Fall-Off-the-Bone Goodness: The Top 5 Ribs in the Nation — Vote for Your Favorite

Find out which barbecue ribs from across the nation made the list on Top 5 Restaurants.
Barbecue Ribs

Barbecue lovers, you've come to the right place. Top 5 Restaurants just revealed the best places to get barbecue ribs, including the dry-rubbed variety and ones slathered in sauce. But when it comes to ribs, does the style really matter? Not when these ribs are cooked to perfection and packed with flavor from end to end. From North Carolina to New Mexico, we've got the restaurants that made the list.

The ribs at Helen's Bar B Q in Brownsville, Tenn., made the restaurant noteworthy, but Helen Turner's Rib Sandwich is what keeps people coming. Pitmaster Helen uses a unique recipe in that she doesn't season the ribs before smoking them; instead she lets the natural meat flavor shine. Her secret sauce is what finishes the ribs.

True barbecuers would never consider fruit as an ingredient in barbecue sauce, but Bryan King, the owner of 12 Bones Smokehouse in Asheville, N.C., took the risk of excommunication when he created the spicy blueberry-and-chipotle sauce for his ribs. The restaurant still goes through 200 racks of the now-famous ribs per day — and the restaurant's open for only lunch. If you're a fan of the sauce, make sure you leave with a bottle.

Twins Jim and John Thomas run their family's restaurant, El Pinto, in Albuquerque, N.M. What makes their ribs unlike any other is a New Mexican twist: They're rubbed in a paste of caribe chiles and allowed to marinate for 24 hours before being cooked for six hours in the oven.

Some may call them gargantuan, but the beef ribs offered at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas, have people making pilgrimages from around the world. Third-generation barbecuer Wayne Mueller gets up at 3 in the morning to start the ribs, which take seven to 10 hours. Seasoned with just salt and a generous amount of pepper, the ribs develop a bark that's legendary. Come early, as these ribs sell out quickly.

What happens when a casino executive decides to dabble in competitive barbecuing? He eventually comes to own a barbecue joint. That's what Skip Steele did when he started Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis, Mo., eight years ago. Taking inspiration from a bunch of different barbecue styles he learned in the circuit, Skip came up with a recipe that isn't sauced but is so succulent that the ribs taste like they are.

Browse through the photo gallery to see what Top 5 Restaurants features as the country’s best barbecue ribs. Then vote in the poll to tell us which dish is your favorite.

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