The 10 best BBQ restaurants in the NOLA Metro?

Barbeque is a style of cooking that originally was done outdoors in a pit in the ground or on a platform above a source of very high heat. Although I have read some arguments for the origin of barbeque being the south Pacific, the majority opinion is that it started in the towns of the Caribbean Taino people and the Timucua Native Americans in present day Florida. Barbequeing was often associated with religious ceremony. Indeed, the Hebrew practice of making burnt offerings to the Lord may be the first form of barbequeing, but historians have not given the Hebrews credit. I don't know why because the cooking process is the same.


Early Native Americans barbequeing their catch from the bayou

It grieves me to say that as of today, no one has put forward an argument that New Orleans was the American city that birthed barbeque. This surprised me because I had believed that, theoretically, very good case could be made for American barbeque originating in New Orleans. Why? New Orleans is the most Caribbean of all American cities, yes, even more than Miami. We know that the Caribbean gave birth to barbeque, so with New Orleans' culture and with the thriving trade and diffusion of culture with the Caribbean slaves, free blacks, buccaneers, and pirates, surely there was some early barbeque in New Orleans. There are other reasons to believe New Orleans probably had barbeque early on. The city has always had a strong Native American influence in cooking. Dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans are in part owed their origin to local Native Americans. . Finally, New Orleans and its environs was home to many animals that are done well through the process of barbeque.

As of today, South Carolina claims to be the birthplace of barbeque. I find this claim absurd. But should it surprise us? This is the state that is home to Clemson, the school that claims to have invented a jazz tune, "Tiger Rag," before LSU. They also claim that dishes like gumbo were invented in their low country by the Gullah. It is my hope, therefore, that some local Promethean pioneer of food history will show again how carbonated the South Carolinians are with their own self importance.

Barbeque sauce may be the defining characteristic of barbeque. The lack of barbeque sauce may be the reason the Hebrews and other open fire grillers are not given credit for the style's creation. There are four major types of sauce. The first and most common, and perhaps earliest, is vinegar and pepper sauce. There is some reason to believe this was the sauce used on meat prepared for Columbus. The second style comes was the vinegar mustard sauce the German immigrants in the late 18th century. Again, South Carolina takes credit for this, even though south Louisiana received many more German immigrants in this time period. The third and fourth types are the light tomato and heavy tomato sauces, which are creations of the last hundred years, and probably the product of the industrial canning. We have all these extra cans of tomatoes. What should we do? Let's make a sauce.

After saying why New Orleans may have given America the barbeque, we have to face a stark reality: New Orleans does not have a heritage of good barbeque. Think about it. Until Katrina, New Orleans barbeque was dominated by two local places: Luther's and Texas B-B-Q and Corky's, a Memphis-based chain. What was there in the way of barbeque in New Orleans 50 years ago? I don't know. I have not heard anyone ever mention an old, long-closed barbeque restaurant in town, so I assume it didn't exist.

All the while, New Orleans and the state are surrounded by heavy BBQ states. There's the sweet sauce of Texas to our west. The Delta BBQ to our east. I'm sure the creatures of Arkansas barbeque as well. It should be noted, however, that the Cajun cochon de lait is a form of barbeque, but without the sauce. It has been a part of south Louisiana culture for two centuries, much longer than barbeque existed in most "BBQ states."


Suckling pigs being barbecued at the Mansura Cochon de Lait Festival.

I consider the spread of barbeque to coincide with the spread of sweet tea. Where one was found so too was the other present. I have also considered sweet tea to be a Protestant drink of the South. In the rural hill country and plains of the South, alcohol was frowned upon. The option of drinking sweet liquors like Rum was not available openly to many Southerners, or if it was, it was socially frowned upon. Therefore, people turned to sweet tea to get their fix. Barbeque was a second choice, IMO, as well. Why did New Orleans not have barbeque? Because the city had more impressive and tastier cooking styles. Sure, we could have barbecued, but why? Our food is vastly better than barbecued food. In any event, a socio-religious geography would likely show the simultaneous spread of sweet tea and barbeque to the same regions.

In the last three decades, we have seen a rise in the public acceptance of males cooking at home. No where is this more true than with barbeque, where not only is it okay; barbecuing is even considered masculine. Man. Meat. Fire. Outdoors. Even on this forum you can sense a machismo feeling when it comes to sharing pictures of one's barbeque.

Since Katrina, New Orleans has blown up with barbeque establishments. Not surprisingly, we've also seen the first wide scale promulgation of sweet tea. Both are historically anomalies, but are now part of the city's culinary fabric.

Here is one person's opinion of the top ten barbeque shops in New Orleans. Your list is encouraged because without it, we don't get far in spreading our knowledge and opinions.


10) VooDoo

9) Old Gentilly Spicy Kitchen

8) Korea House

7. Houston's

6. BooKoo

5. Saucy's

4. Dixie Chicken and Ribs

3. Squeal

2. Hillbilly

1. Smokin' Buddha