Nation's best barbecue (or why you shouldn't trust the media)

When I was visiting Syracuse recently, a local told me to try out Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, saying that it was recently voted America's best barbecue place. When I'm traveling by myself, I hate going to a sit-down restaurant, but ... such a good barbecue place in the nation's snowiest city (although this year, Washington DC may take the crown)? I swallowed my skepticism and distaste of eating alone, took a book (Strangers in the Land of Egypt by Stephen March) and went.

The ribs were decent but the chicken was awful. I didn't try the shrimp and I don't eat beef. So, overall, I'd rate the place 3 on a scale of 5. America's best barbecue joint? Not even close. Even the overwrought chain restaurant down the street from our office has better meat than this. If I had any doubt about whether America's national media were doing their job, it's all settled now. They simply have no clue.

So, anyway, what's my choice for best barbecue? I have to go with an Oklahoma place, of course. And that would be this little shack just north of Pontotoc, Oklahoma. I don't remember the name of the place, but here it is on Google Maps. Well worth the 2-hour drive from Norman. I have good memories too of Salt Lick just outside of Austin.

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