Best BBQ Cities: 10 VA Towns Served On National Ranking

VIRGINIA — Charred hot dogs, saucy ribs and juicy burgers permeate the air during summer - especially in one of the 2024 Best BBQ Cities in America. While Kansas City was ranked No. 1 in the nation for barbecue, 10 Virginia cities, including Alexandria, made the rankings.

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, Richmond slid in at No. 18 and cemented its position as one of the country's top 25 areas for barbecue.

Richmond ranked as follows:

• Access: 44
• Consumer Satisfaction: 9
• Competition Awards: 12
• Elite BBQ Memberships: 54
• Hosting: 79

In Virginia, these towns ranked among the best in the Old Dominion:

• Richmond: No. 18, overall score of 26.51
• Virginia Beach: No. 103, overall score of 13.05
• Norfolk: No. 135, overall score of 11.86
• Hampton: No. 159, overall score of 11.16
• Newport News: No. 190, overall score of 10.12
• Suffolk: No. 192, overall score of 10.05
• Roanoke: No. 232, overall score of 9.09
• Chesapeake: No. 250, overall score of 8.39
• Alexandria: No. 288, overall score of 7.65
• Lynchburg: No. 420, overall score of 6.06

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

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.

See the full list and the methodology here.

Related:

• Best Barbecue Joint In VA Named By Southern Living Magazine
• 64 VA Restaurants Honored With Wine Spectator Awards; 1 Receives Grand Award