Which pitmaster is doing the best sausage? Who goes wild with their sides? Where do you need to pre-order from? This venue-by-venue guide breaks it down.
America sometimes feels like 50 little countries in one – no wonder its residents hold fierce allegiance to their regional food specialties. There are heated debates over which state makes the best pizza, the best sub (aka hoagie, aka hero, depending on where you live) and, of course, the best barbecue.
“I couldn’t pick one region,” says Lance Rosen, who travelled around the US researching the menu for what would become Big Boy BBQ in Caulfield South, allegedly Melbourne’s first American barbecue restaurant, having opened in 2011.
“You’ve really got to respect the heritage and all the traditional styles,” he adds.
The history of barbecue is as layered as its smoky flavour. The term, a derivative of “barbacoa”, traces back to the Taino people of the Caribbean, who smoked meat and seafood on wooden frames set above an open fire. The technique was passed to enslaved African people who refined the style as they put down roots in the American South, shaping the slow-cooked, smoke-kissed barbecue we know today.
Eating your way across America, you’ll find four distinct regional styles, each one influenced by indigenous, African and European traditions.
“The meats are mostly the same wherever you go; it’s what you’re adding that differs,” says Rosen. “The pitmasters in all the different regions are taking influences they’ve had and putting their own spins on it.”
In North Carolina, where this writer grew up, pulled pork is king. It’s shredded, doused in a vinegar-based sauce and served in bread rolls or alongside slaw and hushpuppies, the deep-fried cornmeal nuggets that dominate the region.
Hickory-smoked ribs take centre stage in Memphis, Tennessee, either served “dry” (spice-rubbed) or “wet” (brushed with sauce). Kansas City, Missouri, leans even saucier with its signature tomato-molasses blend slathered on everything from turkey to burnt ends (pieces cut from the fatty point of brisket and smoked until caramelised). And in Texas, it’s all about beef brisket cooked low and slow – a natural choice for a state built on cattle ranching.
Melbourne may not have the same deep-rooted barbecue culture, but the scene is growing, shaped by expats and well-travelled locals who have eaten their way through the US barbecue belt and are adding their own flair.
Whether you’re craving pulled pork, smoked ribs or standout brisket, these seven spots are worth seeking out (especially if a trip to the States is off the cards for you).
For slow-smoked lamb: Fancy Hanks
American barbecue typically leans on pork and beef, but Fancy Hank’s makes a case for Australia’s national meat. Choose from braised lamb shank glazed with adobo (a smoky Mexican-style chilli sauce), or juicy merguez-style smoked lamb sausage wound into a tight spiral and served with chicken salt slaw.
Throw in sides like brisket baked beans or “fancy” mac and cheese with house-smoked bacon lardons and pork scratchings (also known as crackling). Despite its location on the first floor of a CBD building, the kitchen sticks to tradition, cooking everything in a custom-built, two-tonne smoker named Puffing Billie that’s taken residence in the venue since 2016.
1/79 Bourke Street, Melbourne, fancyhanks.com
For barbecue sandwiches: Il Texas Barbecue
This newcomer is smoking some of the city’s best Texas-style barbecue in the unlikeliest of places – Italian food hall Il Mercato Centrale at the city’s Southern Cross end. It’s led by Texas native Tim Jordan and Aussie pitmaster and executive chef Nathan Zammit (both behind Armstrong Barbecue in Geelong).
While smoking is usually an open-air operation, the duo have built a smoker directly into their stall and cook brisket and pork for up to 18 hours. If you’re after something quick and handheld, sandwiches (made with Martin’s potato buns) are a great place to start. Choose from pulled pork, chopped Black Angus brisket or a brisket and jalapeno cheddar sausage combo.
546 Collins Street, Melbourne, mercatocentrale.com.au
For standout sausage: Red Gum BBQ
At Australia’s first B Corp-certified restaurant, owners Melissa and Martin Goffin (from the US and England respectively) exclusively source proteins from ethical Victorian producers and smoke them over local red gum. Otways pork is prepared Carolina-style, the brisket uses Gippsland beef, and chicken – smoked breast with the peppery mayo-based Alabama white sauce – hails from Bannockburn.
While each is worth a try, the unexpected highlight is the house-made sausage. Made from brisket and pork trimmings and studded with cheddar and jalapeno, it’s a snappy, spicy bite that reflects the restaurant’s sustainability ethos. You can add a slice of white bread for $1 if you want to turn it into a sausage sanga.
87 Arthur’s Seat Road, Red Hill, redgumbbq.com.au
For all things pork: Big Earle’s
Tucked in an industrial part of Port Melbourne, Big Earle’s began as a way for owner Grant Slotboom to feed the crew at his family’s film set company, Illusions. Word spread and eight years later, it’s a full-fledged barbecue joint known for super-sized platters, rotating sandwich specials and its annual barbecue festival, Burning Earle. Here, it’s all about pork, cooked over red gum and ironbark in a repurposed Qantas jet engine compressor.
The quiet standout is the pork butt, a tender shoulder cut. Find it on the Mega Tasting Plate alongside saucy, fall-off-the-bone ribs and spicy pork sausage, or go for the pork butt-loaded fries. While the venue awaits a liquor licence, you can BYO in the company of vintage signs and larger-than-life film set statues.
273 Ingles Street, Port Melbourne, instagram.com/bigearlesbbq
For barbecue with all the fixings: Southern Grace Diner by Big Boy BBQ
South African-born Lance Rosen first fell in love with barbecue on a trip to Kansas City. Since then, he’s built a 13-year-old barbecue institution drawing from all over the map, including Australia.
His brisket, rubbed in a Texas-style spice blend (salt, pepper, garlic and additional spices) and cooked over pecan wood, is a staple but you’ll also find rotating specials like pastrami, Sichuan-spiced ribs and jerk chicken. Sides, which riff on soul food classics, are no afterthought.
The mac and cheese is among the closest approximations of gooey, American-style elbow noodles you’ll find in Melbourne. Cornbread arrives in massive, perfectly sweet hunks — true to Southern tradition — ready to soak up sauce. And desserts such as peanut butter chocolate pies lean into Americana excess.
764 Glen Huntly Road, Caulfield South,bigboybbq.com.au
For brisket and burnt ends: The Bearded Pig
What started as a food truck in Hayley and Matt Antonello’s driveway has grown in 18 months to become a cult-favourite barbecue spot in a northern suburbs warehouse, with lines often stretching down the block.
The brisket, rubbed with salt, pepper, tomato powder, mustard and other spices, is slow-cooked over Victorian red gum for 16 hours. Pile it into sandwiches with double cheese and chipotle mayo, or get it in a combo pack with pulled pork, mac and cheese, apple slaw and a brioche bun.
Burnt ends, a fan favourite, are double-smoked and lacquered in the house barbecue sauce. (Pro tip: add them to any order for $19.) There are a few communal tables but the venue mainly caters for takeaway and items sell out fast, so pre-ordering is recommended.
39 Mologa Road, Heidelberg West, thebeardedpig.com.au
For Latin-American barbecue: Bluestone American BBQ
Southern and South American barbecue share a common foundation: slow-cooked meats cooked over regional wood varieties and eaten communally. At Bluestone, co-owner Al Malel draws from both, blending the Uruguayan grilling methods he grew up with and the American smoking techniques he later mastered.
Malel uses applewood to add depth to paprika-rubbed, barbecue-glazed chicken thighs. Chimichurri, the herb-forward Latin American condiment, is offered as an alternative to barbecue sauce. Cuban-style pulled pork with Venezuelan arepas (corn cakes) sits alongside classic Texan brisket. Even the Southern staple of grits gets a twist, slow-cooked for six hours and laced with Californian-style pepper jack cheese.
470 Sydney Road, Coburg, bluestoneamericanbbq.com
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