I am here, and am ready to have some REAL barbecue. Does anyone have suggestions of where to go. I am here for 4 nights and am hoping to have something different each night. Best other places would be good too. I like all kinds a food. Lemme know.

 

Wish I could have gotten to you sooner. If you're ever back there try "Dreamland".

 

We have a "Dreamland" barbeque in Mobile. I think it sucks. Ribs are tough, sauce is average and the price is through the roof for what you get. "Sonny's" is pretty good and have quite a few around the south, but in Mobile, Saucy Que is the best.

 

The orginal Dreamland is Tuscaloosa is the only good one. The rest suck.

 

If your ever back in B'ham try ' Jim N Nicks' or Johnny Ray's BBQ. Those are my personal favorites here. Also Bob Sykes BBQ in Bessemer is a great place for bbq.

 

Hello. Sorry to register on your forums for a drive-by thread resurrection, but I was trying to find the name of a BBQ restaurant in Bessemer that I'd heard good things about and this awful thread of BBQ misinformation was one of the top links. I can not let the good BBQ reputation of my home town be tarnished by the philistines above. Jim 'n Nick's? Johnny Ray's? Seriously? Those are two of the WORST examples of the BBQ-quality dillution that has taken place in the south at the hands of careless private investors and a risk-averse, family-centric market that cares more about the staid, family friendly interior of a restaurant than they do the quality of its food. I pray that the OP didn't venture to these two hackery's and summarily form the opinion that B'ham BBQ is crap.

Now, B'ham's in a bit of a weird spot for que, geographically speaking. As we all know BBQ choices change depending on which part of the country you're in. For instance, in Birmingham no one's going to fetch you a beef brisket with some awful carolina vineager sauce. Since Birmingham is in the deep south most of the BBQ is pulled or chopped pork. If you go a few hours north of Birmingham you're squarely in rib country. The Ham has been blessed with the best of both worlds.

Now, I honestly don't know as much about the BBQ around the Magic City as I should. Birmingham is a big city (over 1 million) and the food choices are phenomenal for a city of its size. So, if it's too far off the beaten path for me then chances are I haven't been there, but I'm always trying to change that whenever I hear about new places. Anyways, my vote for the best Barbeque joints around Birmingham are:

Ribs:
Dreamland -- Southside Birmingham at something like 13th ave south and 15th street. Although it's not as good as the original in Tuscaloosa it's still pretty darn good. The meat really isn't what it used to be, but it has quite possibly the tastiest BBQ sauce on earth. I'd recommend going to the original in Tuscaloosa but then you might miss out on the best rib joint in Alabama...

Archibald's -- Tuscaloosa/Northport (about 45 minutes to the sw on I-20/59). The best smoked rib meat you'll ever sink your teeth into. Their sauce is only average, but the quality of their ribs has few rivals. Their smoked hot wings are also quite tasty. There are two locations: a shack (the original) and a newer, more seat-friendly restaurant on the other side of Northport. Purists swear that the original location is better, but I'd choose the other location if I had my heart set on finding a seating place.

Real BBQ:
Ken's -- A little north of Tarrant on 79 (Tarrant is about 15 minutes north of Birmingham on hwy 79). As common roadtrip logic tells us: any restaurant that has several trucks and a couple police cruisers out front has to be good. Ken's is one of those places. Few around town have heard of Ken's (Tarrant is a very industrial part of the city), and I'm often met with disagreeing scoffs when I laud it as the best BBQ joint, but all it usually takes is one trip up old 79 to silence them. I always get a large plate, but it's pretty hard to go wrong here. Make sure try some pie - it's also oustanding.

Tin Roof -- Hoover off of valleydale rd and I-65 (about 10 minutes south of downtown). This is one of those antispetic, family-friendly BBQ restaurants not unlike the other two I castigated earlier in this post. The difference? Tin Roof doesnt suck! I'd highly recommend this place for the timid BBQ-seeker or anyone not wanting to go too far out of town.

Now that I look at it, it makes me feel a little sad that those are the only two true BBQ restaurants left around Bimgingham that I actually like. Oh well, maybe one day Birminghamians will learn to take on the responsibility of preserving the city's culture by patronizing their local businesses. Until then, make sure you hit up these places the next time you're in the Magic city and hungering for some goo