The Top 10 Georgia BBQ Joints

Georgia is a big state with a long, rich barbecue tradition, and it has evolved over the years—especially in the larger cities like Atlanta and Savannah, as new cooks have arrived with traditions and techniques from other parts of the South. And it's all come together to give the Peach State one of the most vibrant and interesting barbecue scenes to be found anywhere in the country today.

These days, you can find a little bit of everything in Georgia barbecue restaurants. The old classics like pulled pork, thin tomato-based sauce, and Brunswick stew are still going strong, but you can also sample really tasty beef brisket and slow-smoked pork infused with a rich parade of fusiony Asian flavors. A new generation of cooks are returning to all-wood pits and heirloom, pasture-raised meats, while at the same time many of the state's older barbecue families are continuing the businesses their grandparents and great-grandparents founded back before World War II.

It's never easy list to pare the selection down to just 10 recommendations, but here are my picks—a blend of the old and the new—for what I believe to be the top of the class in Georgia barbecue today.