Study ranks L.A. the fifth-best BBQ city in America

Kansas City, Texas and the Carolinas are often the first regions in the U.S. most people imagine when they hear the word “barbecue.”

But a new study just in time for Fourth of July grilling season says there’s another worthy contender: Los Angeles.

The story, published on Lawnstarter.com , a website which, as the name implies, provides resources and information about lawn care maintenance and mowing services, lists Los Angeles as the nation’s fifth-best city for barbecue.

The 2024 Best BBQ Cities list has, unsurprisingly, Kansas City, Missouri as No. 1 on the list, followed by Memphis, Tennessee; Houston, Texas; and the other Kansas City — the one in Kansas proper.

Rounding out the Top 5 is the City of Angels.

The ranking has this writer skeptical, but the website insists there’s a well-done method behind it.

Los Angeles edged out other prominent barbecue locales for scoring high in several of the metrics used to order the list, which is comprised of the 500 most populous cities in the nation.

Number of barbecue vendors and smokehouses, including the number of 4.5+ rated businesses, as well as overall consumer rating of the local barbecue offerings are among the data points considered when creating the ranking.

Los Angeles finished with an overall score of 36.2, fifth overall, largely due to the high number of vendors and smokehouses, particularly those that have glowing reviews. L.A. also gets a boost by being the city with the most members of the National Barbecue & Grilling Association.

Other California cities to make the list include San Diego (29th), San Francisco (74th), Corona (76th), Elk Grove (81st) and Sacramento (89th).

For the entire 500-city dataset, additional information about the methodology used, as well as a Q&A with barbecue experts, click here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.