5 Restaurant Chains With the Best Ribs and Cornbread, According to Diners
What is better than a sweet and savory, deliciously smoked rack of ribs? Eating the fork-tender meat with a slice of cornbread or a cornbread muffin. There is a reason most BBQ restaurants make sweet bread or muffins: They pair perfectly with BBQ food. Not every chain makes ribs and cornbread that diners approve of. Here are 5 restaurant chains with the best ribs and cornbread, according to diners.
Famous Dave’s
Head to Famous Dave’s for award-winning ribs and celebrated cornbread. The ribs are hand-rubbed with spices, slow-smoked in a pit, and basted in scratch-made sauces. A former pitmaster for Famous Dave’s divulges that “the ribs are smoked for approximately 3 hours with pure hickory” and the rub “is primarily smoked paprika, brown sugar, salt, garlic, and a little cayenne pepper. The celery seeds are added after the rib rub and only on the top side of ribs,” he revealed on Reddit. And, the cornbread muffins at Famous Dave’s are so delicious that they sell the boxed mix at Walmart. They are “so good there ought to be a sin tax on it,” said one Tripadvisor user. “We never leave without a takeout order of a dozen.”
Mission BBQ
Mission BBQ serves baby-back ribs by the bone that are super tender and pair well with Tupelo Honey Heat sauce. “The food was the best I had ever tasted,” one diner says. As for the cornbread, one Redditor maintains that it is delicious. “I was pleasantly surprised. Topped with a little butter and honey, it served as a wonderful dessert to cap off the meal,” they said.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a Texas-born chain famous for ribs. One Redditor called them “solid” in a review, maintaining they are as authentic as southern dives. “Very good, my wife and I go to smokehouses all over the USA. Certainly for the offerings you will get here. It’s pretty good.” They also have delicious cornbread muffins that can be ordered a la carte or in batches.
City Barbeque
City Barbecue uses three hickory-burning smokers to slow-cook meats, including its famous St. Louis–cut pork ribs prepared to “bite off the bone” perfection. “We don’t limit ourselves to any particular region or style, but instead try to showcase the breadth and depth of barbecue found across the country,” the restaurant says. They also serve scratch-made cornbread that is a freshly baked staple.
Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q
Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q cooks up half racks of ribs that keep diners satisfied. The chain also has a unique take on cornbread, a fusion of cheese biscuits and cornbread muffins. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever had before,” a Yelper says. “Not even your mama’s.”