Here's Where to Get the Best Damn BBQ in the United States (Try Not to Drool)

The Lone Star State is big on barbecue, but its regional styles differ across Texas. For starters, the Central Texas approach to cooking is low and slow over indirect heat and with hardwoods such as oak or mesquite. The meat is also rubbed in salt and pepper and served straight from the pit that it's prepared in. As for South Texas, this region is generally related to barbacoa (a Mexican-style of meat preparation). East Texas is slow-cooked so much that the meat falls off the bone, and West Texas is noted for cooking more so on direct heat.

Where to eat: In Austin, Franklin Barbecue, for its 12- to 18-hour smoked brisket, pork ribs, beef-and-pork sausage and turkey; Lamberts, for its contemporary take on Texas cuisine; and Iron Works BBQ, for its beef ribs and traditional Central Texas beef brisket. An hour east of Austin, Snow's BBQ in Lexington is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. until it has sold out; Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano gives a taste of Texas Hill Country, in particular with its two-inch-thick, bone-in pork chop.

The style of barbecue found in this region of California's Central Coast is rooted in the mid-19th century. Rancheros would hold Spanish-style feasts each spring for their fellow vaqueros as a way of thanking them for hard work. The meal would consist of beef cooked over a red-oak fire and served with pinquito beans, bread, salsa, and desserts. Over time, Santa Maria Valley's barbecue evolved to having strung cuts of beef (favorably being top-block sirloin) cut on skewers or rods, rolled in a mixture of salt, pepper, and garlic salt and cooked over hot red oak coals.

Nowadays, the meatiness of this barbecue centers on beef tri-tip. It's still given a good salty and peppery rub and slow-roasted over red oak. As for pairings, the table would be set continued servings like salsa and pinquitos but also accompanied by french bread dipped in a melted sweet butter and a green salad.

Where to eat: Far Western Tavern in Orcutt, which is noted as as a landmark in serving this barbecue style; Shaw's Steakhouse in Santa Maria, noted for its tri-tip; and The Hitching Post in Casmalia, which prepares oak-grilled meats.

Like Kansas City, St. Louis has its respective barbecue style. Instead of dry-rubbing and slow-smoking meat, St. Louis barbecue is all about grilling and then saucing, and its sauce is more tomato based and on the sweeter side.

Where to eat: SugarFire Smokehouse, with two St. Louis locations and creative sides such as pork belly hush puppies and smoked fried artichokes; and Salt + Smoke, featuring, among other dishes, a burnt-end toasted ravioli.

Kansas City barbecue is a regional style unto itself, encompassing a wide variety of meats that are spice rubbed, slow-cooked on different types of hardwoods, and then topped off with a tomato-based sauce. Choices run the gamut: short- and long-end pork ribs, brisket, (the very popular) beef burnt ends, rib tips, chicken, lamb ribs, ham, pork shoulder, and even mutton.

This Missourian city's barbecue legacy is linked back to a man named Henry Perry. In the early 1920s, Perry began barbecuing in an outdoor pit next to his streetcar barn and would serve what he prepared wrapped up in newspaper.

Adding more flavor to this scene were pitmasters migrating to Missouri from other Southern states. For some, their barbecue ventures would go from weekend outdoor offerings to heading indoors by opening restaurants.

Speaking of barbecue restaurants, Kansas City has more than 100 of them, which can fall under one of two categories: old school (carrying on traditional methods) and new school (featuring creative sides and meat combos).

Where to eat: Old school picks encompass Gates Bar-B-Q, Plowboys Barbeque, LC's Bar-BQ, and Jack Stack BBQ. Try new school ones such as Q39 and Char Bar, plus Joe's Kansas City BBQ, with the line going out of the door at its original location.

The essence of North Carolina's contribution to barbecue is pork that's smoked over hardwood coals. Yet this state sports two types: a Lexington style and an Eastern style. How do they differ? Well, for starters, it involves the cuts of meat. In the Eastern part of the state, the process of slow-cooking whole hogs has been recorded since the 1700s and still showcases the entire hog today. Later on, Lexington-style barbecue would come into existence due to German settlers within a region known as the Piedmont opting to smoke just the pork shoulder. As for the end tasting result: the whole hog can come out lighter, with a melt-in-your-mouth finish, while the Lexington shoulder version is fattier and chewier. Now, here comes in another alternation — with sauce.

Often called "dip," Lexington-style sauce is a tart vinegar sauce that gets a red tint from containing tomato sauce or ketchup. The Eastern style doesn't have any tomato at all. Then there are sides. With coleslaw, Lexington uses the same tangy sauce on the cabbage and the meat, while Eastern goes with mayonnaise and a bit of sugar. One more thing: Lexington usually serves up hush puppies but Eastern goes more with cornbread or corn sticks.

Where to eat: Lexington Barbecue, where its pork shoulders get roasted for nearly half a day over oak or hickory coals; Skylight Inn BBQ in Ayden, which follows Eastern style and prepares whole-hog barbecue with crispy bits of skin chopped into the mix; Buxton Hall Barbecue in Asheville, with a whole hog smoked over wood and served with a classic vinegar sauce as well as a mustard sauce. Run by a third-generation barbecue restaurateur, Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville features smoked meats including turkey, chicken, and spareribs and an irresistible mac and cheese.

Like other states, Kentucky has certain sections that are tied to a barbecue style. Theirs is in certain areas of the western part of the Bluegrass State, especially in regions bordering the Ohio River in and around various counties such as Union, Henderson, Davies, Hopkins, and Christian. And while much of Southern barbecue features beef, chicken, or pork, Western Kentucky barbecue also incorporates another kind of meat: mutton. Mutton's place comes from Kentucky having a large sheep population in the 1800s, used for wool production and then, as this industry faded, turned into a slow-cooked food source. Another difference is a saucy one. Instead of being sweet, thick, and tomato-y, Kentucky's version is thinner and vinegary. Sometimes known as "dip," this sauce style contains cayenne pepper or worcestershire sauce with spices mixed in, or barbecued meat can even be sans sauce.

Where to eat: All in Owensboro, Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, which gets high marks for its buffet; Old Hickory Bar-B-Que, an 80-year institution; and Ole South Bar-B-Q, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner servings.

The Palmetto State takes a "slow and low" approach to barbecue and also is a bit saucy. What the latter means is that there could be a debate over which of four South Carolina-recognized sauces are preferred on one's plate: mustard, vinegar and pepper, light tomato, and heavy tomato. According to an article on Discover South Carolina, each sauce has its backstory. The influence of mustard can be traced back to the arrival of German immigrants in 1700s; the vinegar and pepper sauce version has been around quite long as well. As for the tomato-based versions, the lighter of the two is said to be well-liked within South Carolina's Pee Dee region (found within its northeastern corner) and the heavier kind is popular within the western and northwestern parts of the state.

Sauces aside, South Carolina barbecue has a time-honored take-it-easy approach with a watchful eye over hardwood coals. Pork is the prominent meat. And speaking of time, the state's legacy with barbecue connects back to the arrival of the Spanish. They brought pigs to the New World and learned about open-pit cooking from Native Americans.

Where to eat: Rodney Scott's in Hemingway (for vinegar-based barbecue); Bessinger's BBQ in Charleston (for mustard based-barbecue); Q2U Pitt and Catering in Lake Wylie (for light tomato based barbecue); and Sticky Fingers in Mt. Pleasant (for heavy tomato-based barbecue).

Alabama lays claim to an interesting culinary contribution: a white barbecue sauce. Originating in Northern Alabama, this recipe for a tangy mayonnaise condiment is credited to Big Bob Gibson's, a long-time restaurant in Decatur. The story goes that Bob Gibson, a railroad worker and restaurant namesake, began this eatery by honing his cooking skills on the weekends in a hand-dug barbecue pit. In 1925, Bob came up with this white sauce because he didn't think that a vinegar-and-mustard-based Carolina-style sauce suited his cooked chicken, so he developed this add-on, which customers still pour on poultry and now also pork.

Central Alabama has its contribution in being known for ribs. Founded in Tuscaloosa, Dreamland Bar-B-Que has specialized in serving ribs, white bread, and sauce since opening in 1958, but now its various locations also prepare pulled pork, chicken, sides, and desserts.

Where to eat: Golden Rule, which is Alabama's oldest continuously running restaurant, with its main location in Irondale and some franchises throughout the state. Also having various places throughout the state, Full Moon BBQ uses hickory wood fire pits to smoke meats and is also well-liked for its Chow Chow, a spicy sweet relish.

Tennessee has a long history with barbecue, and Memphis is synonymous with pork 'cue, especially with pulled pork and a big ol' rack of ribs. However, beef and chicken are also make their way onto the plate.

Ribs can be prepared in what's referred to as "dry" or "wet" ways. Dry involves this part of pork getting rubbed with a dry spice mixture before being cooked. Wet is about the ribs being brushed with a sweet or tangy sauce before, during, or after the process or added on the side.

How barbecue came to be in Memphis is a story, too. The city's stance as a port brought in accessibility to ingredients shipped up the Mississippi River that would go on to be included in making barbecue. Over time, Memphis has seen some quirky takes (pizza, spaghetti, or nachos, anyone?). Still, it's the meat that matters. The city has more than 115 restaurants to partake in staples that can be paired with coleslaw and cornbread, baked beans, greens, and mac and cheese.

Where to eat: Charles Vergos' Rendezvous, which created the original Memphis style, a vinegar base with a dry rub; The Bar-B-Q Shop, originators of BBQ spaghetti; and Leonard's Pit Barbecue, the oldest operating barbecue restaurant in Memphis.