Author: Mike Kostyo

  Photo Credit: Goldberg Photography « BACK NEXT »           Chicago-based Lillie’s Q has taken the country by storm with a barbecue sauce lineup that includes everything from a BBQ Aïoli Tender Sauce to a mayo-based Ivory Barbeque Sauce to a vinegar-based Eastern North Carolina Barbeque Sauce. The brand’s mustard-based Gold Barbeque Sauce was originally created to compete in South Carolina, but it can now be found nationwide at retail and at the brand’s restaurants, used on chicken, pork, and even seafood dishes like salmon. It’s a small part of why Carolina Gold barbecue sauce...

  Photo Credit: Will Milne « BACK NEXT »           While some barbecue restaurants offer a range of sauces for every palate, Goldee’s sticks to a single sauce as the centerpiece of the menu. It seems to have worked, as Goldee’s earned the top spot on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s best barbecue joints. Goldee’s sauce is loosely based on sauces found at popular Texas spots Salt Lick BBQ and City Market, both of which feature less tomato-centric sauces. Goldee’s starts with mustard as the base for its sauce, adding just a small amount...

  Photo Credit: Chicken N Pickle   « BACK NEXT »             At Chicken N Pickle, the fast-growing pickleball-focused eater-tainment chain, the housemade barbecue sauce is a spicier and zestier take on a traditional Kansas City sauce. It appears across the menu, but perhaps most surprisingly as a flavor builder in the complex Muddy Mary, adding a tang alongside vodka, lime juice, Worcestershire, A.1. Steak Sauce, pickle juice, Tabasco and horseradish. « BACK NEXT »   American barbecue has never showcased more flavor diversity than it does right now. Across the country, chefs are...

  Photo Credit: The Hook & Plow Redondo Beach « BACK NEXT »           Executive Chef Matthew Ignacio of The Hook & Plow in Los Angeles, wanted to pay homage to his Kansas City roots when developing his barbecue sauce, which begins with a tomato base, adds in blueberries for rich fruit flavor, and swaps in saba, the thick Italian grape syrup, for the traditional molasses, giving the resulting sauce a deep, raisin-forward flavor. Ignacio uses it on everything from the bone-in tea-brined pork chop pictured here to a chicken sandwich with crescenza cheese. «...

  Photo Credit: Dickey’s Barbecue Pit « BACK NEXT »           Today’s barbecue sauces are taking inspiration from their condiment cousin—hot sauce—and showcasing ever-spicier peppers and names like “Fireball” or “Scorcher.” Enter Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s hottest sauce release yet: Dickey’s Atomic Barbecue Sauce, which pulls heat and flavor from habaneros, chipotle powder and crushed red pepper flakes. For those guests who may need to bring the heat down a notch, Dickey’s also created a limited-edition fusion option this spring, combining the Atomic Sauce with the brand’s original maple-rich Sweet Barbecue Sauce for a smoky, sweet,...