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Bay area native or transplant, you swear by your favorite barbecue joint. You take your family there regularly and your friends when they visit. Sometimes, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so great. Could be the pitmaster’s smoking time, or maybe it’s the homemade sauce and sides. But one bite of those pork spareribs or juicy tri-tip and you’re hooked again.
A few weeks ago, we asked readers to nominate their favorite Bay Area barbecue joints, and they responded with enthusiastic nods to Everett and Jones in Oakland, The Art of BBQ in San Jose, Slow Hand BBQ in Pleasant Hill, Smoking Pig BBQ in Fremont and 28 more.
Now we’re pitting those 32 smokin’ spots against one another in a bracket-style contest to see which deserves the title of Best Barbecue — and asking you to be judge, jury and bib-wearing eater. There are two sets of ballots — they wouldn’t all fit in one! Be sure to hit the “done” button at the end of the ballot to submit your vote. First-round voting for closes at noon on Aug. 29. Voting for the Savory Sixteen begins at 6 a.m. on Aug. 30, when that link goes live.
The 32 nominees for the first round include:
Art of Barbecue, San Jose
Armadillo Willy’s, Dublin, Foster City and other locations
Back Forty Texas BBQ, Pleasant Hill
Barney’s Hickory Pit, Concord
Blue Rock BBQ, San Jose
Bonehead’s Texas BBQ, Lafayette
Bounty Hunter, Walnut Creek, Napa
Capelo’s BBQ, Redwood City
Carmen & Family Bar-B-Que, Hayward
Everett & Jones BBQ, Oakland
Fire2Smoke, catering
Horn BBQ, Oakland
Jon Jon’s BBQ & Catering, San Jose
Kim Tar BBQ, San Jose
Kinder’s, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and other locations
Mesquite and Oak, San Jose
Phat Matt’s BBQ, Oakland
Pig in a Pickle, Emeryville and Corte Madera
Quality Bourbons & BBQ, Mountain View
Sam’s Bar-B-Que, San Jose
Sauced, Livermore, Walnut Creek
Shaw’s Texas BBQ food truck, Rodeo
Slow Hand BBQ, Pleasant Hill
Smoke Trap, Morgan Hill
Smoked Out, Santa Clara
Smokin’ Warehouse Barbecue, San Francisco
Smokin Wood BBQ, Oakland
Smoking Pig BBQ, Fremont and San Jose
South Winchester Barbecue, Campbell
Sticky Business Barbecue, Napa, plus pop-ups in Oakland, Benicia
Tastebuds BBQ, Tracy
Trail Dust BBQ, Morgan Hill