Few culinary staples define Americana quite like a good slab of smoked meat, which is why barbecue has become synonymous with large swaths of the country over the years.
One such place is the Bluegrass State, as Kentucky is as engrained in the American BBQ scene as any state in America, with a host of award-winning purveyors of smoked meats within the region.
Now that National BBQ Month is upon us, it’s worth taking a closer look at which BBQ joints are the most popular online, using Google’s search interest scores to dictate our rankings for 2024.
Utilizing Google Trends, BetKentucky.com took a beat from Kentucky sports betting and looked at the search volume of the term “Barbecue” over the last 12 months (May 2023 to May 2024) to find the most searched BBQ restaurants in the state of Kentucky.
Top Kentucky BBQ Restaurants By Search
Restaurant | City | Search Interest (vs. Other Topics in Past 12 Months) |
City Barbeque | 6 Locations In KY | 99 |
Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q | 7 Locations In KY | 70 |
Mission BBQ | 2 Locations In KY | 44 |
Red State BBQ | Lexington | 32 |
Bootleg Bar-B-Q | Louisville | 24 |
Momma’s BBQ | Louisville | 18 |
Feast BBQ | Louisville | 18 |
Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn | Owensboro | 17 |
Pig Beach BBQ | Louisville | 17 |
Read up on all of the best Kentucky sportsbook apps in the state.
Which KY BBQ Restaurants Are the Most Popular Online?
Based on search interest totals, it appears that a trio of chain BBQ joints are the most popular at the moment in Kentucky, with City Barbecue leading the way with a search interest score of 99, beating out Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q, which finished with a search interest score of 70.
Throw in Mission BBQ at 44 and Lexington’s Red State BBQ at 32 and you have the top end of the KY BBQ leaderboard, while Louisville’s Bootleg Bar-B-Q was the only other restaurant to crack a search interest score of 20 statewide, finishing up at 24.
Rounding out the list for KY this year were three more Louisville joints, in Momma’s BBQ and Feast BBQ, which notched search interest scores of 18 apiece, while Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn of Owensboro and Pig Beach BBQ in Louisville closed out the list for the year, with scores of 17 apiece.
Regardless of which blend of BBQ is your preferred choice, it seems like Kentucky has a purveyor to choose from, with the 10 restaurants listed on this year’s list being a mere footnote on the state’s smoked meats scene at large.
Once you're filled up on BBQ, be sure to bookmark our Kentucky sportsbook promo code page and get yourself the best deals.
Author
Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
