Top 5 Cue Joints

I like Rudy's (out of Dallas, I think; but the one I've been to is in Albuquerque); there's a place here in Phoenix (Gilbert really) called Joe's Real BBQ that I think most would consider top notch; but by far the best BBQ I've had was at a little hole in the wall in Omaha Nebraska called "Hartland BBQ". A knock-your-socks-off surprise (...Omaha???).

I grew up in Kansas City so I'll stick with the hometown joints:

Smokestack (gotta love those fried chicken livers!)
Arthur Bryant's
Gates

kc mo gates
austin stubbs
memphis the rondevous
st louis none
eureka springs ark bubbas
in the south, anywhere
in the north, you gotta search
pork over beef always

I live near L.A. so we are pretty much BBQ-challenged. But when I was a kid there used to be a place in Culver City called Sterns Famous BBQ. Ahhh, I can still taste their sauce, made from the beef trimmings (no pork) of the meat that was slow cooked in their brick ovens the night before. As I recall they closed in the late 60s or early 70s.

Whenever we have a BBQ at our house my Dad still to this day loudly complains that no one makes brisket, beans cole slaw or especially sauce as good as Sterns. We lived in the Valley and he used to drive to Culver City on Sunday afternoon just to take out Sterns BBQ for Sunday dinner.

There are some great ones in LA. Woody's Bar-B-Cue and Philip's Barbecue seem to be everyone's favorite in South Central and Jay Bee's in Gardena.