Where There's Smoke. . .

There's no doubt folks are passionate about what they eat, but whenever Texans find themselves on the subject of barbecue you can be sure a fiery dispute is right around the corner. No surprise then, the overwhelming response we've received to Texas Monthly's May issue featuring the comprehensive cover story on this Lone Star staple. We've been inundated with reader email proclaiming favorite joints with a loyalty that would make Sam Houston proud (Uncle Dan's in Waco is so good that my mother-in-law gave me 5lbs. of brisket for a Christmas present), and almost predictably, it's the mom and pop operations that garner the most fervent support. A few reader reactions questioned some of our top choices and our barbecue expertise in general ("your staff doesn't know barbecue sauce from B.S."), while still other replies show concern that someplace worthy might have been missed.

Our mission worked like this: During the month of March, Texas Monthly editors Joe Nick Patoski, Patricia Sharpe, and John Morthland, along with freelance writers Jim Shahin and Richard Zelade (all barbecue devotees in their own right), sampled the wares at 245 places across the state, rated them on a score from 1-5, and wrote about their favorites -- anything that scored 3.5 or higher. Consensus was reached on the top trio -- the Big 3 as we call them here, and you'll also find write-ups for 50 of the worthiest smoke shacks beyond that.

Once you've perused the meat of the matter, visit the links on our barbecue oddities page. The sheer number of barbecue related websites from every region in the U.S. (though here we've attempted to stay close to home) is a phenomenon in itself.