BBQ Restaurants in Nashville – The 7 most popular

Best BBQ Restaurants in Nashville … hmm .. Let’s be real here. This is one of those “It’s a personal taste thing”. I’ve eaten at several barbecue places in Nashville. Of the ones I’ve tried on this list, they were all good. My best friend Wayne has his favorite place, I have mine, and that’s fine.

Best BBQ Restaurants in Nashville has a Memphis-style BBQ influence with a couple of places having more Texas style. Nashville tends to have a smokier flavor to their meats. Each city has its own version of wet and dry pork ribs as well as pulled pork and sauces.

I’ve eaten barbeque in both Nashville and Memphis, and even other states such as Texas, Carolinas, New Orleans, and more. I have experience in tasting good BBQ!

What Style BBQ is Nashville?

As mentioned above Nashville’s BBQ has a similar style as Memphis. West Tennessee style or also known as Memphis style bbq is slow-cooked in a “pit”. Of course, the “pit” is now replaced with modern-day smokers. The barbecue sauces are all pretty much tomato-based. Dry rubs are a mixture of herbs and spices then the meat is slow-smoked at a very low temperature. Typically any meats that utilize dry rubs don’t require any sauces.

What are the Best BBQ Restaurants in Nashville?

I scoured through MANY FB groups, website articles, and Nashville forums to get what the people claim to be the best bbq restaurants in Nashville. However, I could have just given my personal opinion of MY favorite bbq places that I’ve eaten at .. but .. thats just MY opinion. Yours could be different.

I took note of the most mentioned places that were very much liked to write this article. Yes, I actually did research to give you the most informed information I possibly could. This is why there are only 7 BBQ restaurants mentioned in this article.

Here are the most popular bbq restaurants in Nashville

Peg Leg Porker

Of all the research I did, Peg Leg Porker was the most mentioned and suggested. Carey Bringle is an award-winning Pitmaster who owns Peg Leg and Bringles Smoking Oasis. Peg Leg Porker was the first of the two he opened. It took off by storm!!

Not only has Peg Leg Porker been voted THE best bbq restaurant in Nashville, Southern Living Magazine picked Peg Leg Porker as the best in the state of Tennessee. This is indeed saying something huge because Memphis is known as the mecca of barbecue. If you were only in Nashville for one day and wanted to try “only in Nashville food”, I do highly recommend this place.

Although Carey brings the West Tennessee style bbq to Nashville, he adds his own twist that has won him several awards. On the menu are some of the best dry rub ribs you ever sank your teeth into. I know … I’ve eaten there several times. In addition, there is the bbq chicken, nachos, pulled pork, and much more. Peg Leg Porker even has its own straight Tennessee Bourbon whiskey for you to try.

Wanna know more? Go check out Peg Leg Porkers’ website by clickin here.

In Nashville for only one day: Click here

Bringles Smoking Oasis

Here is the second great delicious place created by Carey Bringle. Bringles Smoking Oasis is gaining popularity very quickly!! The reason it made the second position isn’t that the same fella owns it. It was right up there with Peg Leg Porker in highly rated mentions in all the research I did.

At this bbq location, Carey serves up some West Texas-style beef ribs that practically fall off the bone. There are some good pork choices as well to choose from. Can’t forget the sides aaaannd … yum Smoked Bologna!!

Of the restaurants listed in this article, the first two were the most mentioned and praised bbq restaurants in Nashville.

Wanna know more? Go check out Bringles Smoking Oasis by clickin here.

Martins BBQ

There are multiple locations of Martins throughout Nashville. There are even locations in Kentucky Alabama and South Carolina. So where ever you go in Nashville there is sure to be a location close to you.

I’ve eaten at Martins at the downtown location and Mt. Juliet. Of the bbq restaurants in Nashville, the downtown location located on 4th Ave has an awesome beer garden in the back with lots of tables to accommodate a large party if needed. It’s got almost a forest vibe to the decor. It is really neat.

So there are lots of locations and cool scenery, but how’s the food? It is excellent! Everything is made in-house from scratch. I do suggest you get there as early s possible. Being that they do smoke the meats on-site, they only have so much per day. When they run out … well .. they are out.

Wanna know more? Go check out Martins BBQ by clickin here.

Shotgun Willies

As mentioned above, the bulk of Nashville’s BBQ is West Tennessee style. Shotgun Willies does bbq Texas-style right over an open fire. Offering you Black Angus brisket, prime local farmer corn fed pork, and Kiolbassa sausage hand crafted in San Antonio Texas.

Shotgun Willies started out as a food trailer running around Nashville. In 2017 Bill and his brisket won the “Best in Nashville” by the Nashville Scene media company. He started up his brick-and-mortar location in the Inglewood part of East Nashville in 2019.

Wanna know more? Go check out Shotgun Willies by clickin here.

Jacks BarB Que

Jacks Bar-B-Que has 3 bbq restaurants in Nashville. They are Charlotte Pike, and Trinity Lane, and the most popular location is right on Broadway.

Jacks serves pork, beef brisket, turkey, ribs, smoked sausage, and smoked chicken. I’ve eaten at the Charlotte Pike location and I gotta say it is pretty good. I know I said that the Broadway location is the most popular. If I’m running around the Lower Broadway / SoBro area, I’m not going after bbq. There are many other varieties of foods around that area that I really like.

Wanna know more? Go check out Jacks BarB Que by clickin here.

Rippys Honky Tonk

If you want dang good barbecue and more, a good time, dancing, and live music. Rippys is the place to be! Located right smack in the middle of Lower Broadway in the heart of all the action, this little honky tonk restaurant can feed yer belly while serving up a good time.

Of all the bbq restaurants on this list, this one has the most variety of foods to offer. They got salads, chicken fingers, sandwiches, wraps, and even a kids menu. Heck, they even got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As for the bbq offerings, there are half and full slab of ribs, smoked chicken, smoked pulled pork, grilled bbq chicken, and even bbq nachos.

Come on by Rippys and check it out. I might suggest you snack then dance a while, then have a good entree. If you pig out first you may be too stuffed to get your boogie on.

Wanna know more? Check out Rippys Hony Tonk by clickin here.

Edlys Bar-B-Que

There are 5 locations total with 3 of them being in Nashville. I’ve eaten at the East Nashville and the 12 South Location several times. Depending on the vibe you are looking for will dictate which location you may like better.

Edley’s is known to the locals as being a sports bar that serves bbq. They have that loud cheering energy that comes with getting excited when your favorite team scores. The East Nashville location tends to be the louder crew and that’s mainly because that’s where many of the East Nashville locals hang out at. The 12 South location is a tad bit more laid back but has a larger outdoor patio to chill and eat.

At Edly’s there is a good selection of smoked meats to choose from. There are ribs, brisket, burnt ends, pork, chicken, and turkey. The fried catfish is really good as are their other fried selections. And of course, they have sides, salads, and desserts for about anyone’s tastes.

Wanna know more? Go check out Edley’s Bar-B-Que by clickin here.

There are many bbq restaurants in Nashville. These highlighted in this article are the most mentioned and suggested of them all according to the research I did in forums, Facebook groups, and websites. I wanted to give you informed and researched data, not just some one person’s opinion. Hope this helps!!

I’ll add more pics later. It is late and I got to work tomorrow 🙂 Welp .. it’s late again from working on another article. I realized I need more pics for this one. That means I gotta go eat some BBQ to get some pictures. Darn, being a blogger is hard work 🙂 Yea right!!!

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