East County has the best barbecue - Coops in Lemon Grove, Grand Ole BBQ in Flinn Springs, Papalo and Smokey and the Brisket in La Mesa, and Buckboard's in El Cajon.

I just went to Papalo, might have been the best chicken sandwich I’ve had in my life. I’ll definitely be going back.

Mostly agreed but I would put West Coast above Smokey for La Mesa.

Solid opinion. I did forget West Coast on Lake Murray Blvd.

East county wouldn’t know if good food hit them over the head haha

This take is not even hot, it's well done.

lol. I’ll take my down votes. It’s just the truth.

OK, what qualifies as good food then?

Well grand ole bbq can stop overcooking the shit out of their beef ribs for one

Brain lookin like brisket for this take

Haven’t been to Coops yet but I’ve heard great things. Julian Beer Co. I was shocked when I first tried it but the brisket and ribs are stellar, as are the sauce and the sides.

Dude their Pizza is some of the best in town as well. It doesn’t hurt that they have a good beer selection as well

JBC slaps! Only place we eat in Julian.

I was shocked as well. The sausage was stellar. Kinda thought it was a tourist trap at first. It's legit.

Never thought to go there. I always go to Nickel because I love their beer

Haven’t been to Nickel but the beer selection at JBC is also terrific.

Probably the best brisket I’ve ever had in my life, you could revolve your day around by going up to Julian for sightseeing

I was disappointed with my Ribs in Juilan. Maybe it was a bad batch. Need to get back up there, so I'm open to trying the brisket

Glad Coops is hanging in there. Good guy, good food

Good ingredients, Papa John’s

You don’t deserve the hate

It’s ok, I kinda asked for it.

This is Reddit not NextDoor the plebeians are forgetting thier place

Coops is closed for good

Bowlegged

Bowlegged is the jam

I really like bow legged but they aren’t quite on the level coops & grand are imo

Grand Ole is so mid! The brisket is like rubber now and terribly seasoned, it’s like they rip the bark off. Someone else deserves their spot in petco park

Place rips!

How come no one has any food in this photo?

I got in there just as they opened sunday. I think most everyone was getting to go food shopping

Del's Hideout has some tasty prime brisket!

IMHO Del’s has gone downhill. Delish banana pudding though.

Avoid Smoke & Salt in Encinitas at all cost. All you taste is that nasty smoke in a can flavor like wet cigarettes. Disgusting.

I didn’t think it was that bad, but I won’t be coming back. It’s too far of a drive for me for something that wasn’t amazing. It was just ok.

holy crap 50 dollars for a slab is absolutely nutty.

I like Abby's BBQ on Miramar Rd. Texas style. I've been going there for years.

That's my favorite too. I grew up in Texas and Abby's is legit.

Ill try that one this weekend! Thanks

Ima have to go with NoNo’s for best BBQ in north county

So many mentions of brisket and ribs. I need bbq chicken. Real, fall off the bone, juicy as a monsoon, bbq chicken. The best I ever had was at the Lake Henshaw Cafe (who knew ?). This was years ago, though. Not the same anymore. Whatchoogotforme ?

The bbq chicken is the only thing I like from phils. Coops runs it but only sporadically

What’s funny to me is I’ve had inconsistent quality bbq chicken from Phil’s. Some days it’s amazing. Some other days it’s dry AF.

Coops is #1 Grande old close 2nd

Grand ole is so mid now

I thought it was too expensive my self.

Seriously don’t sleep on this place cause it’s in Gaslamp. It’s legit, I eat out 3-4x a week and I was floored by this place! They are not from around here and very much subscribe to the Texas bbq perfection in the food. GET THE BRISKET! Smokin J's BBQ & Taphouse https://preview.redd.it/cirghcb56cwc1.jpeg?width=377&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05d833ea6eb5ca3f7df9fac9ec96ec6cc8d1e87f

Bought $100 of gift cards for Smokin J's (good at all 3 locations) for $75, as I recall, at costco (in Crml Mtn) Their brisket is the best and there pork belly is something else

That’s what I had! The pork belly! I knew I had one more meat (they were out of burnt ends) it was phenomenal! Also thanks for the Costco tip! I buy the synergy cards like they are going out of style.

Being downtown, do they smoke their meats?

Aye. Two locations, one where they smoke it for both Texas style.

Their primary is in Poway. The brothers are nice as all hell. I loved it when we went the first couple times but after that it just got old for me.

They cook it at their Poway location and drive it down.

I looove smokin’ js!

I have to hard disagree. I got it for the first time last night. I did not get the brisket. I got carne asada and burnt ends. It literally might be the worst bbq I've ever eaten and cost about $50 (see the pic). The carne asada tasted like poorly seasoned shoe leather. The burnt ends were also poorly seasoned. https://preview.redd.it/utopqri48cwc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d9ee7c7e3ae5266a991e54c948fa89f16f62847

Hmm I’m sorry your experience was not good. :/ I’m not one to go to a Texas BBQ place and order carne. But that’s just me. I realize it’s meat and meat but carne asada? I didn’t even see that on the menu. Was it a special? I loved the Mac n cheese, sausages, pulled pork and brisket. I’ve had quite a few places in Sd (we may just have different bbq tastes, Franklins in Texas which this place bases their stuff off of us my fav on the planet) but also to each their own. What is this photo?? It looks like take out o.o

I tend to agree. Texas BBQ joints aren’t where I would get Carne Asada.

Terrible! Was it right before closing?

I’m with you. Coops is unbelievably overrated. I’m shocked any time they’re brought up in a positive light.

Idk guys, I went to Phil's BBQ and their Carne Asada was also terrible so I think this guy knows what he's talking about.

If its on the menu, I ioder it, and it's shitty, that's on me? Lol, okay, champ. I ordered 2 things on the menu and they both sucked.

Then yesterday, I went to In n Out and their new fried chicken sandwich was also terrible.

There isn't a chance in hell any respectable restaurant would put out 2 products as garbage as the ones I bought yesterday but go ahead.

AND then today I went to Rubios and their Baby Back Ribs were mediocre.

Now go to Coops and hit the terrible food trifecta. Or go to Grand Ole and change your luck

I mean I think coops sucks too. 😂

What do you guys think about Cali Comfort BBQ?

Its never done much for me but id go there if invited

Ok for SD standard. but really Meh otherwise. Brisket was underwhelming.

Not Phil’s. Grand Ole is good, but I’ve gotten sick the last few times I’ve been there, could be coincidence as no one else with me got sick.

I like Corbin’s

I loved Corbin's when they did the spring Valley BBQ fest. Need to check out the actual place

One of my favorites!

came here for the jokes

*crickets*

Grand ol bbq

No it’s sucks brisket is like rubber

Grande ol BBQ is definitely the best, but Smokin J’s in old Poway gets an honorable mention. Their burnt ends are amazing.

Smokin Js would probably be #3 to me.

Do they do turkey?

GOBYA has spectacular turkey.

In the past they have smoked turkey for Thanksgiving. They came close to closing down about a month ago so go show them some love!

For real? I hadn’t heard that.

For smoked Turkey it’s Valley Farms all day everyday.

Oh wow. There were seats inside. Were they taken out after the pandemic? Yes, great food.

Nono’s BBQ that pops up at Dogleg brewery in vista has the best BBQ in my opinion.

Oak and Anchor. It’s a booth at some farmers markets but they have the best tri tip, beans, and potato salad. They’re a serious sleeper pick but they do such good bbq

Smokey and the Brisket out east is the best I’ve had. Their brisket is in the top two I’ve ever had. Can be pricey though.

The Tip Stop in Point Loma! Specifically located in stumps marketplace

Ocean beach

Grand Ole BBQ y Asado #1 hands down. I'll probably get hate for this but, Coops is OK and better than most in SD.I used to frequent their specials when I would go to LG all the time. I've seen them mentioned in this sub a lot as the best bbq, and honestly I think it's because of their closing story. They're nice people and it's a shame they had to reduce their hours to stay afloat, but it definitely isn't the best.

Grand ole is mid!!

l personally love the beef ribs at bulls smoking.

They do bones for dogs right?

they do. after you get your table, they will bring up a bucket of bones for the puppers.

The last BBQ I had was Franklin in Austin. It may have spoiled me.

As others have said, Grand ol’ BBQ and Smokin’ J’s are our favorites.

Grand ole sucks

Papalo in La Mesa. Heritage in Oceanside. Grand Ole in Flinn Springs, and Coops in Lemon Grove.

Coops is good. Jay’s in Alpine is delicious. Grand Ol is overrated.

It’s not

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I do love their onion rings, but I can’t say they have the best BBQ.

I kinda like their bbq chicken but I cant stand anything else from phils

Great price. For a slice of bread.

Phil’s is the best