The One Sign That Shows You're Not At A Good Barbecue Restaurant

Pitmasters and diehard barbecue fans know that true barbecue is not an arena with which to be meddled. Don't mess with Texas, and don't mess with Texas-style (or Memphis-style, or South Carolina-style, etc.) barbecue. To tell if a barbecue restaurant is worth its weight in sauce, guests should be able to see a smoker — and if they don't see it, they should be able to smell it at work.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines "barbecue" as an outdoor meal where food is "roasted over a wood or charcoal fire." Merriam-Webster expounds that barbecues include specific tools and techniques like "cooking usually slowly and with exposure to low heat and to smoke." Indeed, barbecue is all about a low, slow cook, and the presence of smoke is what differentiates barbecue from other slow-cooking methods. Gas and electricity do not equal a wood fire, and if a restaurant doesn't have a visible smoker somewhere on the premises, then chances are, your brisket has just been cooked over a sub-par gas or electric stove. 

Another hallmark of this error is the absence of a visible wood stack. If you don't spy a pile of lumber somewhere around the restaurant's exterior, pray it's indoors, covered. But if you can neither smell wood burning nor see a stack of logs, it's time to move on to a different barbecue restaurant. Pro tip: Your clothes should still smell like wood smoke after you leave.

Alternatively (yet similarly), if you spy a gargantuan, too-clean, "come hither" smoker obviously displayed in front of the joint, take a closer look: Has it ever been used to actually cook meat? Are the staff simply stoking a fire inside to create the aromatic, sensory illusion of a real smoker? These ornamental idols are also a red flag indicating a menu filled with non-wood-fired barbecue. Want to sink your teeth into more meaty tips? Expert pitmasters told Tasting Table other simple ways to tell you're at a good barbecue restaurant.

Barbecue is a longstanding and fiercely-protected source of regional pride and should be regarded with proportionate respect. In America, sociologist John Shelton Reed (in his book "On Barbecue") said, "Barbecue is the closest thing we have to a national cuisine." That honed craft has even birthed the invention of such innovative tools as the Chicago-style aquarium smoker. Liquid smoke or any other type of shortcut aren't welcome in this beloved domain. Only a wood smoker can get the job done — especially if foodies are paying sit-down restaurant prices for it. For more inspo, we've rounded up the 50 best barbecue restaurants in the U.S. to make sure foodies only shell out for the good stuff.