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
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517 comments Add your comment
Tim
September 25th, 2010
8:34 am
Carnivorous Habit Canton
justjanny
September 25th, 2010
12:34 pm
The PIT (off MLK Jr. on Joseph Lowrey), hands down! It’s a hole-in-the-wall, but you cannot beat the flavor. M-m-m-!!!
Mark
September 25th, 2010
2:30 pm
Fresh Air BBQ, Jackson, GA Hands down!!
Mark
September 25th, 2010
2:32 pm
justjanny, I’m not risking my life by going into the hood to eat BBQ.
Raisedbywolves
September 25th, 2010
2:37 pm
BphilB has it right. Merle’s on Villa Rica near Hiram Sudie – it’s not fancy but it has the best meat and sides around here.
Maddernheck
September 25th, 2010
2:45 pm
Nobody’s even mentioned dba Barbeque near Ponce & N Highland. Outtasight everything!!!
J
September 25th, 2010
2:49 pm
DADDY D’Z on Memorial Drive!!!
Hands down THE best in the state! If you haven’t had it yet, give it a try. All of the meats are fantastic and the sauce is served mild or hot. The hot isn’t very hot at all, but it is rich and smoky. The sides are to die for. You don’t know what you’re missing!!!
Melanie
September 25th, 2010
2:51 pm
I can’t believe no one has mentioned one of the best spots ITP…Daddy D’s! The BBQ and sides are all around excellent!
slammy
September 25th, 2010
3:09 pm
Community Q!!!!!!! also has the best mac and cheese EVER.
bobby1
September 25th, 2010
3:11 pm
BEST BBQ IS IN COLUMBUS,GA. SMOKEY PIG ,13TH STREET ,MACON ROAD AND EVEN COUNTRY’S IS GREAT. TAKE A TRIP SOUTH YOU’LL LOVE IT.
voice of reason
September 25th, 2010
3:16 pm
Hands down…….JJ’s Rib Shack!
Cass
September 25th, 2010
3:28 pm
Dean’s Bar-b-q North Main St. Jonesboro, GA.
Sandy in Tucker
September 25th, 2010
3:34 pm
Community BBQ. Pork, Brisket, Ribs are great. Mac and Cheese is the best in town unless you have heart disease.
cymbalman
September 25th, 2010
3:50 pm
Hickory Pig! Consistantly great BBQ. I like mine on white bread.
Molly
September 25th, 2010
3:51 pm
Hometown BBQ in Lawrenceville is the best!!!! I’ve never had a bad meal there. Family owned and very friendly, they remember my name every time I go in there.
three jack
September 25th, 2010
4:10 pm
big shanty bbq in kennesaw, by far the best around. fox bros and fat matt’s also good.
AJ
September 25th, 2010
4:10 pm
‘Cue is coming to Cumming!!
Sara
September 25th, 2010
4:21 pm
Community Q on Clairmont, or Maddy’s on Scott Blvd… the BEST!
natalie vannoy
September 25th, 2010
4:29 pm
PIG ‘N CHICK in Chamblee!
Bill
September 25th, 2010
4:40 pm
I come back to Williamson Brothers after going to all these other places and not much can beat their “outside pork” sandwich. Great ribs too. As for Brunswick stew, the Dunwoody Old Hickory House has the very best ever!
Paula
September 25th, 2010
4:54 pm
Daddy D’z, wow, you gotta try this que!
Heather
September 25th, 2010
4:58 pm
Williamsons brothers in douglasville has the best sauce, best bruinswick stew is Merles in Dallas,GA.
Oscar the Grouch
September 25th, 2010
5:11 pm
Make sure you meet Tasha
DK
September 25th, 2010
5:14 pm
Jackson, GA is the place to go- Fresh Air BBQ and Blind Pig ARE the BBQ’s in greater metro area!
Smokey
September 25th, 2010
5:15 pm
CommunityQ, CommunityQ, CommunityQ in Decatur. If you don’t love it, that just means you ain’t been there yet! Awesome.
Oscar the Grouch
September 25th, 2010
5:23 pm
Oh yeah that’s Tasha at Sam’s House in Carrollton…best bbq and the best service
SPQR(laissez faire)
September 25th, 2010
5:42 pm
First..two items… in THIS state, only PORK counts as BBQ..its the law.
Best pulled pork….tied…
slopes BBQ on hwy 9, alpharetta
Jacks old south BBQ, Braselton (just found them today)
Best Brunswick stew….Slopes
Best sauce …Deans / Fresh air (they are both close runners up to beat meat also)
SPQR(laissez faire)
September 25th, 2010
5:46 pm
sorry forgot my second item…KC gooey sugary sauce seems to be what all these transplants ,and any retard that says sonny’s or shane’s , is looking for, but the best sauces are vinegar based!
Jim
September 25th, 2010
6:19 pm
#1 Community Q – Decatur
#2 Rolling Bones – Atlanta
#3 Swallow at the Hollow – Roswell
Smyrna Rocks
September 25th, 2010
6:27 pm
Olde South BBQ Smyrna. BBQ and sauces are great plus the sides – especially green beans and hush puppies.
artyc99
September 25th, 2010
6:38 pm
the best is parker;s in wilson, nc in atlanta fat matt’s is number one
the best
September 25th, 2010
6:43 pm
Bub-ba-Q in Jasper or Woodstock!!!
wyld byll hyltnyr
September 25th, 2010
6:47 pm
If you think Sonny’s, Fat Matt’s, Harold’s, ‘Cue, Williamson’s, Sam and Dave’s, Shane’s are good BBQ you might not be a redtneck.
Try Wallace’s in Mableton or Thompson Bros in Smyrna (get some smoke bolgna) for good BBQ.
Elizabet
September 25th, 2010
6:51 pm
1. ‘Cue in North Fulton (alpharetta/milton area) – former Swallow at the Hollow staff (chef maybe?) Love everything about this place except the stew.
2. Hickory Pig – Gainesville. Everything is wonderful.
3. Harolds, mainly for the stew.
YoungerThan ThatNow
September 25th, 2010
7:04 pm
If you want to know about real good BBQ, ask somebody from south Georgia… we may not know everything, but we know good ‘que when we eat it.
It’s fairly new on the ATL scene but an old, longtime favorite in and around Birmingham, and if you haven’t been you need to go… Jim N Nick’s BBQ. Best pulled pork and sauce in this area… and their complimentary cheese biscuits are to die for. But don’t confuse these muffins with those from say… Red Lobster. These cheese biscuits are like sweet muffins, and are slap yo mama good… and be sure to request the sweet butter to go on them. But the pulled pork… well, you’ll definitely be back for the pulled pork. There’s one in Conyers… one on South Cobb a mile north of 285 right at the connector… and one on Wendy Bagwell Pkwy in Hiram. Their other menu items are great too. Your wife and kids will love the chicken fingers… most like those at the old Tanner’s than anywhere you’ll try.
Outside the perimiter… it’s Stinson’s in Lumber City… it’s on the map between McRae and Halehurst… and worth the drive.
YoungerThan ThatNow
September 25th, 2010
7:09 pm
Oh, and to lump all BBQ in the same category ain’t right. You got to split it up with chains and mom and pop’s… Georgia style or Carolina style… and if you eat real ‘que there’s been a hog killin’ right before the cooking started. You ain’t talking ‘que if you’re talking beef. Real ‘que comes from a fat pig or hog. And… you don’t need a knife to cut real ‘que… real ‘que falls off the bone without much prodding.
Joe
September 25th, 2010
7:30 pm
Fox Bros! Hands down…..I have eaten at most of the must eat BBQ joints, Fox blows them all out of the water.
Salty Dawg
September 25th, 2010
7:49 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
Shane’s became a franchise, but I live 2 minutes from the original shack and I can vouch for the ‘cue. I won’t sit here and tout it as the best in Atlanta because living SOP I haven’t tried many of them. But Shane’s, at least the one I know, is legit. Small, hole in the wall joint with awesome ‘cue.
Jason
September 25th, 2010
8:06 pm
Mad Dog’s in South Rockdale County – it’s worth the drive. You don’t need to bathe it in sauce – and Jerry uses the best cuts of meat. GREAT Brunswick stew too.
Pete Combs
September 25th, 2010
8:25 pm
Without a doubt, it’s Thompson Brothers in Smyrna. This Oklahoma family KNOWS how to smoke a beef brisket. Their sauces are unparalleled. And who else in this part of the world offers smoked bologna?? They’re the best — and some really great guys to boot.
Keith
September 25th, 2010
8:34 pm
Fresh Aire in Flovilla/ Just south of Jacksonville -
Keith
September 25th, 2010
8:34 pm
*gaaah – i meant JACKSON – not Jacksonville
Jay
September 25th, 2010
8:37 pm
KC & Love BBQ I tried Tookes today, The BBQ was good and the sides sucked!!! Fox Bros is not good to me. I am going to try Maddy’s and Community Q soon.
Tucker
September 25th, 2010
8:52 pm
Fox Bros. is the best BBQ I have had in the State of Georgia. The full parking lot and parking up the side street attest to its popularity with folks from downtown who opt to go there rather than other places that were the most popular in the past.
Scott
September 25th, 2010
9:00 pm
Fox Bro’s wings, PigNChick pulled pork and BB1’s beef rib, brisket and mac and cheese.
This town suddenly has good BBQ. But these 3 places are the best.
Rob in Atlanta
September 25th, 2010
9:26 pm
Community has the best beef and sides (amazing beef rib)
Fox has the best pulled pork (pork ribs are hit or miss)
Sauces are equal.
The sides at Fox are strange. They put their rub in their slaw for example. Yuck
I’ve tried almost every other BBQ in Atlanta and none compare to these two.
J.R.
September 25th, 2010
10:11 pm
In Alpharetta Dickey’s has great BBQ, but their Stew needs more heat in my opinion. I’ll try their ribs next time.
ITsMe
September 25th, 2010
10:29 pm
Shane’s STINKS!! They boil their meat. That is not bbq. Rolling Bones is the best in Atlanta. Southern Soul in St. Simons beats them all though.
Jay
September 25th, 2010
10:36 pm
I did not like Rolling bones either…
IneInPTC
September 25th, 2010
10:43 pm
PLEASE!!! Chains do not give the best ‘Overall’ BBQ experience. Southern Pitt was gross and greasy. Harold’s-just okay. Sprayberry’s – to much vinegar and somehow they gave me one with hot peppers by not paying attention to a customer.
For the REAL BBQ experience you must go to DEANS BBQ in Jonesboro. It’s been there longer than I’ve been alive…. (I just had the 20th anniversary of my 29th b’day) and their dining room is not far off from being a screened porch. Best BBQ, stew, tea, cake and personalities on the Southside.