5 Restaurant Chains With the Best Ribs and Mac and Cheese, According to Diners
There are so many sides that pair perfectly with ribs, including coleslaw, beans, and greens. But you also can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned bowl of mac and cheese. The creaminess and carbiness of the mac balance the tangy sweetness of the BBQ sauce, creating a truly perfect flavor duo. Where can you get the best ribs and mac and cheese? Here are 5 restaurant chains that do it right, according to diners.
Famous Dave’s
Famous Dave’s Award-Winning ribs are hand-rubbed with spices, slow-smoked in a pit, and basted in scratch-made sauces until tender and tasty. According to a former pitmaster for Famous Dave’s “the ribs are smoked for approximately 3 hours with pure hickory. The rub in restaurant 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. The Mac & Cheese is a creamy, four-cheese blend side dish known for its signature “kick,” featuring added sweet corn niblets and diced jalapeños with breadcrumbs on top.
Mission BBQ
Mission BBQ‘s baby-back ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender and pair well with Tupelo Honey Heat sauce. “The food was the best I had ever tasted,” one diner says. The mac and cheese is also beloved. “This stuff is delectable, it tastes better every time I have it, and that’s including reheating it (even in a microwave)!” one Redditor writes.
City Barbeque
City Barbecue has three hickory burning smokers to slow cook meats, including St. Louis–cut pork ribs, which they smoke 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. Diners agree the ribs are finger-licking good. Last year, they added a Baked Mac & Cheese, “cheesy, creamy, and oven-baked the way mac should be,” the restaurant announced. “Made with Monterey Jack, cheddar, and parmesan, this mac is layered with real cheese, baked until bubbly, and finished with that golden, crispy top you can only get from the oven.”
4 Rivers Smokehouse
4 Rivers Smokehouse is praised for its delicious ribs that are “a step above Sonny’s etc,” one diner writes. The St. Louis Style Ribs are a main attraction and come with two sides and Texas cornbread, smoked and finished on the grill with a Honey BBQ sauce. And the mac and cheese is “way too good!” a TripAdvisor diner says.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a Texas-born chain famous for serving slow-smoked classics, primarily ribs that are “solid” says a Redditor, 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.” And, the mac and cheese is also a fan favorite. “When we added Mac and Cheese to the menu it was an immediate hit and continues to be,” said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “Our savory Mac and Cheese is the perfect side to accompany a flavorful, hearty meal of barbecue.”