Minneapolis barbecue runs from a North Loop dinner room to counters where the meat comes wrapped in foil and the seating is your car. This guide covers both ends: the smoke, the sides, and whether you are sitting down or driving home to eat.
№ 01
Butcher & The Boar
901 N 3rd St, Ste 195, Minneapolis, MN 55401 · +1612-886-1769
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The beef long rib is the order here, backed by a cheddarwurst and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes that read as a full smokehouse spread rather than a side note. This is a sit-down room built for business dinners and celebrations, not a quick counter stop, and the menu runs deep enough to make a multi-course night out of it. It stands apart from the metro's takeout-first barbecue joints by design.
What to orderBeef Long Rib, Cheddarwurst, Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes
№ 02
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
$$$
3025 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16122249888
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Yakitori, beef short ribs, and seafood skewers arrive raw for the table to grill, which makes this a different animal from smoked Southern barbecue: Japanese tableside grilling built for groups. The lunch special, two grilled items with rice, miso soup, and salad, is the value entry point. Expect a loud room on busy nights, which comes with the cook-it-yourself format.
What to orderyakitori, beef short ribs, seafood skewers
№ 03
Ted Cooks 19th Hole BBQ
$$
2814 E 38th St, Minneapolis, MN 55406 · +16127212023
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Brisket, ribs, and pulled pork move out the door at this counter, which has held its neighborhood spot for around three decades. There is no seating and no beer, a straight takeout operation shaped by state liquor rules as much as by design. It is a fixture more than a destination, the kind of order-and-go joint a neighborhood keeps coming back to for the smoke and the price.
What to orderbrisket, ribs, pulled pork
№ 04
Scott Ja-Mama's
$
3 W Diamond Lake Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55419 · +16128234450
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The pulled pork sandwich paired with the twice baked potato is the standing order for regulars who have kept coming back for over a decade. This is a small, mostly takeout operation with limited seating, and the smoked meats and beans outperform the sides: the cole slaw and roll are the parts to skip. Judge it on the pulled pork and ribs, not the extras.
What to orderpulled pork sandwich, ribs, twice baked potato
№ 05
Wings & Seafood To Go
$
3404 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16128258682
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Fried catfish, chicken wings, and chicken egg rolls anchor a small counter built for carrying food home rather than eating on site. The walleye plate with two sides gets repeat orders from regulars, and the fried rice holds its own alongside the wings. It runs as a family-scale neighborhood operation, reasonably priced, with a small dining area that leans more takeout than sit-down.
What to orderchicken wings, fried catfish, chicken egg rolls
№ 06
The Fabled Rooster
520 N 4th St, Fl 1, Graze Provisions + Libations, Minneapolis, MN 55401 · +16124704820
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Brisket, pulled pork, and ribs come off a barbecue counter inside Graze Food Hall in the North Loop, ordered at a screen for a fast turnaround. It is a food hall stall built on a former food truck, useful for a quick lunch stop among the hall's other counters. Results read as inconsistent: some visits land on solid smoked meat, others on dry results and thin seasoning.
What to orderbrisket, pulled pork, ribs
Frequently asked
What is the best BBQ near me in Minneapolis?
It depends which part of the city you are in. The North Loop covers Butcher & The Boar for a sit-down meal and The Fabled Rooster inside Graze Food Hall for a quick counter lunch, while neighborhood counters like Ted Cook's, Scott Ja-Mama's, and Wings & Seafood To Go serve their own long-standing local followings elsewhere in the city.
Is Butcher & The Boar or a takeout counter the better choice for a group?
Butcher & The Boar is built for groups and occasions, with a full dinner menu and table service. The takeout counters, Ted Cook's, Scott Ja-Mama's, and Wings & Seafood To Go, are set up for grabbing food and leaving, with little or no seating, so a large sit-down group is better served by the dinner room.
Does any restaurant pay to be listed here?
No restaurant pays for placement in this guide. Each entry carries an Insider Score based on the review record, and the ranking and inclusion are independent of any payment or advertising relationship.
Where can I get real smoked brisket instead of grilled meat?
Ted Cook's, Scott Ja-Mama's, and The Fabled Rooster all serve smoked brisket, ribs, and pulled pork in the traditional barbecue style. Gyu-Kaku is a different format entirely, Japanese tableside grilling rather than smoked barbecue, worth knowing before you go in expecting brisket.
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The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Hodan Abdi
Staff Writer · Top of Minneapolis
Hodan Abdi is a Staff Writer at Top of Minneapolis. Raised in Cedar-Riverside two floors above the Somali mall her aunt worked in, she now lives in Eagan and covers the whole metro ring. She writes the guides, sweeps the suburbs, and covers the Somali and East African tables as the beat she knows best.
