America's Top 25 Barbecue Chains

See your list of the best barbecue chains in America. We ranked them based on your votes.

Not surprisingly, this Northeast-based chain that opened its doors on 9/11 has two America-centric "missions." First and foremost is to provide the most American of dishes (barbecue) using the highest-quality ingredients. Second, the ownership supports non-profits that focus on veterans and law enforcement as well as take a special interest in hiring veterans. The menu highlights the best of the nation's barbecue styles, from Texas-inspired brisket to St. Louis-style ribs.

For more than 30 years, this barbecue chain — which grew out of a single restaurant opened in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1981 by an assistant football coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide — has always smoked its meats the traditional way: slowly, over a hickory wood-fired pit and spiced with its award-winning barbecue sauce. Calling itself the "Best Little Pork House in Alabama," this joint has 12 locations throughout the state. Full Moon features its famed hickory-smoked pork, pulled chicken, turkey, Black Angus beef brisket, pork links, and its famous baby back ribs and spareribs. The menu is huge and offers a selection of stuffed potatoes like the Big Baker, which includes pork, cheese, butter, and sour cream; salads; and a sweet list of desserts, including its popular Half Moon cookies, made from scratch, filled with chocolate and pecans, and hand-dipped in chocolate sauce.

We know that New York City isn't the traditional hub of barbecue, but the city's growing demand for slow-roasted meats is making it competitive on a national scale. Although there are many standalone shops in the Big Apple, Brother Jimmy's was one of the forerunners. There are now nine spots, spread from Connecticut to Florida, that specialize in North Carolina-style barbecue and have become a home away from home for ACC alumni. The anything-goes Southern hospitality welcomes everyone from rowdy sports fans to families.

This Florida-based chain has 67 locations in 17 states, and the name doesn't lie: There's some serious hickory smoke going on at every location, 24 hours a day. Pulled pork is hickory-smoked for 11 hours, beef brisket is available after 4 p.m. every day after being smoked for 14 hours (and sells out regularly), turkey is smoked for three hours, and ribs (both baby back and St. Louis-style) are smoked for four hours. Go for their top-seller, the pulled pork: Each location goes through between 70 and 100 pounds of it daily, and you have more than 40 beer options to wash it all down with.

Founded 26 years ago in Arlington, Virginia, by a group of Southern transplants (including the late former Republican National Committee chairman Lee Atwater, from Atlanta, and former Tennessee governor and House member Don Sundquist) looking for good barbecue in D.C., the chain today has additional locations in Maryland, Texas, New Jersey, Missouri, and North Carolina. The restaurants have a distinctly Southern vibe, with menu items including fried Delta catfish and chicken-fried steak, but it's the barbecue that's been the secret to its success. St. Louis-style ribs are served wet, dry-rubbed, or sweet; pulled chicken and pork are hickory-smoked low and slow; brisket is served sliced or chopped; sausages are smoked and grilled; and, thankfully, sampler platters are available so you can try a little bit of everything.

A barbecue chain in Texas is held to a higher standard than in the rest of country — Texans, proud of their meats and their barbecue, are tough to impress. This family-owned chain of four restaurants has such a following that the owners have developed a healthy mail-order business as well. All the mesquite-smoked meats are delicious and rely on roasting the meats over embers. However, the big chop is the specialty that has developed a cult following. This cut of meat takes an hour to cook over low heat. With more than 50 years of experience, this mini chain has earned our trust for out-of-the-box barbecue meat.

If you're going to open a chain of barbecue restaurants in the Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and Colorado, you had better make sure that your product is on-point. A visit to Jim 'N Nick's, which was founded in 1985 by a father-son duo in Birmingham, Alabama, and now has 34 locations (with three more in the works), will show you that this is the real deal. Perennial exhibitors at best-of-the-best showcases like New York's Big Apple BBQ Block Party, they smoke their own pork (sold pulled or chopped with a vinegary Carolina-style sauce), spare and baby back ribs, house-cured bone-in ham, legendary house-made pork hot links, chicken, turkey breast, and beef brisket, all of which are served with a big dose of Southern hospitality. They also offer a killer hickory-grilled burger and pimiento cheese sandwich, but honestly, you're going to want to reserve all the room in your stomach for this crazy-good barbecue.

4 Rivers is the brainchild of Florida barbecue master John Rivers. Since opening in October 2009, it has become incredibly well-respected, with nine operating smokehouses across the state. Rivers' backstory is certainly nontraditional: He spent 20 years in the health care industry, but during his travels he decided to learn everything there is to know about barbecue, and after retiring he set about perfecting his own recipes. The smoker at each location is on at full blast throughout the day and night, smoking everything from Angus brisket, St. Louis ribs, pork shoulders, and chicken to wings, jalapeños, and a "brontosaurus" beef rib. The meat alone is enough to leave you happy and satisfied, but don't forget about the sandwiches, like the famed Texas Destroyer: smoked brisket, onion rings, jalapeños, and melted provolone smothered in house barbecue sauce.

With more than 470 locations across the country, Dickey's, founded by Travis Dickey more than 70 years ago, is the world's largest barbecue franchise. Each location pit-smokes its meat on the premises, and free kids' meals are still offered every Sunday. While it's certainly old-fashioned, that's the result of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. Meats are served by the pound, and include Southern-style pulled pork, hickory-smoked brisket, honey ham, spicy Cheddar and Polish sausages, pork ribs, chicken, and turkey breast. There are no frills at Dickey's, just solid, honest-to-goodness barbecue.

A Minnesota-based chain founded by a Chippewa Indian might strike some as a surprising place to find great barbecue, but Dave Anderson really knows his stuff. Since starting the company in 1994, he's opened more than 200 locations and has become a formidable contender on the competitive barbecue circuit. Anderson has mastered just about every variety of barbecue, and it's all on display on his menu. Texas beef brisket is dry-rubbed and hickory-smoked, Georgia-style chopped pork is smoked for 12 hours, Memphis-style rib tips are coated in a spicy dry rub, and the St. Louis-style spare ribs are smoked for four hours, then slathered in a sweet and sticky sauce and grilled until they're caramelized. Don't leave without trying the brisket burnt ends; they're tender, smoky, and caramelized in a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce that you can (thankfully) bring home in a bottle.

This Kansas City-based chain, whose roots go all the back to 1957, has three locations in the city proper, one in Overland Park, and a fifth in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Jack Stack is classic Kansas City all the way, using hickory wood fire to quickly smoke lots of different varieties of meat, including pork spare ribs, beef ribs, baby back ribs, beef brisket (including burnt ends), turkey, ham, pork, sausage, rack of lamb, and several types of seafood. Don't miss the hickory pit beans or cheesy corn bake, and if you can't make it to one of the locations, they'll ship nationwide.

Last year, this nearly-two-decade-old chain did not even appear on our list, and now it's rocketed up to No. 2. Two key principles likely explain City Barbeque's meteoric rise: preparing sides from scratch throughout the day and allowing 18 hours to smoke the meats. The chain of 30 shops isn't looking to grow too rapidly and won't franchise, enabling the owners to ensure the quality behind the name. Don't expect to find a single barbecue philosophy here: the crew samples regional styles and serves up their favorites from the Carolinas to Texas. Purists may not approve, but our voters surely did.