A recent poll conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine ranked Memphis the top city in the nation for barbecue. The Bluff City didn’t do so well in other categories, placing last in attractiveness, intelligence and several other unbarbecue categories. Better yet, according to Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal, “In almost all categories, Memphians assigned lower rankings than did visitors.” (There is no word on how Memphis residents ranked their fair city on ‘cue.)
Unfortunately (?), there were no North Carolina cities among Travel + Leisure’s 35 places ranked. That means we didn’t have a chance to win the best barbecue category (competing with BBQ powerhouses like Boston and Santa Fe), but at least we don’t have to look at ourselves in the nation’s mirror each morning…
Filed under: BBQ in the News | Tagged: Outside NC |
BBQ Jew 
Dear BBQ Jew,
As a native Memphian, I can tell you that Memphians are proud of their barbecue–but down on everything else about their city. I can’t understand why there were no North Carolina cities on the list. At least Lexington should have made it. Maybe it was too small? And how did the magazine define “barbecue”?
thanks for the link to the Travel + Leisure poll. After playing around with it a little bit (did you notice how you could pit one city head to head against another?) you have to wonder about the method behind it, but it’s fun.