At a glance
Food hall for picky eatersSalt City Barbecue
Sit-down with live musicPat's BBQ
Kids menu, south valleyR&R BBQ
Kids menu in DraperGoodwood Barbecue
Brisket sliced to orderKenny J's BBQ
Smoked oxtailsLes BBQ
Plantains, West ValleyHog & Tradition
Brisket breakfast burritoOver the Cole's BBQ
1
R&R BBQ
📍 307 W 600 S, Salt Lake City (also Midvale, South Jordan and Riverton)
Competition-team brisket at four county stores
R&R's founders won barbecue contests for years before they opened the downtown store in 2013, and the restaurant's site counts nine grand championships. Get the chopped brisket on a plate with hush puppies, or the Caveman, a sandwich of smoked sausage and pulled pork under fried jalapeños. Its locations page lists three more Salt Lake County stores: Bingham Junction Boulevard in Midvale, 300 West in South Jordan and Partridge Hill Lane in Riverton.
Tip: Order: dine in or pick up. Kids: mini chicken or pork sliders or kids mac and cheese, with a side and a drink. Know: take-home packs feed 4 or 6 with meat, two sides and rolls.
2
Salt City Barbecue
📍 545 W 700 S (Woodbine Food Hall), Salt Lake City
Award-listed ribs inside a food hall
Salt City Barbecue is a stall in Woodbine Food Hall, a restored warehouse on 700 South, and its menu lists a Best Ribs in Utah award for 2023, 2024 and 2025. The St. Louis ribs are smoked over white oak and finished with brown sugar and butter instead of sauce. For a sandwich, The Carolina is pulled pork with mustard sauce, coleslaw and pickles.
Tip: Order: at the stall, then sit inside or on the covered patio. Kids: the hall also has pizza, ramen and ice cream stalls, plus pingpong and cornhole. Know: Woodbine takes no reservations.
3
Pat's BBQ
📍 155 W Commonwealth Ave, South Salt Lake
A sit-down dining hall with weekend live music
Patrick Barber opened Pat's in 2004 after selling barbecue from a roadside setup. For a family, Pat's Family Platter is a full rack of ribs, a whole smoked chicken, a pound of pulled pork, six pieces of cornbread and two sides. The main dining hall has communal tables, a stage, a patio and a full bar, on Commonwealth Avenue a block and a half west of State Street.
Tip: Order: sit-down dining hall. Kids: the Little Smokies kid's meal is one rib, kid-size pulled pork or shredded chicken, sausage and fries, or a cheese quesadilla, each with a side, cornbread and a small drink. Know: the weekend evening music is all ages, and the private Pit Rooms, the largest for 70 or more guests, are free to book.
4
Hog & Tradition
📍 2569 S 5600 W, West Valley City
Dominican sides next to Texas-style brisket
Hog & Tradition bills itself as Dominican BBQ. Its sides include sweet plantains and rice and beans, the combo plates come with ube cornbread, and pork belly chicharrón is sold by the half pound. The El Tigre on the secret menu stacks chopped brisket, chicharrón and plantains on one sandwich.
Tip: Order: pickup orders through the link on hogandtradition.com. Kids: the Lucy smash burger and Hog Fries are on the menu. Know: the online menu marks meats that have sold out for the day.
5
Over the Cole's BBQ
📍 4044 S 2700 E, Holladay
Brisket nachos and a kids menu in Holladay
Over the Cole's serves Texas and Midwestern barbecue from its Holladay storefront at 4044 South 2700 East. The order is the chopped brisket loaded nachos, with cotija, baked beans and jalapeños, and the morning menu adds a chopped brisket breakfast burrito.
Tip: Order: dine in, take out, or order online for pickup. Kids: a kids and seniors menu with pork, chicken or brisket sliders, mac and cheese, or a kids meat plate. Know: it also runs a food truck you can book for parties.
6
Kenny J's BBQ
📍 11610 District Dr (The District), South Jordan
Utah-ranch brisket sliced while you watch
Kenny J's slices Texas-style brisket from Utah ranches in front of you, by the pound or on a sandwich, in The District shopping center in South Jordan. Kenny Jackson started on a backyard smoker in 2018, and he and his wife, Mary, made it a full-time business in 2024.
Tip: Order: sandwiches or smoked meat by the pound. Kids: no kids menu is posted; three ribs or a 3-piece wing order with the beef-tallow fries and fry sauce makes a small plate. Know: funeral potatoes, the cornflake-topped hash brown casserole, are on the sides list, and the restaurant books holiday parties.
7
Les BBQ
📍 12059 S State St, #80, Draper
Candy Apple Red smoked oxtails
Les BBQ is a Texas-style smokehouse on State Street in Draper, and its website bills it as the home of the smoked oxtail. Order a Les BBQ Classics plate, one to four meats with two sides, cornbread and a fountain drink, and upgrade one meat to the Candy Apple Red Oxtails.
Tip: Order: online through Toast or at the restaurant. Kids: no kids menu is posted; a one-meat Classics plate with mac 'n' cheese and cornbread is the smallest plate. Know: the oxtails sell out, so check @lesbbqsandwiches on Instagram before you drive.
8
Goodwood Barbecue
📍 133 E 12300 S, Draper
A sit-down table with a kids menu in the south valley
At Goodwood's dining room on 12300 South in Draper, order the burnt ends sandwich, served open-face Kansas City style on Texas toast, and a basket of six house cornbread muffins with honey-whipped butter for the table.
Tip: Order: sit-down dining room, or pickup through goodwoodbbq.com. Kids: a kids menu with mac and cheese, chicken crispers, a pork sandwich or a cheeseburger, each with a free drink. Know: the buttermilk-battered onion rings are the appetizer the menu calls a house favorite.
📍Local note: Charlotte-Rose's Carolina BBQ in Millcreek is left out because it served its last dine-in meal on October 25, 2025, and now only caters. Older lists still send people to Sugar House Barbeque Company on 2100 South, which OpenTable now shows as permanently closed. Hog & Tradition's website lists only its West Valley City store, not the downtown food-hall stall some guides mention. Blatch's Backyard BBQ, the vegan pickup spot in the Avenues, lost most of its kitchen equipment in a September 2025 fire and is left out until it posts a reopening.
How to pick the right one
Kenny J's, Les BBQ and Over the Cole's cook Texas-style, so brisket comes first. Salt City is the rib stop, and its Carolina sandwich puts mustard sauce on pulled pork. Hog & Tradition suits a table that wants plantains and rice and beans instead of coleslaw.
Pat's suits a whole evening with a band, and Goodwood a family dinner in Draper. The closest picks by city: from Sandy, Les BBQ or Goodwood in Draper; from West Jordan or Riverton, Kenny J's or the South Jordan or Riverton R&R; from Murray or Taylorsville, R&R in Midvale; from Millcreek or Cottonwood Heights, Over the Cole's in Holladay; from Sugar House or the Avenues, Pat's in South Salt Lake or R&R and Salt City downtown.
For a crowd at home, Kenny J's, Over the Cole's and Hog & Tradition sell brisket by the pound, and R&R's family packs carry 24 ounces of meat and two pints of sides for 4, or 36 ounces and two quarts for 6, with rolls.
Common questions
Where is the best BBQ in Salt Lake City?
Start downtown with R&R BBQ, a competition team with nine grand championships, and Salt City Barbecue, whose menu lists a Best Ribs in Utah award for 2023 to 2025. Pat's BBQ, smoking meat since 2004 in South Salt Lake, is the sit-down choice.
Where can I get BBQ for Thanksgiving in Salt Lake?
Pat's BBQ sells a Thanksgiving meal kit: order before November 23, 2026, and pick it up November 25, 2026, the day before Thanksgiving. The order form is linked from the top of patsbbq.com.
Is there vegetarian or gluten-free BBQ in Salt Lake?
Pat's BBQ has a jackfruit pulled sandwich, a jackfruit Philly and a house black bean veggie burger on its regular menu, and jackfruit can replace any meat on catering orders. Over the Cole's makes all its sauces and rubs in house and gluten free and marks vegetarian options on its menu, though its baked beans contain meat.
Is there BBQ with live music in Salt Lake?
Yes, at Pat's BBQ, which runs Tiny Porch Presents, live bands on weekend evenings in its main dining hall, with local and touring acts, no cover and all ages welcome. Woodbine Food Hall, where Salt City Barbecue has its stall, also books concerts, comedy and movies and posts the dates on its calendar.
Which Salt Lake BBQ restaurants cater?
Pat's BBQ caters with pickup or full service, delivers free within 10 miles of the restaurant, and will bring its smoker trailer for an added fee. R&R, Goodwood, Kenny J's, Over the Cole's and Les BBQ all take catering orders through their websites, and Over the Cole's also books its food truck.
Where is Korean BBQ in Salt Lake County?
KOU-Korean BBQ of Utah, at 7157 S State St in Midvale, is an all-you-can-eat restaurant with a grill at every table. Seoul Meat Co, at 13273 Teal Ridge Way in Riverton, also has you cook at the table. Both grill thin cuts over a flame at your seat instead of smoking meat for hours, which is why neither is on the list above.
The Salt Lake Valley