When it’s a slow news day, survey rankings like this one sometimes get a little attention — and a little attention is about what this survey deserves. LawnStarter, a landscaping and pest-control company has a hard-working PR department that is constantly creating clickbait surveys and rankings, i.e. 2021’s Best Cities for Your Summer Vaxcation; 2021’s Best Cities for Single Dads; 2021’s Best Cities to Get (and Stay) Married; 2021’s Best Cities for LGBTQ Singles; 2021’s Horniest Cities in America; 2021’s Best Biking Cities in America, etc. You get the idea.
This week, they did 2021’s Best BBQ Cities in America, and, well, as you may have guessed from the headline above, they did Memphis wrong, ranking the Bluff City fifth-best in the country, just behind that legendary barbecue mecca, Cincinnati.
C’mon Lawnstarter. You don’t see us out here ranking lawn mowers and weed eaters. We know what we’re good at and we know what we know better than any other place in America — and that’s barbecue (and yes, real barbecue cities spell it out). And what is this absurd ranking of Memphis as number 40 in “quality”? FORTIETH? Get outta heah with this mess.
According to LawnStarter, the real hub of great “BBQ” is “the Midwest.” Puh-leeze. Here’s how the grassy know-it-alls address the criminal assault on America’s true greatest barbecue city: “Kansas City: The BBQ Capital of America. Sorry, Memphis. Kansas City tops our list of the Best BBQ Cities. With far more winners in the World Series of Barbecue contests and the second-highest number of national excellence awards, the Heart of America is a powerhouse for quality brisket and burnt ends.”
Read it all here, if you’re having a slow day and need an irritant.
