Best Cities for Barbecue: 6 Georgia Cities Ranked Nationally

GEORGIA — Charred hot dogs, savory ribs and juicy burgers fill the air during the summer, especially in one of America’s 2024 Best Barbecue Cities.

LawnStarter, a lawn care blog, ranked 500 of the best barbecue towns in the country based on five categories: access to barbecue vendors and smokehouses, consumer ratings, contest awards, number of barbecue festivals and elite barbecue club memberships.

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While Kansas City, Missouri, takes the top spot in LawnStarter’s latest ranking, Atlanta slides in at No. 27, solidifying its position as one of the top 30 regions in the country for barbecue.

Atlanta is ranked as follows:

• Access: 12
• Consumer satisfaction: 22
• Competition prize: 88
• Elite BBQ Memberships: 24
• Accommodation: 79

The West Coast city of Los Angeles, California, rounds out the top five, ranking among the top three cities with the highest barbecue sales and consumer satisfaction. The other two cities are San Antonio, Texas, and Houston, Texas.

South Fulton was named among 21 cities that tied for last place with zero or few barbecue establishments or smokehouses, no barbecue festivals and no award-winning cooking teams, LawnStarter said.

Here are the top 10 best barbecue cities in America and their overall ratings:

1. Kansas City, Missouri: 55.13
2. Memphis, Tennessee: 47.74
3. Houston, Texas: $43.95
4. Kansas City, Kansas: 37.98
5. Los Angeles, California: 36.2
6. St. Louis, Missouri: 36.06
7. Austin, Texas: 35.92
8. San Antonio, Texas: 34.66
9. Chicago, Illinois: 34.1
10. New York, New York State: 31.69

In Georgia, these cities are ranked among the best in the Peach State:

• Atlanta: No. 27, overall score of 23.25
• Savannah: No. 33, overall score of 21.24
• Macon: No. 107, overall score of 12.85
• Athens: No. 150, overall score of 11.28
• Roswell: #204, overall rating 9.77
• Columbus: No. 224, 9.38 overall rating

See the full list and methodology here.