Where is BBQ Showdown Filmed? - Outdoor Cabinets

BBQ Showdown is a popular food competition television series that first premiered in 2009 on TLC. The series showcases teams of BBQ pitmasters competing to create the best barbecue dishes. But where is this mouth-watering competition actually filmed?

Introduction

BBQ Showdown films each season in a different barbecue hotspot around the United States. The competition travels to a new city known for its unique regional barbecue style each season to highlight local flavors. This allows the show to showcase distinctive barbecue techniques and traditions from various parts of the country.

Some of the key filming locations where BBQ Showdown has traveled to date include Memphis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Lexington, and San Antonio. The competition generally films on-location at local barbecue joints, festivals, ranches, or farms to add regional authenticity. By changing filming sites each season, the show can feature local pitmasters, ingredients, and cooking methods unique to each city’s BBQ legacy.

Below is an in-depth look at exactly where past seasons of BBQ Showdown have been filmed:

Where Was Season 1 of BBQ Showdown Filmed?

The inaugural season of BBQ Showdown was filmed in 2009 in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis is world-famous for its Southern-style dry rub ribs and pulled pork, so it made for the ideal backdrop to introduce audiences to competition barbecue.

Key Memphis Filming Locations:

Rendezvous BBQ – Several episodes filmed here inside this historic downtown Memphis restaurant, which has been serving ribs since 1948. Teams were challenged to create their own original rib recipes to contend with the Rendezvous BBQ flavors.
Beale Street – Teams participated in a BBQ street food challenge on Memphis’s iconic Beale Street. This lively musical district provided lots of local culture and flavors.
Shelby Farms – This vast urban park and farm in Memphis hosted an episode where teams battled to cook the best whole hog barbecue.
Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park – Teams camped out in this park area just north of Memphis for a fun campfire BBQ cook-off.

By showcasing Memphis joints like Rendezvous BBQ and outdoor spaces like Shelby Farms, the first season of BBQ Showdown gave viewers an authentic taste of Tennessee barbecue.

Season 2 Brought BBQ Showdown to Kansas City

For its second season in 2010, BBQ Showdown shifted its focus from Memphis-style barbecue to the hot and fast barbecue of Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City is known as the melting pot of barbecue, drawing influence from Southern, Texan, and its own unique barbecue flavors.

Notable Kansas City Filming Spots:

Arthur Bryant’s – Teams competed head-to-head inside this Kansas City BBQ institution. Arthur Bryant’s has been smoking up ribs, brisket, and pulled pork since 1940.
Jack Stack Barbecue – Another long-standing Kansas City barbecue joint featured on BBQ Showdown. Jack Stack opened in 1957 and teams created special burnt end dishes here.
Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ – This more recent Kansas City favorite (opened 1996) was featured as teams incorporated Kansas City-style smoked sausage into dishes.
Country Club Plaza – Teams competed in a creative barbecue fusion cook-off staged on this iconic Spanish-inspired shopping district in downtown Kansas City.

Moving the competition to Kansas City allowed Season 2 to showcase Kansas City’s own take on American barbecue in high-profile local restaurants and neighborhoods.

BBQ Showdown Headed to St. Louis for Season 3

In 2011, BBQ Showdown moved the competition to St. Louis for its third season, which put the spotlight on St. Louis-style ribs and other Midwest barbecue flavors.

Key Season 3 St. Louis Filming Spots:

Sugarfire Smoke House – Teams got the chance to cook at Sugarfire Smokehouse’s original downtown location (opened 2010), incorporating St. Louis specialty dishes like smoked pork steaks into their recipes.
The Hill Neighborhood – St. Louis’s Little Italy neighborhood known as “The Hill” hosted an episode featuring Italian-inspired barbecue fusion dishes.
Citygarden Sculpture Park – Teams competed in a creative vegetarian barbecue challenge in this urban St. Louis sculpture park.
St. Louis Gateway Arch – The iconic arch alongside the Mississippi River provided a scenic backdrop for teams cooking out barbecue street foods to impress local crowds.

The St. Louis season showcased a range of locations, from new favorites like Sugarfire to historic neighborhoods like The Hill, for BBQ challenges infused with Midwest character.

Season 4 Moved into Central Texas & San Antonio

BBQ Showdown continued expanding its barbecue horizons in Season 4, heading down to Central Texas and San Antonio in 2012. This region boasts traditional open pit-smoking methods for flavorful Texas-sized beef brisket and sausage.

Key Central Texas/San Antonio Filming Spots:

Franklin Barbecue – Austin’s iconic Franklin Barbecue, famous for its melt-in-your-mouth brisket and hours-long lines, hosted teams dishing out creative brisket dishes.
The Alamo – San Antonio’s historic Alamo landmark provided a uniquely Texan backdrop for an episode where teams incorporated modern twists into traditional Texas barbecue.
Pearl Brewery Complex – The trendy Pearl district in San Antonio housed both indoor and outdoor BBQ challenges focused on Texas beef and sausage dishes.
Floore Store – This historic country-western venue in Helotes, TX, just outside San Antonio, hosted a live music BBQ hoedown event.

With stops at landmarks like The Alamo and classic joints like Franklin Barbecue, Season 4 allowed BBQ Showdown to celebrate quintessential Texas barbecue in fittingly Texas-sized locations.

The Competition Crossed the South in Season 5

For its fifth anniversary season in 2013, BBQ Showdown embarked on a barbecue road trip across several southern states. Instead of settling in just one city, the competition traveled between barbecue capitals in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Season 5 Pit Stops Around the South:

Nashville, TN – Teams kicked off the season with challenges focused on Tennessee pork dishes in Music City.
Lexington, NC – Lexington, renowned as the “Barbecue Capital of the World,” hosted an episode focused on North Carolina-style smoked and chopped whole hog barbecue.
Charleston, SC – Teams batted it out in Charleston cooking classic South Carolina barbecue staples like pulled pork sandwiches and mustard-based sauces.
Savannah, GA – Savannah’s River Street and live oak trees set the scene for peach-infused barbecue cook-offs.
Birmingham, AL – Alabama’s largest city hosted episodes with white barbecue sauce themes and fresh Gulf seafood add-ins.
Oxford, MS – Teams traveled to Oxford to create innovative Ole Miss game day barbecue recipes.

By touring numerous southern cities, Season 5 provided a barbecue tasting tour of the entire southern region in one season.

Season 6 Headed West to the Wild West Town of Prescott, AZ

In 2014, BBQ Showdown went where few barbecue competitions had gone before – out west to Prescott, Arizona for its sixth season. While not initially known as a barbecue destination, the old wild west town of Prescott proved it had the ingredients for a fiery southwestern barbecue battle.

Season 6 Brought Desert Heat with These Prescott Locations:

Whiskey Row – Teams recreated the Prescott Rodeo experience with live-fire grill challenges on this famous Old West block of saloons and eateries.
Watson Lake – The scenic granite rock formations around this lake just outside Prescott set the scene for a camping cookout challenge.
Phippen Museum – Teams paid homage to Prescott’s western roots with cowboy-inspired chuckwagon dishes at this museum honoring cowboy artists.
Yavapai County Courthouse Courtyard – This historic Prescott courtyard hosted an episode focused on indigenous ingredients like cactus in southwestern barbecue.
Smokin’ M BBQ – Teams put a Prescott spin on classic barbecue dishes at this local central Prescott barbecue joint.

The Arizona season demonstrated how barbecue could get creative with southwestern themes and ingredients in the unlikeliest of places.

Memphis Played Host Again for Season 7

After journeying across half the continental United States, BBQ Showdown returned back to its roots for Season 7 in 2015 to showcase how much Memphis barbecue had evolved. The competition revisited old Memphis favorites and discovered new up-and-coming spots on the city’s barbecue scene.

Season 7 Brought BBQ Showdown Full Circle with:

Central BBQ – Teams competed at Central’s new downtown Memphis location, almost 10 years after Central first appeared on the show’s first Memphis season.
Big River Crossing – This new pedestrian bridge served as the site of a creative barbecue bash celebrating Memphis’s heritage as a Mississippi River town.
Wiseacre Brewing Co. – Teams fired up inventive recipes incorporating these trendy local Memphis craft beers.
The Commissary – This emerging Memphis barbecue joint hosted an episode focused on modern twists on classics like Memphis-style sausage and ribs.
Tom Lee Park – Situated along the Mississippi River, this park hosted the season finale cook-offs with surprise historical ingredients related to Memphis.

Memphis was full of fresh barbecue discoveries—even after six full seasons away—proving just how timeless and constantly evolving barbecue culture is across America’s cities.

Heading South to Louisiana’s Cajun Country for Season 8

After rediscovering Memphis, BBQ Showdown spent its 8th season in 2016 exploring the barbecue and culinary mashup found in Louisiana’s world-famous Cajun Country. Teams fused classic barbecue with Louisiana mainstays like seafood, Creole flavors, and Cajun spices.

Season 8 Cooked Up Some Crazy Barbecue in:

New Orleans – Teams participated in a creative Mardi Gras parade barbecue cook-off right on Bourbon Street.
Avery Island – Home of Tabasco hot sauce, Avery Island was the spicy site of a Cajun barbecue challenge.
Lake Charles – Teams drew inspiration from the Creole and Cajun heritage of this city in their recipes.
Houma – A shrimp boil barbecue challenge celebrated this city’s seafood legacy.
Lafayette – Teams fused Cajun dishes like boudin sausage into barbecue recipes in Lafayette, the heart of Cajun country.
Prejean’s – This classic Cajun restaurant outside Lafayette was the site of a crawfish and gator-themed barbecue cook-off.

Louisiana offered no shortage of flavor fusions for BBQ Showdown’s barbecue pros to experiment with.

BBQ Showdown Traveled to 6 Cities for Season 9

Season 9 saw BBQ Showdown return to a documentary-style roadshow format in 2017, traveling between six eastern seaboard cities stretching from Virginia to Florida. This route allowed an in-depth showcase of emerging local barbecue cultures.

Season 9’s Eastern Seaboard Route Included:

Richmond, VA – Teams highlighted up-and-coming barbecue traditions in Richmond.
Washington, D.C. – The National Mall provided an all-American backdrop for D.C. barbecue challenges.
Baltimore, MD – Teams incorporated Maryland blue crab into barbecue creations.
Atlantic City, NJ – Barbecue masters gave their recipes a beachy New Jersey twist.
Savannah, GA – The competition returned to Savannah to discover new spots on the city’s ever-changing barbecue landscape.
Miami, FL – Teams fired up Cuban-inspired barbecue recipes in sizzling Miami.

This season provided a unique chance to experience regional barbecue differences over the span of just a few hundred miles along the East Coast.

Northern Style Barbecue Shined in Season 10 in Vermont

Season 10 brought BBQ Showdown about as far from its barbecue comfort zone as possible, heading up to chilly Vermont in 2018. But Vermont proved it had the local ingredients and culinary talent to hang with the big boys of barbecue.

Among the Backdrops Seen in Vermont Were:

Maple groves – Vermont’s bountiful maple forests were the site of maple smoked barbecue challenges.
Ben & Jerry’s Factory – Teams dished out creative new ice cream-barbecue dessert mashups.
Vermont Cheese Trail – Local dairy farms supplied the cheese for farm fresh barbecue cheese platters.
Vermont Beer Trail – Teams cooked with unique Vermont craft brews.
Green Mountains – The natural splendor of Vermont’s Green Mountains set the scene for an outdoor barbecue cookoff.
Lake Champlain – Teams grilled fresh catches from this large Vermont lake.

The Vermont season proved barbecue could shine even with northern ingredients and styles.

Season 11 Brought Funky Florida Barbecue from Key West to Jacksonville

For 2022’s Season 11, BBQ Showdown returned south but ventured below the mainland to the one and only Florida Keys archipelago. Teams brought innovation to island-inspired barbecue utilizing Key West’s funky flavors. The season also highlighted emerging barbecue tastes elsewhere in Florida, from Miami to the Gulf Coast.

Florida Hot Spots Featured in Season 11:

Key West – Teams challenged barbecued classics with tropical twists using island flavors like mango, papaya, and pineapple right on Key West’s iconic Duval Street.
Bahia Honda State Park – This island park hosted beachside barbecue cookoffs with fresh Florida seafood like mahi mahi and grouper.
Everglades City – Teams fired up alligator-inspired barbecue recipes in this Gulf Coast town on the edge of Everglades National Park.
Ybor City – Tampa’s historic Latin quarter was the site of Cuban sandwiches versus American barbecue showdowns.
Miami – Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood provided Latin inspiration for mojo criollo barbecue sauce challenges.
Jacksonville – Teams drew inspiration from Jacksonville’s rich barbecue history in local joints like Jenkins and Beach Road Chicken Dinners.

From the Florida Keys to old line Florida barbecue towns, Season 11 toured the best of the Sunshine State’s sizzling barbecue diversity.

What’s Next for Future Seasons?

While specific details of where Season 12 of BBQ Showdown will film are still under wraps, the show has demonstrated it still has plenty of American barbecue regions left to explore in future seasons.

Some dream locations BBQ Showdown has yet to visit include barbecue capitals like:

Lockhart, Texas for classic Central Texas beef brisket;
Owensboro, Kentucky for mutton and burgoo stew;
Santa Maria, California for the tri-tip barbecue tradition;
Hawaii for Polynesian barbecue flavors;
Milwaukee, Wisconsin for sausage-laden northern barbecue;
New England for colonial American barbecue tastes.

No matter where the competition heads next, BBQ Showdown will surely continue its mission of documenting the history, culture, and evolving flavors of barbecue across the United States.

Why the Changing Locations?

By moving to a new host city each season, BBQ Showdown provides several advantages:

It allows the show to comprehensively cover a wider range of regional barbecue styles over its run. Filming solely in one place would limit the scope of barbecue flavors covered.
The shifting locales provide built-in variety and new challenges for competitors each season. Familiarity could set in if every season was filmed at just one or two spots.
Changing filming sites makes each season feel fresh, exciting, and distinct for viewers. The show avoids becoming stale by providing new visual backdrops and cooking spaces.
Moving to lesser-known barbecue locations like Vermont and Arizona allows the show to provide exposure and recognition to emerging regional barbecue destinations and cultures.
Logistically, it is easier for BBQ Showdown to gain access to high-profile cooking spaces and joint partnerships with different cities willing to host each season.

By embracing America’s diverse barbecue tapestry, BBQ Showdown stays true to barbecue’s regional roots while advancing its ongoing evolution from season to season.

Filming Setup and Production Details

BBQ Showdown films each season during the height of summer when barbecue season is in full swing across America. A typical season films over the course of approximately one month on location.

The competition provides all equipment and ingredients for teams to cook with. Lang, Hasty Bake, and PK Grills are some of the smoker brands featured on set. Teams typically cook over real fires, not just gas, to add authentic wood-smoke barbecue flavor.

Cooking stations are primarily set up outdoors to allow smoking, grilling, and open fire techniques. Outdoor filming highlights the atmosphere of crowds gathering at festivals and cook-offs. Some episodes also feature more formal indoor kitchen stadiums for parts of the competition.

Upwards of 50 crew members make up the production team on site during filming, including producers, camera operators, audio engineers, and safety personnel. The crew films long days—sometimes over 12 hours—to capture the entire cooking and judging process.

Post-production editing and additional filming can still take place long after the on-location event. Seasons are generally spaced one year apart to allow for editing and distribution.

BBQ Showdown takes extensive planning, coordination, and effort to bring such an ambitious traveling production consistently to life year after year in cities across America. But the result is a mouth-watering tour de force of American regional barbecue styles.

BBQ Showdown’s Appeal and Accolades

By always staying on the move, BBQ Showdown has won over fans and critics alike:

Critics praise the show for offering the most comprehensive survey of American barbecue diversity on television.
Enthusiasts express appreciation for how the show draws attention to lesser-known barbecue regions often overlooked by media.
Viewers find the backdrop of