Hot Spots: Barbecue | BBQ Restaurants in Detroit

Modified: August 20, 2019

Burnt ends, baby backs and shredded meats piled high on a bun. We’re chewing on and on about the main-street, side-street and back-street BBQ restaurants in Detroit that are smoking hot.

The Top BBQ Restaurants in Detroit

Slows Bar BQ

It’s always grilling season at Slows, which has put Detroit on the national foodie radar for its smoked meats and fine eats. The ribs are so tender, and perfectly flavored, that you don’t really need barbecue sauce, but why not? Each table has squeeze bottles of homemade flavors that accent the main course, including mustard, spicy, sweet and apple. In a rush? Visit Slow’s to go-only location on Cass Avenue.

Bad Brad’s BBQ

The carnivorous crowd frequents this local favorite. Start with an order of Pig Candy — crispy, thick-cut bacon with a sugar-and-spice glaze. Share a barbecue platter to sample multiple meats, all dry-rubbed and smoked in-house. The beef brisket and St. Louis-style ribs are standouts.

Beans & Cornbread

Celebrating 20 years, this soul food staple offers down-home Southern-style cooking. Y’all will have a hankering for Baby Sister’s backyard-style ribs, cajun shrimp and grits, and barbecue pork chops served with a choice of fixins, from black eyed peas to macaroni and cheese. Cornbread dressing is served on Sundays.

Vicki’s Barbecue & Shrimp

Located just beyond the historic Woodbridge neighborhood, Vicki’s offers straightforward barbecue that’s the real deal. A massive indoor brick oven gives the food authentic Southern flavor. Crispy spare ribs have that tender melt-in-your-mouth finish. You’ll be so busy gorging, you won’t even mind your saucy fingers.

Union Woodshop

The smoker in the back lot is constantly on a low temp and slow cooking. Union is barbecue heaven, a rustic hub once featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Try the wood-fired breadsticks, smoked shrimp salsa, blackened catfish, beef brisket and the ribs. And not a patron in the house would tell you to walk out the door without digging your fork into a side of the macaroni and cheese. It’s legendary.

Search out Satisfying Sides and Finger-Lickin’ Barbecue Fixins

Want macaroni and cheese? Roast, Harry’s, Rock City Eatery and PJ’s Lager House in Detroit; Vinsetta Garage in Ferndale; Town Tavern in Royal Oak and The Whitney in Detroit serve it + lobster ● Going for the greens? Bert’s Market Place, Floods Bar & Grille and Steve’s Soul Food in Detroit ● Picking the pit-smoked beans? Lazybones Smokehouse in Roseville ● Calling for cornbread? Red Smoke Barbeque, R.U.B. BBQ Pub and End Zone Chicken & Ribs in Detroit ● Prefer a perfect peach cobbler to close the meal? Motor City Soul Food, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge or Nunn’s Bar-b-que II in Detroit.