Lists

Pang Picks His Favorite Barbecue Bites of 2010

A rack of ribs from Smoque.
A rack of ribs from Smoque. Photo: Blake Royer

Kevin Pang just returned from an embarrassingly comprehensive barbecue tour, which included stops in nearly every barbecue mecca in the South. You can take a look at some of his roundup posts here. But when it came time to put together a list of his favorite barbecue bites of the year, he still left a surprising amount of room for Chicago barbecue. We have a feeling that Michael Nagrant, who valiantly defended Chicago barbecue a year ago, would agree.

Uncle John’s smoked hot links, Smoque’s St. Louis ribs, and Barbara Ann’s rib tips all made the list. He also included the baby back ribs from 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, IL, which is run by barbecue legend Mike Mills. This means that four of his top ten barbecue bites came from restaurants in Illinois. Interestingly, he also included Fette Sau in Brooklyn, which means that half of his picks are in the North.

Still, this list seems to be more of a celebration of great barbecue from all over the country than any sort of report on the state of barbecue. Allen & Son in Chapel Hill, North Carolina seems to get the most enthusiastic praise: “Press your tongue against the pork shoulder and a sweet, milky, liquid pork gold emerges. I’ve dubbed this swine wine. Intoxicating.”

10 at 10: Favorite BBQ bites of 2010 [The Stew/Trib]

Pang Picks His Favorite Barbecue Bites of 2010