Great regional food goes national as barbecue, burger chains expand

The scene: As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Great American Bites column, it is a time for reflection. A lot has changed in America’s road and regional food scene since we started. Big trends have included the continued explosion of all things barbecue, with both stylistic growth (frog legs and pulled spaghetti squash sandwiches at Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue in Arizona) and geographic expansion with great ‘cue where you might least expect it (like KC’s Rib Shack in Manchester, N.H.); the never-slowing spread of gourmet brick-oven pizza; and the upgrading of simple comfort food like burgers with better quality and ingredients that are more natural (Elevation Burger and Larkburger chains).

But more than these trends, the actual restaurants we have visited have changed quite a bit, mostly for the better and a few for the worse. Some have flourished as new-found chains with multiple locations, existing chains have grown, while a sad few have shuttered their doors altogether. Today we take a look at some of our favorite Great American Bites restaurants and how they have changed in recent years.

Barbecue: The Shed, on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, was the very first great barbecue joint this column ever visited, and the original Ocean Springs location is still going strong, with great sauces, live music and a non-stop string of major awards, most recently Grand World Champion at 2015 Memphis in May. However, when we visited, the Shed had half a dozen locations, and most have been shuttered, with just two, the original and Gulfport remaining — bye-bye Destin, Fla.; Hattiesburg, Miss; Mobile, Ala.; and Scott, La. Our favorite Las Vegas barbecue joint, Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer, fared even worse, closing permanently just a few months after a glorious opening, and taking with it the only exceptional ‘cue on the Strip.

On the flip side, legendary Kreuz Market, the cornerstone of Texas’ smoked meat-mad city of Lockhart, with exceptional sausage and brisket, has doubled with the opening of a second location in Bryan, Texas. Central BBQ, whose exquisite ribs and homemade pork rinds make it our favorite all-around place in Memphis — and that is really saying something – opened a third convenient location downtown near the superlative Civil Rights Museum. Hot Rods BBQ, the delicious but unlikely rural New Jersey gem we discovered years ago, remains super locally popular and has moved to a much larger nearby venue, adding plenty of live music, craft beer and making the food easier to get, but at a price, with the quality of the vastly expanded menu less consistent.

Source: US Today