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A new study named three Florida cities among the best barbecue (BBQ) cities in America, according to Clever.
For their 2022 list, researchers used several metrics to determine their rankings, including Google Trends, average Yelp ratings of BBQ restaurants, the number of BBQ events and competitions hosted in these cities, prices of meat, and much more.
Tampa is the highest-ranked Florida city on the list at No. 7. Researchers pointed out that it has the best-reviewed BBQ restaurants on the list.
Jacksonville, coming in the No. 9 spot, got kudos for the number of BBQ restaurants and cheaper prices. Writers say the city "is in the country's cheapest region for BBQ prices. A pound of BBQ meat costs just $4.66 — cheaper than the average city in our study ($5.13)."
Orlando ranked at No. 13, getting praise for their highly-rated BBQ restaurants and how easy they are to come across: "BBQ joints aren't too hard to get to in the city, with one every 3.8 miles, a shorter distance than the typical trek of 5.4 miles among all cities we studied."
Here are the Top 15 BBQ cities:
- San Antonio, Texas
- Austin, Texas
- San Jose, California
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Tampa, Florida
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Dallas, Texas
- Orlando, Florida
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Richmond, Virginia
Check out the full study on Clever.