American BBQ is the low-and-slow craft: brisket smoked overnight, beef and pork ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends, a side of mac and cheese and a slab of cornbread, all hot off the offset smoker. It is its own thing, the southern smokehouse, distinct from the Korean tabletop grill and the chinese barbecue the city has its own lists for. Melbourne smokes it from South Melbourne and the CBD out to Preston, Coburg, Collingwood and Heidelberg West. We ranked the inner-city smokehouses that diners name for the brisket and the ribs by their Curateria Score and what reviewers keep saying on their most recent visits, with chains and far suburbs left out. Here is the order this month.
Top of the list is Meatworksco in South Melbourne, the high-volume room reviewers leave very satisfied, the wagyu brisket smoked across two days, the Black Angus beef ribs and the bone marrow gravy fries exactly what you want from a place with the word meat in the name. Dexter in Preston follows, the room reviewers call a must visit if you like meat, the meat donuts and the caramel short ribs the signatures beside the brisket and the dry-aged cheeseburger.
Bluestone American BBQ in Coburg is the room reviewers rate for great vibe and large servings, the Angus brisket, the pork ribs and the southern fried chicken with a pecan maple pie to finish. Big Earle's Roadhouse Barbecue in Port Melbourne is the roadhouse reviewers say is the real Melbourne vibe, the twelve-hour smoked brisket, the pulled pork and the mega tasting plate the order for a table of fifteen on a Sunday. Fancy Hank's Barbecue Restaurant in the city is the high-volume CBD smokehouse reviewers call some of the best smoked meat they have had, the sixteen-hour Angus brisket, the buffalo wings and the duck butter cornbread the picks.
Le Bon Ton in Collingwood is the smokehouse and bar reviewers return to for the Smoker's Lot platter, the brisket and the southern fried chicken in a cosy room good for a casual drink or a planned dinner, and The Bearded Pig- American BBQ in Heidelberg West is the room whose smoked brisket reviewers call the best they will ever have, the burnt ends and the sausage of the week the reason they keep coming back. The Smoke Pit in Thomastown is the well-priced room reviewers visit two weekends in a row, the sharing plate, the brisket benchmark and the mac and cheese the draw.
The list closes across the inner ring. Southern Grace Diner by Big Boy BBQ in Caulfield South is the diner reviewers call the best American BBQ spot in Melbourne, the brisket melting apart and the peach cobbler and peanut butter cream pie to close. White Oaks Saloon Bar & Dining in Prahran is the saloon bar and dining room reviewers rate for friendly service and a coffee-rub steak, the southern fried chicken and the ribs beside it, Pink Lemonade Richmond - Beer Garden - American BBQ in Richmond is the beer garden reviewers come to for a brisket burger and pulled pork bao, the pulled pork burger and the fries outstanding, and Alvy’s Smokehouse rounds it out, the smokehouse reviewers call a gem for a smoked brisket and a pulled pork smash burger done ten out of ten.
Every smokehouse here carries a Curateria Score built from its full review history, then weighted toward its most recent hundred reviews so the order reflects the room as it runs today, not as it ran two years ago. We hold the cohort to a tight inner-Melbourne radius, roughly 15km of the city, and drop multi-location chains and the national brands that trade on a logo more than a local following, so what is left reads as the genuine local order. We blend that quality score with how often and how recently diners are still talking about the place, and we read the snippets for the smoke itself, the brisket and the ribs and the burnt ends, rather than the Korean tabletop grill or the chinese barbecue the other pages already cover. The corpus is Victorian and scored; no AI writer ever reads it. The ranking is arithmetic; the words are ours.
Explore more BBQ across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
More from the Lowdown
Support our work
Reader-supported, ad-light. Three ways to back the work.
American BBQ is the low-and-slow craft: brisket smoked overnight, beef and pork ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends, a side of mac and cheese and a slab of cornbread, all hot off the offset smoker. It is its own thing, the southern smokehouse, distinct from the Korean tabletop grill and the chinese barbecue the city has its own lists for. Melbourne smokes it from South Melbourne and the CBD out to Preston, Coburg, Collingwood and Heidelberg West. We ranked the inner-city smokehouses that diners name for the brisket and the ribs by their Curateria Score and what reviewers keep saying on their most recent visits, with chains and far suburbs left out. Here is the order this month.
Top of the list is Meatworksco in South Melbourne, the high-volume room reviewers leave very satisfied, the wagyu brisket smoked across two days, the Black Angus beef ribs and the bone marrow gravy fries exactly what you want from a place with the word meat in the name. Dexter in Preston follows, the room reviewers call a must visit if you like meat, the meat donuts and the caramel short ribs the signatures beside the brisket and the dry-aged cheeseburger.
Bluestone American BBQ in Coburg is the room reviewers rate for great vibe and large servings, the Angus brisket, the pork ribs and the southern fried chicken with a pecan maple pie to finish. Big Earle's Roadhouse Barbecue in Port Melbourne is the roadhouse reviewers say is the real Melbourne vibe, the twelve-hour smoked brisket, the pulled pork and the mega tasting plate the order for a table of fifteen on a Sunday. Fancy Hank's Barbecue Restaurant in the city is the high-volume CBD smokehouse reviewers call some of the best smoked meat they have had, the sixteen-hour Angus brisket, the buffalo wings and the duck butter cornbread the picks.
Le Bon Ton in Collingwood is the smokehouse and bar reviewers return to for the Smoker's Lot platter, the brisket and the southern fried chicken in a cosy room good for a casual drink or a planned dinner, and The Bearded Pig- American BBQ in Heidelberg West is the room whose smoked brisket reviewers call the best they will ever have, the burnt ends and the sausage of the week the reason they keep coming back. The Smoke Pit in Thomastown is the well-priced room reviewers visit two weekends in a row, the sharing plate, the brisket benchmark and the mac and cheese the draw.
The list closes across the inner ring. Southern Grace Diner by Big Boy BBQ in Caulfield South is the diner reviewers call the best American BBQ spot in Melbourne, the brisket melting apart and the peach cobbler and peanut butter cream pie to close. White Oaks Saloon Bar & Dining in Prahran is the saloon bar and dining room reviewers rate for friendly service and a coffee-rub steak, the southern fried chicken and the ribs beside it, Pink Lemonade Richmond - Beer Garden - American BBQ in Richmond is the beer garden reviewers come to for a brisket burger and pulled pork bao, the pulled pork burger and the fries outstanding, and Alvy’s Smokehouse rounds it out, the smokehouse reviewers call a gem for a smoked brisket and a pulled pork smash burger done ten out of ten.
Every smokehouse here carries a Curateria Score built from its full review history, then weighted toward its most recent hundred reviews so the order reflects the room as it runs today, not as it ran two years ago. We hold the cohort to a tight inner-Melbourne radius, roughly 15km of the city, and drop multi-location chains and the national brands that trade on a logo more than a local following, so what is left reads as the genuine local order. We blend that quality score with how often and how recently diners are still talking about the place, and we read the snippets for the smoke itself, the brisket and the ribs and the burnt ends, rather than the Korean tabletop grill or the chinese barbecue the other pages already cover. The corpus is Victorian and scored; no AI writer ever reads it. The ranking is arithmetic; the words are ours.
Explore more BBQ across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
More from the Lowdown
Our read on where Melbourne is eating, drawn from every review we track. Free, no algorithm, unsubscribe in two clicks.