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I grew up, for the most part, in Clarkston. My father's family owned a little chain (chain here is interpreted as more than one) of joints. They sold stew and pulled pork shoulder; to keep up with the '60s, they also sold fried shrimp, hamburgers and french fries — unlikely candidates for 'cue mates.

I have watched my grandmother grind the chicken and pork for Brunswick stew more times than I can count. She had a mysterious mix of corn and tomatoes that was — and still is — a secret only certain favored members of the family were privy to (my father handed the recipe down to me only after my 23-year-old nephew asked me to ask him for it).

LOUIE FAVORITE/AJC Staff (ENLARGE)
Sam & Dave's BBQ1 in Marietta is Meridith Ford's best overall spot for slow-cooked barbecue, amply anchored by savory sides. The mac 'n cheese is one that shouldn't be missed.
Elissa Eubanks/Staff (ENLARGE)
Those mini-Q's at Spiced Right are simply darling.
Phil Skinner/AJC STAFF (ENLARGE)
The pork platter at Swallow at the Hollow features sides that dazzle.
WILLIAM BERRY/AJC STAFF (ENLARGE)
Pig-n-Chik has a pulled pork sandwich that more than pleases.
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I have eaten barbecue from my mother's relatives' cattle, a part of huge family picnics that were east Texas ritual. Their beef brisket was the first I had ever tasted.

That's because in this part of Georgia in the '60s and '70s, there was no barbecue beyond pulled or chopped pork. It was sometimes served on a bun but more likely between two pieces of very enriched white bread with hamburger dills. Potato chips were sometimes an option, sometimes not. Beer and grape soda were musts. And any 'cue joint that served french fries was suspect and could not be relied upon.

I tell all this for two reasons. The first is to proclaim that barbecue to Southerners is gospel, even though how it tastes used to change every 50 miles down the road, as did the sauce. Each and every joint along the way still thinks it is the only one with the right way to smoke it, cook it, sauce it. I know this. I offer my 'cue credentials to prove to all the folks who are going to e-mail me and tell me that I am an idiot that I didn't fall off the hickory woodpile yesterday.

The second is far more important: Barbecue in the South is changing, folks. Has been changing for close to 15 years.

There are several reasons for this, but one that bears noting is that lots of people who aren't from the South live in the South these days. They bring with them ideas and attitudes that change the way we all eat.

Another is that barbecue's place in our culture has changed. It is no longer a backyard tradition reserved for family reunions, with methods passed from generation to generation. Nor is it a rural ritual residing on the hard-to-find back roads of memory.

It is a commodity. And the new generation of pitmasters know how to please. They have returned, perhaps influenced by the rise in popularity of barbecue's competition circuit, to the art of really smoking their meats and using real wood to do it. Feeling no twinge of homage to their forebears, they embrace ideas that were verboten 25 years ago, tweaking and gathering information from a global community of chefs. And they dry-rub. They also make about a hundred different sauces, from vinegar to tomato, and claim that every one of them is from a now-famous secret family recipe. Brisket and ribs are as common an offering as sweet tea and napkins.

From this, there are two distinct results — one good, one bad. What's grand is that 'cue joints like Sam and Dave's BBQ1 in Marietta and Fox Bros. BBQ served in Smith's Olde Bar on Piedmont are smoking some of the best barbecue this part of Georgia has tasted in years. What's sad is that the regionality — what made each of these little joints unique — is dwindling fast.

That said, the following places have my vote as the best in the area — some I like for the meats, others for the little somethings that go along with it. It's worth noting that many of them — in fact most — are among the new generation of 'cue joints. And since I know you're going to anyway, feel free to e-mail me at mford@ajc.com with your thoughts (be nice) and recommendations to add to my list.

BEST OVERALL

Sam & Dave's BBQ1, 4944 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta, 770-977-3005

The red, white and blue painted pig out front is a good harbinger of things to come inside this shoebox-sized joint meant more for takeout than lingering. Beef brisket and pulled pork are what to relish here: The brisket has a cross-hatched pattern across the meat's grain, slow-cooked for hours until the edges are crowned with a charred, caramelized crust lined on the inside with a pretty pink ring. The pulled pork is served in giant, tender shreds with a smoky tenderness, rimmed in pink that gives way to brown. Don't miss the mac 'n cheese: Chef David Roberts boils up a batch of rigatoni and drenches it in cream and three kinds of cheese.

Runner-up

Fox Bros. BBQ, inside Smith's Olde Bar, 1580 Piedmont Ave., 404-875-1522

Two guys from Texas ought to know how to smoke some brisket, and believe me, the Fox brothers do. This is the best brisket in the area — tender, moist meat that literally pulls apart with just a nudge of the fork and is full of wood-smoked flavor. The edges are gently charred with traces of dry rub in the flavor, ringed in pink. Ditto the pulled pork, which comes on a plate or in a sandwich. Baby back ribs are a cross between pork roast and bacon, with a sweet, tender center as you get to the bone. Don't miss the tater tots and other sides such as mac 'n cheese and green beans that are part of the duo's catering menu. The catch: The 'cue is only served Wednesdays after 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays after noon.

BEST PULLED PORK

Pig-n-Chik (original location), 4920 Roswell Road (inside the Fountain Oaks Shopping Center), 404-255-6368

Ribs here are good, too, but what Pig-n-Chik does best is a classic sandwich of pulled pork, the meat smoky and tender, served on two thick slices of white Texas-sliced bread (ask to have it toasted for a fun kick). The sauces are worth a snort, too — especially the mustard sauce that smacks of vinegar. Dipping the sandwich is the best way to get the most of the meat and sauce together, rather than dousing the sandwich with it. The sports bar digs are fun, and there are lots of bottled beers to accompany the meat.

BEST BARBECUE CHICKEN /WINGS

Rolling Bones Premium Pit BBQ, 377 Edgewood Ave., 404-222-2324

This joint's Edward Hopper-meets-Mayberry RFD style in a refurbished gas station may send a "too newfangled for me" signal to the 'cue initiated. But in the new generation of barbecue, Rolling Bones rocks. The pit-grilled chicken is an otherworldly delight of bewitchingly crispy skin and juicy center. Smoked wings are sultry, spicy and hefty. Bones is a close second in nailing brisket. Its slow-cooked, Texas-style 'cue has a tender meaty interior that gives way to that characteristic pink ring under a charred, caramelized surface.

BEST RIBS (tie)

Hometown Barbecue, 1173 Highway 29 S., Lawrenceville, 770-963-5383

Partners George Richbourg and Martha Kelly sold their barbecue from the back of a catering truck until taking up the digs of Gunter's sandwich shop's old space. Pulled pork here is nothing to shake a stick at, but the real reason to come to Hometown is for the ribs, which are full, meaty and fall from the bone after a little preliminary nudge from the fork. Slow cooking flawlessly renders the fat from the meat, leaving the ribs tender and smoky, with a caramelized edge with a bit of char.

For those in the Fatt Matt's rib camp, Maddy's offers some strong competition — the ribs here are big, Fred Flintstonelike renditions with lots of meat, lots of fat and good smoky flavor that doesn't need sauce. They call themselves a blues joint, and live music is a plus, as is a good selection of beer.

BEST BRUNSWICK STEW

Harold's, 171 McDonough Blvd. S.E., 404-627-9268

Harold's, an old-time favorite, is still packed on weekdays during lunch rush. A recent visit left me downright sad that the pulled pork and brisket, alas, aren't what they used to be. But the stew ... well, it's still a big bowl of tomatoes and corn, with tons of shredded meat and a hint of spice. No potatoes and no beans, and that's just as it should be.

AND THE SIDES HAVE IT ...

Since the new generation of 'cue joints offers up more than just grape soda and chips, sides take on a whole new meaning. OK, I know we go for 'cue to eat 'cue, but there's nothing wrong with a well-made coleslaw or some mac 'n cheese to round out a meal.

Swallow at the Hollow, 1072 Green St., Roswell, 678-352-1975

The funky setting, in a knotty pine barn, evokes images of Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae (actually, it feels a little like the Okefenokee Swamp ride that used to be at Six Flags). There's a boat up front filled with ice and beer. Barbecue and lots of other dishes, including a mighty fine portobello mushroom sandwich and some house-made sausage are cooking behind the line. But honestly, the biscuits here are worth their fluffy weight in gold — two inches high and slit in half, then grilled with butter. Little plastic cups of honey come on the side.

Spiced Right Smokehouse Barbecue, 5364 Lawrenceville Highway, Lilburn, 770-564-0355

The best part of Spiced Right's barbecue offerings are the "mini-Q's," itty-bitty, wimpy bites of pulled pork. But where this joint hits its stride is with new owner Rob Holloway's Waffle House repertoire of sides such as corn souffle (a naughty mix of creamed corn and condensed milk) and hash brown casserole that's like a big mess of potatoes au gratin. Fried okra ain't half bad, either.