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Mathew Bonville: Phantom Smoke Solo Cook and BBQ World Cup Qualifier
He drives farther than anyone in the field, cooks every contest by himself, and rewrote his whole flavor overnight to do it. Now Mathew Bonville and Phantom Smoke & BBQ are the first solo team on the road to the BBQ World Cup and a shot at $1,000,000.
William "Boogie" Whitfield of Slo-Mo-Que: BBQ World Cup Qualifier
A two-year-old danced in his sleep to a song on the radio and earned the name Boogie for life. Nearly fifty years later, that St. Louis kid is a plumber at the base of Mount Rainier and a Grand Champion, and Slo-Mo-Que is headed to the BBQ World Cup and a shot at $1,000,000.
Ryan King: Jack Daniel's World Champion and BBQ World Cup Qualifier
A jar of honey in the front yard and an episode of BBQ Pitmasters on the Fourth of July handed Ryan King a wife and a calling on the same day. Twelve years later, Kings BBQ is a world champion out of Jacksonville with a shot at $1,000,000.
South Africa Fired Up 500 Grills to Take the Biggest Braai Record Back From Japan
On Heritage Day, thousands of South Africans lit 500 grills inside a Pretoria rugby stadium to chase the world record for the biggest barbecue on Earth. The hardest part was never the fire. It was keeping everyone standing at it.
Southern Living Gathered Five Pitmasters Shaping Barbecue's Future. Most of Them Cook the Oldest Way There Is.
Southern Living sat five pitmasters down at a farm outside Charlotte and called them the future of Southern barbecue. Look closer, and the future is whole hogs over coals, live fire, and cooking done by hand. Meet the five, and the traditions they carry.
12 Teams Will Barbecue at a Greenville Ballpark to Keep a Soup Kitchen Running
This weekend at a Greenville ballpark, a dozen teams cook for a title and a cause. The Project Host BBQ Cook-Off funds about a fifth of a nonprofit that serves tens of thousands of free meals a year and trains the unemployed to cook for a living.
The World's Largest Barbecue Contest Just Got a $375 Million New Home in Kansas City
For 127 years the American Royal lived in Kansas City's West Bottoms. Now the home of the world's largest barbecue contest has a $375 million campus of its own, and at the end of September its 350-plus teams light the first fires there.
Big Belly Que Survived a Fire That Started Next Door. After 13 Months Dark, the Smithtown Barbecue Joint Is Back
The fire that closed Big Belly Que never touched its kitchen. It started next door, and the effort to stop it gutted the Smithtown barbecue joint anyway, for 13 months. The owners spent their own money to keep the crew. This month, the regulars were waiting at the door.
The Man Who Hit the Most Famous Ground Ball in Mets History Is Opening a Barbecue Joint in Albany
Mookie Wilson, the Met who beat out the ground ball that ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, is turning his family barbecue brand into a sit-down restaurant. His first brick-and-mortar spot is taking over a shuttered political hangout across from the New York state Capitol.
The Crew Behind One of Iowa's Best Barbecue Joints Just Broke Ground on the State's Most Famous Trail
The team behind Whatcha Smokin, one of central Iowa's most-loved barbecue stops, broke ground September 8 on Boxcar BBQ, a new smoke joint planted right on the High Trestle Trail in Slater. Iowa's glowing rail-trail is becoming a barbecue destination.
Before Texas Brisket Was Famous, California Was Grilling Beef Over Oak. This Weekend Santa Maria Throws Its Biggest Party.
California has its own barbecue tradition, more than 150 years old, built on beef over red oak coals. This weekend the Santa Maria Barbecue and Music Festival brings 15 teams, live music, and a beer fest to Pioneer Park, September 18 to 20.
Michelin Put an Ayden Whole Hog on the Map. Now Sam Jones Is Taking It to a Raleigh Food Hall.
Sam Jones cooks the whole-hog barbecue his family made famous in a town of 5,000. Less than a year after Michelin gave it a Bib Gourmand, the pitmaster is opening a second Raleigh spot inside Morgan Street Food Hall, expected by the end of 2026.