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too, and so are the sauces — original, smoky and hot. GONZO’S SMOKEHOUSE & BBQ, LULING ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT This small restaurant turns out Central Texas pit-style pulled pork, prime brisket, chicken, pork belly burnt ends and smoked-brisket boudin. It’s open for lunch only on Fridays, and stays open until the food runs out. BIG MIKE’S BBQ, HOUMA AND THIBODAUX ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT The prime brisket and pulled pork at Big Mike’s BBQ are slow-smoked 12 to 14 hours. Beef, pork, chicken, turkey and sausage are sold by the plate and by the pound, on sandwiches and salads. Don’t underestimate the catfish, which is crusted in cornmeal and deep-fried. Big Mike Lewis also created his own line of barbecue sauces, rubs, and fully cooked sausages, which he debuted at Rouses Markets.

festivals and events around the country, including Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee, loves both. After setting up a food truck at a gas station on Franklin Avenue in Gentilly, boiling crawfish and later serving barbecue plates, he opened his own restaurant next door to the gas station. The restaurant mostly does takeout, but there are picnic tables outside. You can get barbecue, smoked meats and seafood. WALKER’S SOUTHERN STYLE BBQ, NEW ORLEANS EAST ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Festivalgoers wait all year to get Walker’s signature cochon de lait po’boy at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. But the family also has a permanent spot that’s open a few days a week (you can also catch their catering tent, Love at First Bite, at other events and festivals). The cochon de lait po’boy is shredded, smoked Boston butt pork shoulder topped with cold cabbage and a homemade horseradish sauce on French bread. Walker’s also serves barbecue favorites and a great smoked chicken salad. SWEET DADDY’S, COVINGTON ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT When it comes to barbecue, our first thought is usually pork on the Gulf Coast, but here it’s all about the chopped beef brisket. Their other barbecue options are delicious,

Blue Oak settled into its permanent spot in Mid City. Smokehouse signatures — including some of the best brisket in New Orleans — share the menu with Cajun cracklins and crazy-good chili-glazed fried Brussels sprouts. FREY’S SMOKED MEAT CO., NEW ORLEANS ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT This Mid City restaurant, which started as a Hogs for the Cause team, honors a Louisiana meatpacking company, L.A. Frey & Sons, that started in 1865 and operated in the city for 120 years. Frey’s serves all the barbecue classics, plus burgers, and seriously over-the top milkshakes — which are the best in New Orleans. THE JOINT, NEW ORLEANS BYWATER ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT New Orleans’ first “real” barbecue restaurant remains one the best. Save room for pie, especially if it’s peanut butter pie. NOLA CRAWFISH KING SEAFOOD & BARBECUE, GENTILLY ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT It seems like a strange combo to do seafood and barbecue, but Chris “Shaggy” Davis, who started his food career at

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