specific criteria that make smoked meat “good,” but when it comes down to it, taste is subjective, and no institutionalized judging method can ever truly capture the magic of a perfect bite.
Barbecue brisket, while generally associated with Texas, can be found wherever hardwood is rising from a smoker. Here are the best, determined not by consensus (it doesn’t exist), but by the sheer volume of their fandom, the passion of their patrons, the assessments of professionals (the fine folks at Michelin, for example), and, admittedly, the bias of this author.
Bonafides: Author is a formerly professional pitmaster initiated into the tradition of smoked meat by the late Dan Gill of Something Different in Urbanna, Virginia (who is not on this list for reasons of journalistic integrity).
Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas
If you’re at all familiar with this absolute legend of smoked beef, you were probably expecting this. Type “best BBQ brisket in the U.S.” into your search bar, and Franklin BBQ is bound to be the first name you find. We can perhaps attribute the reputation — at least partially — to Anthony Bourdain, who described the barbecue at Franklin as “reason enough to slit your best friend’s throat, steal a car, drive cross country, and then wait on line outside a dreary-looking shed for upwards of two hours.” Who are we to question an opinion like that?…