Vote: Best Bay Area barbecue? Here's the Savory 16

San Jose's The Art of Barbecue was among the most nominated barbecue restaurants. (David Montes)
Carmen and Family Barbecue in Fremont was founded by one of the Everett & Jones originals. (Geoffrey Glibas)
St. Louis style pork ribs are photographed during lunch service at Slow Hand BBQ on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in Martinez, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group
Menu items are photographed during lunch service at Slow Hand BBQ on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in Martinez, Calif. The platter includes salt brined and smoked chicken, St. Louis style pork ribs, quarter pound beef brisket, with sides of German potato salad, coleslaw, BBQ beans, and mac & cheese. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Sticky Business BBQ is based in Napa but holds. pops up at Oakland's United Beerworks and Bruehol Brewing in Benicia. (Photo: Alesha Romero)
Lamont Patton, from Everett & Jones Barbeque cooks up a free feast at the “BBQ-ing while Black” event at Lake Merritt off Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, May 20, 2018. Hundreds in the African American community came out to Lake Merritt in response to a confrontation caught on video there a few weeks ago when someone complained to police about a group of black people barbecuing. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)
Phat Matt's BBQ, Oakland, brisket. Photo: Paul Brown
A combo plate featuring baby back pork ribs, brisket and various sides is seen at Bonehead's Texas BBQ restaurant on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Bonehead's opened in the former location of Bo's Barbecue, which closed at the end of July 2015 after nearly 16 years in business. Owner Dave Roberson is a Texas native. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Jaime Ochoa seasons a beef brisket at Bonehead's Texas BBQ restaurant on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Bonehead's opened in the former location of Bo's Barbecue, which closed at the end of July 2015 after nearly 16 years in business. Owner Dave Roberson is a Texas native. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 7: Cashier Raemanh Hendersot, right, attends a client at Pig in a Pickle BBQ in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 7: Pit master and meat cutter Abdul Karim, right, works on an order of brisket for clients Burt Vera Cruz, left, and his wife Moon Vera Cruz, of Oakland, at Pig in a Pickle BBQ in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 7: Cashier and meat cutter Raemanh Henderson delivers an order to a customer at Pig in a Pickle BBQ in Emeryville, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Sauced BBQ & Spirits is open for business in the former Pyramid Brewing location in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)
The Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich is photographed at Sauced BBQ and Spirits on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015, in Livermore, Calif. The sandwich is served with a vinegar based mop sauce, and is photographed with a side of cider apple slaw and Brunswick stew. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
A meat combo plate awaits a diner at Sauced BBQ & Spirits in Walnut Creek. There are locations in Petaluma, Sacramento and Livermore, where the original opened in 2012. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)
Chicken, ribs, and other meats are smoked in the kitchen at Sauced BBQ & Spirits in Walnut Creek, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)

By Jessica Yadegaran | jyadegaran@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group and Cicero Estrella | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: August 30, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 3, 2019 at 2:16 p.m.

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The first round of our Best Bay Area Barbecue bracket revealed some landslide winners and some very, very close calls.

Earlier this month, we asked readers to nominate their favorite barbecue joints in the Bay Area — your go-to for ribs, tri-tip, brisket and all the fixings — and you responded with 32 eateries from Morgan Hill to Marin. Then you whittled those original 32 down to these savory, sauce-dripping 16, starting with Slow Hand BBQ, which beat out Kinder’s by more than double the votes .

San Jose’s The Art of BBQ, known to devotees as TAOB, bested Blue Rock BBQ, also of San Jose, with 60 percent of the votes. And in a really, really close call, San Francisco’s Smokin’ Warehouse Barbecue beat Emeryville’s Pig in a Pickle, which also has a location in Corte Madera, by one vote.

It’s time to vote again. Be sure to hit the “done” button at the end of the ballot to submit your vote. Second-round voting closes at noon on Sept. 3. Voting for the Amazing Eight begins at 6 a.m. on Sept. 4, when this link goes live.

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