Best BBQ Cities: 6 GA Towns Served On National Ranking

GEORGIA — Charred hot dogs, saucy ribs and juicy burgers permeate the air during summer - especially in one of the 2024 Best BBQ Cities in America.

LawnStarter, a lawn care blog, dished out 500 of the nation's best barbecue towns based on five categories: access to barbecue vendors and smokehouses, consumer ratings, competition awards, the number of barbecue festivals and elite barbecue memberships.

While Kansas City, Missouri, may have taken the prime spot on LawnStarter's latest ranking, Atlanta slid in at No. 27 and cemented its position as one of the country's top 30 areas for barbecue.

Atlanta ranked as follows:

• Access: 12
• Consumer Satisfaction: 22
• Competition Awards: 88
• Elite BBQ Memberships: 24
• Hosting: 79

West Coast town Los Angeles, California, rounded out the top 5 and was listed as one of the three cities with the best barbecue vendors and high consumer satisfaction. The remaining two cities were San Antonio, Texas, and Houston, Texas.

RELATED: Best Barbecue Joint In GA Goes To Atlanta Eatery, Southern Living Says

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 prize-winning cooking teams, LawnStarter said.

Here's the top 10 Best BBQ Cities in America and their overall scores:

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: 31.69

In Georgia, these towns 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: No. 204, overall score of 9.77
• Columbus: No. 224, overall score of 9.38

See the full list and the methodology here.