BBQ is big business here in the United States.
The growing demand for the grill shows no signs of slowing down, with an 81% increase in searches for ‘BBQ’ between April 2021 and April 2022 and over 51% of all US restaurants offering BBQ dishes on their menus.
When people go for dinner, they often share snaps with their followers on Instagram to showcase the delicious food but how popular are the top BBQ restaurants on Instagram? We thought we’d find out!
To do this, we analyzed the Instagram location data of over 700 BBQ restaurants right across the US to determine how many people have tagged themselves at each location and in that revealing which BBQ restaurants are the most Instagrammable.
The results were quite something!
Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas was the most popular on Instagram for BBQ goers by some distance, with over 63,200 posts.
Coming in at second was Rippy’s Bar & Grill in Nashville, Tennessee with 33,600 posts, followed closely behind by another Austin Restaurant in Terry Black’s Barbecue with 33,200 posts.
Unsurprisingly, Texas restaurants featured heavily in the top 50, with 13 restaurants making the list. California was another high scorer, boasting eight on the list.
Another hotspot for Instagram BBQ lovers was Tennessee. Nashville ranked twice in the top ten alone with Rippy’s Bar and Grill and Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint amassing a combined total of 55,700 posts.
The top 50 Most Instagrammable BBQ restaurants in the US are:
| Rank | Restaurant | City | Number of tagged posts on Instagram |
| 1 | Franklin Barbecue | Austin, Texas | 63,200 |
| 2 | Rippy’s Bar & Grill | Nashville, Tennessee | 33,600 |
| 3 | Terry Black’s Barbecue | Austin, Texas | 33,200 |
| 4 | Kang Hodong Baekjeong | Los Angeles, California | 30,600 |
| 5 | Green Street Smoked Meats | Chicago, Illinois | 25,500 |
| 6 | Fox Bros. BBQ | Atlanta, Georgia | 25,300 |
| 7 | Quarter’s Korean BBQ | Los Angeles, California | 23,700 |
| 8 | Woodshed Smokehouse | Fort Worth, Texas | 23,400 |
| 9 | Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint | Nashville, Tennessee | 22,200 |
| 10 | Ellis Island BBQ | Las Vegas, Nevada | 21,300 |
| 11 | Pecan Lodge | Dallas, Texas | 20,700 |
| 12 | COTE Korean Steakhouse | New York City, New York | 20,300 |
| 13 | Jongro BBQ | New York City, New York | 19,700 |
| 14 | Stiles Switch BBQ | Austin, Texas | 19,100 |
| 15 | Lamberts Downtown | Austin, Texas | 17,300 |
| 16 | Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ | Austin, Texas | 16,600 |
| 17 | Slows Bar BQ | Detroit, Michigan | 16,500 |
| 18 | Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous | Memphis, Tennessee | 15,600 |
| 19 | The Pit Authentic Barbecue | Raleigh, North Carolina | 15,600 |
| 20 | Central BBQ | Memphis, Tennessee | 15,100 |
| 21 | Peg Leg porker | Nashville, Tennessee | 15,100 |
| 22 | Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ | New York City, New York | 14,800 |
| 23 | Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar B Que | Long Beach, California | 14,600 |
| 24 | Lockhart Smokehouse | Dallas, Texas | 14,300 |
| 25 | Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ | Chicago, Illinois | 14,300 |
| 26 | Texas de Brazil | Miami, Florida | 13,900 |
| 27 | County Line on the Lake | Austin,Texas | 13,700 |
| 28 | Char Bar | Kansas City, Mississippi | 13,200 |
| 29 | Bub City | Chicago, Illinois | 13,000 |
| 30 | Prohibition Pig | Waterbury, Vermont | 12,700 |
| 31 | Micklethwait Craft Meats | Austin, Texas | 11,800 |
| 32 | Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse | Boston, Massachusetts | 11,700 |
| 33 | Westwoods BBQ and Spice Co. | Fresno, California | 11,300 |
| 34 | Hae Jang Chon Korean BBQ Restaurant | Los Angeles, California | 11,300 |
| 35 | Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ | Miami, Florida | 11,300 |
| 36 | Genwa Korean BBQ | Los Angeles, California | 10,800 |
| 37 | Oz Korean BBQ Restaurant | Sacramento, California | 10,500 |
| 38 | Gen Korean BBQ House | Honolulu, Hawaii | 10,200 |
| 39 | Dinosaur Bar-B-Que | New York City, New York | 9,938 |
| 40 | Jack Bar-B-Que | Nashville, Tennessee | 9,908 |
| 41 | Heim Barbecue | Fort Worth, Texas | 9,904 |
| 42 | Tank House Bbq And Bar | Sacramento, California | 9,814 |
| 43 | Espetus Churrascaria | San Francisco, California | 9,738 |
| 44 | Fette Sau | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 9,679 |
| 45 | Q Smokehouse | Long Beach, California | 9,531 |
| 46 | Iron Works | Austin, Texas | 9,460 |
| 47 | The Pit Room | Houston, Texas | 9,306 |
| 48 | Fat Matt’s Rib Shack | Atlanta, Georgia | 9,150 |
| 49 | Ferris Wheelers Backyard and BBQ | Dallas, Texas | 9,126 |
| 50 | Mike’s BBQ | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 8,981 |
Kerri Ferraioli, expert nutritionist at YorkTest, commented on the research:
“We’re all guilty of spending time on our phones at dinner, but when the food looks as good as it does at some of the restaurants on this list, who could blame us!â€
“Most of us feel the need to share a snap when we’re out at restaurants, whether that’s to show our followers what we have been up to or to show off some tasty dishes. Not only is it a good way to show off your food, but Instagram has also become one of the best marketing methods for spreading word of mouth and restaurant recommendations.
“Although tasty, traditional BBQ food is often high in calories, salt, and fat so it’s important that if you are going to your favorite BBQ joint for a snap and a few ribs, you do so as part of a healthy balanced diet.
“It’s important that when trying all this lovely BBQ, it’s easy to eat something that may not agree with you. Be sure to keep an eye out for any symptoms of food sensitivity.â€
“Eating in moderation doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, however! Why not plan a trip to some of these Instagram-friendly BBQ hotspots this summer?â€
Methodology
YorkTest took the capital city of each state in addition to the 50 most populated cities in the USA, according to WorldPopulationReview.com.
We then used TripAdvisor to find the top 10 most popular restaurants in each city and searched their location on Instagram. From here, they used Instagram’s location data to determine how many posts were tagged to each restaurant.
Data is correct as of May 2022.
