Yes or No. I love BBQ especially baby back ribs. Seems almost every restaurant has them on the menu. I even cook them at home on the grill but it is a lot of work and I'm wondering what restaurants the rest of you like to get your BBQ on. I have not tried Dickey's yet but they are only 5 minutes from my house.
I def like good BBQ - when I lived in Dallas they had a good # of them, my fave was a place called "Red Hot and Blue", sometimes I would go to a soul-food place in the hood called "Sweet Gorgia Brown" which was also pretty-good - tried Dickies a couple of times in Dallas and was not too impressed.
It’s a chain restaurant and it’s ok but just ok, in my opinion. It’s not a destination spot. Best BBQ I’ve ever had was OMC in Duluth. Great craft beer too.
Have to agree w/ Papi, shadow... not really impressed with Dickie's, it's fine for a convenient middling-chain bbq restaurant, but usually would pass it up for better offerings
Not sure if there are any in your area but Mission BBQ is a smaller chain that’s much better than Dickey’s. Before finding Mission I use to go to Dickey’s a lot - not any more.
Dickey’s is pretty crappy. I haven’t found any chain, fast order BBQ places that are really worth it. There is a chain restaurant in So Cal called Lucille's that is pretty decent. The best BBQ is from non chain places, or home.
Not sure how it works but Uber will pick up and deliver food to you (in case you're currently house-bound) - of course there's a charge associated with it but it may be worth it under certain conditions
Dickie's is a value type chain. You're not going to get the best food there. Shadow, there is a Houston's Restaurant in Atlanta. They have ribs on the menu that are fabulous. Also, do you have J.Alexanders in Atlanta. They prepare their ribs very similar to Houston's.
Community BBQ in Decatur (not too far from Follies) is excellent. I haven't had the ribs there, but the BBQ beef brisket is delicious. It's a small, one-off type of place, not part of a chain. The mac and cheese side is also great. It might be worth a small detour next time you're making a trip to Follies.
Papi - Any Follies meet up including dinning should be after out visit to Follies and probably best to go across the street to Fiesta Plaza for Mexican food. Don't know of any other good restaurants close by.
Don't need Uber. I have my kids.
I've got 3 BBQ joints within 5 minutes of my house and they all sound the same. I think I will hold out until I can go to Smokey Bones 10 miles away.
The only BBQ joints around here are Lucille’s, I never thought they were very good, all they do is cover up the food flavors with a goopy vinegary sweet crap sauce.
I get baby back ribs at Costco I think the brand name is Curly’s, cook em up on my gas grill. They taste better than anything in Lucille’s.
Though I actually prefer to make my own ribs. You can play around with different dry rubs, cook them for 3-3.5 hours, then finish them one the grill with a little sauce. Delicious and falling off the bone. Hardest part is finding decent rack of ribs.
South Florida crew.... - Flanigan's and Houston's best places for ribs - both chain restauraunts but very consistent. Flanigans has great prices as well. Houston's off the chain but will set you back a penny or two once you factor in the complete meal.
^I used to like Flanagan’s and go there regularly, haven’t been there in a long time, no particular reason it just kinda fell by the wayside, maybe we’ll go there again soon now that you reminded me, I have been to Houston’s a few times but there are much better options for that kind of cost.
It has been my experience that the best bbq comes out of a building that looks like it should be condemned. If the guy working the grill is older than dirt even better.
No to all of the above, quit looking for the best restaurant, make it at home. Yes, it can be work. Here’s the secret, you want to do it right, at home, and easily, then you need a controller for your smoker to control the smoking temperature. There are ‘maker’ projects, such as Heater Meter, and off the shelf options. Once you have that smoking meat at home isn’t too difficult/ laborious.
There was a Dickey’s here in Louisville for a while. Don’t know if it’s still there or not. Ok food, but not as good as the price they wanted for it.
Mission BBQ just opened a place here last year. Might have to give it a shot, but with the plethora of good and excellent one man BBQ operations around here, it might take a while to get around to it.
There’s a place over towards Fulton Ind clubs in Atlanta called B’s Cracklin BBQ which is awesome. Also in Atl there is Fox Bros, Heirloom and DAS BBQ. All four of these places are great
If any of you guys are in St. Louis area at the east side clubs go to Bogarts in soulard in stl. The ribs are amazing. Dry rub and do not need any sauce!
bubba267 and VeryBigDawg, is Fox Brothers a regional chain or truly local? I've never heard of it despite traveling in Georgia and Florida a reasonable amount.
I like to support local restaurants and other businesses whenever possible. So a positive recommendation of a truly local place = brilliant!
Fox Brothers is local place! A must if you are coming to Atlanta. They just opened a new Fox Brothers at the Battery at the new Braves stadium, which is in a suburb of Atlanta called Marietta.
I'm surprised no one's yet mentioned Fat Matt's Rib Shack, an Atlanta institution that may be to barbecue what Follies is to strip clubbing (although I can't confirm if there's a bigger crowd and a more limited menu at night). It's also within about half a mile of the Tattletale Lounge, if you need someplace to go after getting your fingers sticky.
Fox Bros is a solid choice, and I agree with those suggesting you skip Dickey's - it's not awful for a chain, but too many other better options out there. Also worthy: Pig N Chik, which is near Emory, and Williamson Bros in Marietta.
Ribs are difficult to prepare and serve in a restaurant. If they fall off the bone, they are over cooked. You want to have a slight tug then be able to see your teeth marks in the meat. I have judged bbq professionally for years. Most of the good places I know are on the north side of Atlanta, that said I rarely eat at the restaurants because after you have eaten competition bbq, all restaurants taste like amateurs. It's not the restaurants fault, they cannot prepare it the same way the pro does
Ribs are difficult to prepare and serve in a restaurant. If they fall off the bone, they are over cooked. You want to have a slight tug then be able to see your teeth marks in the meat. I have judged bbq professionally for years. Most of the good places I know are on the north side of Atlanta, that said I rarely eat at the restaurants because after you have eaten competition bbq, all restaurants taste like amateurs. It's not the restaurants fault, they cannot prepare it the same way the pro does
So we're still talking BBQ. Well I like sauce but not to the point that it is soaked in it. When I do ribs on the BBQ at home I preboil them for about 1 hour and then cook them over real charcoal basting with sauce as needed.
My daughter did not like Fox Brothers and thought that they were over priced. She says that Southern Pit BBQ in Griffin GA is the best.
When I smoke at home I use a dry rub and then I do use a finishing sauce to caramelize and deliver a sweet heat. I use a big green egg, smoke at 225 degrees and use 321 method. 3 hours on smoke, wrap in foil with some apple cider vinegar back on for 2 hours, then unwrap out on finishing sauce and smoke last hour..... you are looking for internal temperature between 190 and 195, if it gets to 205 it will fall off the bone
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I def like good BBQ - when I lived in Dallas they had a good # of them, my fave was a place called "Red Hot and Blue", sometimes I would go to a soul-food place in the hood called "Sweet Gorgia Brown" which was also pretty-good - tried Dickies a couple of times in Dallas and was not too impressed.
Shadow you need to go here it is in Atlanta and it is awesome https://heirloommarketbbq.com/
Next time I go to Follies i will go there with you after.
Not sure how it works but Uber will pick up and deliver food to you (in case you're currently house-bound) - of course there's a charge associated with it but it may be worth it under certain conditions
Don't need Uber. I have my kids.
I've got 3 BBQ joints within 5 minutes of my house and they all sound the same. I think I will hold out until I can go to Smokey Bones 10 miles away.
I get baby back ribs at Costco I think the brand name is Curly’s, cook em up on my gas grill. They taste better than anything in Lucille’s.
However I also don’t get why people wait in line all day to eat at Franklins.. it can’t possibly be worth waiting outside for 8 hours
Though I actually prefer to make my own ribs. You can play around with different dry rubs, cook them for 3-3.5 hours, then finish them one the grill with a little sauce. Delicious and falling off the bone. Hardest part is finding decent rack of ribs.
The best chain BBQ that I have had is Mission BBQ
https://mission-bbq.com/locations
Does that imply that all of their entrees are bone-in?
Mission BBQ just opened a place here last year. Might have to give it a shot, but with the plethora of good and excellent one man BBQ operations around here, it might take a while to get around to it.
I like to support local restaurants and other businesses whenever possible. So a positive recommendation of a truly local place = brilliant!
I'm hungry now.
Fox Bros is a solid choice, and I agree with those suggesting you skip Dickey's - it's not awful for a chain, but too many other better options out there. Also worthy: Pig N Chik, which is near Emory, and Williamson Bros in Marietta.
Next time I'm in Atlanta I may do an "every meal is BBQ" trip! ;)
I do know of several good local Italian restaurants -
My daughter did not like Fox Brothers and thought that they were over priced. She says that Southern Pit BBQ in Griffin GA is the best.
So you're saying Fat Matt's really is the Follies of BBQ?