Each year, we ask Orange County Register readers to choose their favorite places to shop, dine, play and do business in OC.
Read more Best of Orange County 2026: Best bar
Here are the top picks for Best barbecue restaurant:
1. Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
Multiple locations; lucillesbbq.com
The 10 separate barbecue preparations for beef, chicken, pork and sausage are just the start of the culinary adventure at Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que. Pair those with nine sides and five premium sides, like bacon queso fries, and you get the idea this is more than a typical barbecue shack.
Add Southern specialties, like fried chicken in gravy or honey-glazed salmon, starters, desserts and specialty drinks and you’re climbing into another level of dining.
However, undergirding it all is the “authentic, slow-smoked barbecue with genuine Southern hospitality” according to Brad Hofman, president of Hofman Hospitality Group.
That was at the heart of the first restaurant when it was opened and remains true 27 years and 19 locations later.
Depending on the style of barbecue, meats are either hand-rubbed or marinated by pitmasters and set to cook over hickory, which you can view in on-site smokers.
Emblematic of the time-honored and time-consuming preparation of the Texas-Style Beef Brisket, “We slow-smoke it for up to 24 hours to achieve the tenderness, flavor and quality we’re known for,“ Hofman stated. “It’s a process that requires patience and dedication, and it’s not something you can rush or cut corners on.”
Patrons are also drawn to “the signature biscuits and apple butter and the variety of barbecue styles represented on the menu,” he adds.
Diners can flavor their meals with Lucille’s special sauces: Memphis, BBQ and Hot and Spicy.
Read more Best of Orange County 2026: Best bakery
— Greg Mellen
2. Heritage Barbecue
31721 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano; heritagecraftbbq.com
There are lots of hoops to jump through for your Heritage Barbecue fix: long lines and wait times; a la carte and by weight pricing; early closings when food sells out (particularly brisket and tri-tip); no reservations; and no phone or e-mail orders. Online ordering is available.
OC barbecue aficionados love it, insiders wouldn’t have it any other way, and the in-the-know crowds continue to flock to chef Danny Castillo’s thrice Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognized Heritage Barbecue in historic downtown San Juan Capistrano.
Since their start as underground hits in the “guerilla gourmet” pop-up scene, through opening Heritage in 2020, Danny Castillo and wife Brenda, have become media darlings. This is partly due to their hard-to-master use of off-set grills that can create meats with an unmatchable smoky goodness.
Heritage is best known for its always-selling-out Texas style brisket and tri-tip, as well as barbecue standards chicken and pork, not to mention regularly changing specials.
3. Bad to the Bone BBQ
31738 Rancho Viejo Rd., San Juan Capistrano; 949-218-0227; badtothebone-bbq.com
In its continuing quest for authenticity, founders Marty Wells and Mary Stavros insist on imported pecan wood for their J&R all-wood-burning pits.
“We’ve smoked in the same wood-burning pits since 2005 — hickory and pecan, low and slow, no gas and no shortcuts,” says Wells, a former rodeo roper who grew the business with Stavros out of catering and a small sandwich shop. “Do that every single day for 21 years and people know exactly what they’re walking into.”
Although their roots are in Texas and Oklahoma, where rubbed beef brisket and tri-tip are the standard, “ribs are front and center at Bad To The Bone BBQ,” according to the restaurant literature. These include racks and half racks of beef, St. Louis pork ribs and baby back ribs.
In a full-circle move, Wells says “We’re leaning into the things people don’t always realize we do — full-service catering for weddings and corporate events.”
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