Best barbecue
A pulled pork sandwich with a side of collard greens at Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q on DeKalb Avenue in Atlanta. Photo: Becky Stein / Special
YOUR PICKS
1. Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q
You say, “Fox Bros. have no competition! If you think some other place is better I suggest you go try it!” and “There are a lot of great choices around here, but Fox Bros. has to be the best. Anyone who says they don’t like it is either a vegan or works for a different BBQ joint.”
2. Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
3. Pig-N-Chik
4. Community Q
5. Fresh Air Bar-B-Que
6. Swallow at the Hollow
The pork platter with sides of mac and cheese and baked beans at Swallow at the Hollow in Roswell. Photo: Phil Skinner / pskinner@ajc.com
OUR PICKS
1. The Swallow at the Hollow
Food and beverage writer Bob Townsend says, “Purists may sneer at the foodie barbecue Bill Green does at this weathered-wood cabin in Roswell. But like his Southern comfort cooking across the way at Greenwood’s, there’s no arguing with the quality or intention. Feast on smoky pork or beef, baby back ribs and house-made sausage, with terrific portobello mushrooms and fried green tomatoes, and freshly baked bread and pies.”
2. Garden Produce & Country Store
3. Sam’s BBQ 1
4. Dave Poe’s BBQ
5. Community Q BBQ
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
517 comments Add your comment
GT Fan
September 20th, 2010
12:40 pm
Sonny’s!
joe
September 20th, 2010
12:42 pm
In the burbs: Swallow at the Hollow
In Atl:
-Fat Matts for ribs and pulled pork
-Foxs Bros for wings (best ever) sides and tot dishes
Rhonda
September 20th, 2010
12:58 pm
Maddy’s BBQ in Decatur!! Great music, great food! I had a pulled chicken bbq sandwich the other day that was the best BBQ sandwich I’ve ever had!
reservoirDAWG
September 20th, 2010
1:02 pm
Harold’s!
1164mgc
September 20th, 2010
1:15 pm
Pig N Chik
Chicken Freak
September 20th, 2010
1:16 pm
Dave Poes, Pig n Chick/Chamblee, and Fox Bros.
Best sauce- Fox Bros. Best sauce variety- Pig n Chick
Best BBQ Chicken- Williamson Bros.
striker
September 20th, 2010
3:03 pm
‘Cue Milton, GA
G-Que
September 20th, 2010
3:05 pm
Barbecue? Again? Well, Atlanta’s all over the map on ‘cue. Fox Brothers, though, knocks everybody down. The brisket and the wings are fantastic. Still looking for the best ribs. Maddy’s are tasty. Pig N Chik has great pulled pork, Note to GT Fan–Sonny’s doesn’t even cook the ‘cue on premises. Warmed up outside ‘cue can be bought in the take home foods section of any Kroeger.
anthony
September 20th, 2010
3:07 pm
I’ve always liked One Star Ranch in Buckhead for its Texas style BBQ. The sides are great also.
dawgone
September 20th, 2010
3:07 pm
Let’s not get crazy with the mom and pops and holes in the wall. Shane’s is hard to beat even if it’s a chain. For the money, it absolutely can’t be beat $20 family meal deal, 1lb of pork or whole cooked chicken, 2 big sides, dessert and gallon of tea or lemonade.
Ed
September 20th, 2010
3:09 pm
Sam & Dave on Whitlock in Marietta. They do it right!
Beth Granger
September 20th, 2010
3:09 pm
The Pink Pig in Cherry Log, GA. It’s worth the drive!
Dolly Barstow
September 20th, 2010
3:10 pm
‘Cue in Milton, Best everything – mac and cheese is unbelievable!!
Jim Lesser
September 20th, 2010
3:10 pm
Fatt Matts is a tourist trap.
In the city, Best Barbeque is Fox Brothers, Pig N Chick and Harolds.
MR Piggy
September 20th, 2010
3:13 pm
Mickey Pigs—–985 north about 10 miles above Lula.
alan
September 20th, 2010
3:13 pm
Fox Bros have no competition! If you think some other place is better I suggest you go try it!
SlawDawg
September 20th, 2010
3:14 pm
FOX BROTHERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Andrew
September 20th, 2010
3:14 pm
Pippin’s or Cowboy’s in Covington. Fresh Air in Jackson.
Atlanta Native
September 20th, 2010
3:15 pm
In town, burbs and further afield:
Fatt Matt’s a tourist trap? I don’t think so. I have not been to Fox Bros.
Swallow in the Hollow is best in the burbs.
Sprayberry’s in Newnan. is awesome, but a drive.
KC
September 20th, 2010
3:24 pm
I hope you’re gonna have a chain or non-chain catergory because, the best non-chain bbq has to be a little hole in the wall place in Rex called Tookes, it is the best…
BphilB
September 20th, 2010
3:25 pm
There is a place west of Dallas between Villa Rica called Merle’s. Absolutely the best pulled pork and the sauce is to die for. It is a hole in the wall in the middle of no where. All the key components for a great barbecue experience. The sweet tea is the best ever! I have only stopped there twice because it is so far from Roswell. We don’t have a good barbecue in Roswell.
Steve
September 20th, 2010
3:26 pm
Dave Poe’s brisket is the best I have eaten and the pork is not bad either.
LOVE BBQ
September 20th, 2010
3:26 pm
I agree, Tookes is small but has the best bbq….
suwaneedawg
September 20th, 2010
3:26 pm
Fox Bros hands down. Jim and Nicks in Suwanee is pretty darn good as well.
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 20th, 2010
3:27 pm
Sprayberry’s is dry as a bone,awful. FOX BROS. is the BEST IN Atlanta. I want to go to Memphis.
Lauren
September 20th, 2010
3:28 pm
ITP? Harold’s. OTP? Old South BBQ in Smyrna.
Jeff
September 20th, 2010
3:29 pm
Dave Poe’s in Marietta
Steve
September 20th, 2010
3:29 pm
Fox Brothers is the best BBQ in Atlanta without question.
If you have not tried DBA BBQ in the Va Highlands, though, give it a try. It doesn’t have the name recognition of Fat Matt’s, Pig ‘N Chick, et al., but they make very good BBQ.
FlintRiver Catfish
September 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
Southern Pit in Griffin BBQ & Stew
stephanie
September 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
‘cue in alpharetta.
UGABBQ
September 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
Dawgone
No Hole in the wall spots??? Come on, real BBQ is made at hole in the wall spots. Fox Brothers and Fat Matt’s takes the prize
GA not GT
September 20th, 2010
3:37 pm
GT said it all for the Techies when he claimed Sonny’s as his favorite. Disgraceful. Go back to kindergarten.
red
September 20th, 2010
3:38 pm
Fox Bros BBQ!
TONI
September 20th, 2010
3:38 pm
What happen to KC ?
Saucey
September 20th, 2010
3:41 pm
Fox Bros BBQ
Hands down the best!
Amanda
September 20th, 2010
3:41 pm
Fat Matt’s-Ribs
Swallow at the Hollow-Barbecue
Harold’s-Stew
Villa Rica DAWG
September 20th, 2010
3:41 pm
Sam & Dave’s used to be the best. However, the last time I went I saw that it’s now Dave Poe’s due to some sort of falling out between the two is what i heard… Anyway, it’s pretty clear that Sam was the cook in that partnership…
I think Merle’s is okay. It’s right by my house. I’ve probably eaten there 20 or so times… I can’t believe someone is suggesting that they are #1 in the ATL though — HAHA!!!
For me, I will have to say that I like Fox Bros., Pig ‘N Chick, One Star, Rib Ranch, Johnny’s in Powder Springs, Williamson Bros., and — most of all — my own home cooked BBQ Baby Backs and Pork Butts off of my $200 smoker. All very different. All very good.
I’ve never tried Hudson’s. I hear its great but just can’t get over the thought of eating a soggy loaf bread pork sandwich… YUCK!
jimmymack
September 20th, 2010
3:43 pm
southern pit griffin southern living loved it and they have by far the best stew i have ever eaten
g
September 20th, 2010
3:43 pm
Community BBQ! Any one posting the best as Shane’s Rib shack is a complete moron! Yeah, and McDonalds has the best Burger in the ATL, what a joke
Get It Right
September 20th, 2010
3:43 pm
Best BBQ in Atlanta? About 150 miles due east to South Carolina. Otherwise, the orignal Shane’s in McDonough.
Tee Bird
September 20th, 2010
3:44 pm
Harold’s Bar be Cue McDonald Blvd. SE Atl
LISA
September 20th, 2010
3:45 pm
OLD SOUTH IN SMYRNA!!!!!
Carlton
September 20th, 2010
3:45 pm
Beetle’s in Woodstock off of Arnold Mill.
Debbie
September 20th, 2010
3:46 pm
Fox Bros., no question about it!
Mary Beth
September 20th, 2010
3:46 pm
Community Que
GT Fan
September 20th, 2010
3:47 pm
What’s the matter with Sonny’s?
reservoirDAWG
September 20th, 2010
3:48 pm
Dillard’s is pretty good for pulled pork, but I haven’t tried anything else there.
DW
September 20th, 2010
3:48 pm
Cue in Alpharetta for sure
'cue bender
September 20th, 2010
3:49 pm
Iron Horse in Villa Rica and Thompson Brothers in Smyrna. Both are licensed to cook brisket!
The Walrus
September 20th, 2010
3:51 pm
Fox Brothers: Wings and Brisket
Community Q: Pulled pork