Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach: Must Try Smoky Finalists

Thick slices of brisket lie on a metal tray, each edged with a dark, peppery crust. A cup of slaw sits beside them, and a warm wooden table gleams underneath. It is the kind of plate that explains why the Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach are in the spotlight.

A statewide survey by Sunshine State Tourism picked 49 restaurants as finalists for its 2026 Favorite BBQ restaurant. Two beloved spots on West Palm Beach's "Dixie Corridor" made the cut. They are Pig Beach BBQ and Tropical Smokehouse. Eddie Ritz of the Palm Beach Post reported the news on October 20, 2026.

How the Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach Reached the List

The Sunshine State Tourism BBQ list was posted online on Saturday, Oct. 10. The Florida barbecue restaurants finalists stretch from the Panhandle to Jacksonville and down to Miami. Names include Apocalypse BBQ and Drinking Pig, both from Miami.

Voting is open until Dec. 31. Results will be posted online the next day, on Jan. 1. The 2026 Favorite BBQ Restaurant voting is open to anyone who wants to pick a favorite.

Derek Samson created Sunshine State Tourism in 2025, and this is its second year of polling. He worked in traditional media at The Idaho Statesman, The Kansas City Star, Yahoo Sports and USA Today. He wanted a site built on the views of locals.

Samson said the team curates the first lists from recommendations and reviews. No one paid to be on the list. People then vote on the website and talk on Instagram. The stated goal is "letting locals tell tourists where to go in the Sunshine State." That makes this a contest for Florida's favorite BBQ restaurant, and one of the Best BBQ restaurants in Florida 2026 debates.

Pig Beach BBQ and Its Slider Flight

Among the Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach, Pig Beach BBQ West Palm Beach sits at 2400 S. Dixie Highway. The report offers simple advice. If you cannot decide, get the BBQ Platter.

Co owner, chef and pitmaster Matt Abdoo said his social media manager alerted the team on Monday, Oct. 12. He joked that they "sent out the bat signal" to customers and friends. Abdoo has appeared on The Today Show and has been both a judge and a competitor on Beat Bobby Flay.

Even so, he said he was thrilled. "It's just a really cool thing," he said. He called it "a little bit of validation that your hard work, your blood, sweat and tears is paying off." The remark matters because a public vote rewards the daily work behind a counter.

The menu has grown. A new Slider Flight Program runs for college and NFL games on Saturdays and Sundays. The flight has five sliders. They are smoked beef cheek with pickled chilies and horseradish, and smoked and grilled chicken thigh with dill pickles and Alabama white sauce. The others are a crispy chicken tender with pimento cheese, hot honey and cowboy candy, a crispy grouper cheek with vinegar coleslaw and Key Lime comeback sauce, and a pork belly BLT.

His peach and habanero glazed pork chop is the dish that beat Bobby Flay. It is the Monday special now. From December it will be available seven days a week. Abdoo will also fly to New York City in a few weeks for a Today Show segment on Thanksgiving. On Nov. 14, Pig Beach BBQ will work the Big Papi Golf Tournament at PGA National Resort.

Tropical Smokehouse and Its Neighborhood Ethos

Tropical Smokehouse West Palm Beach is at 3815 S. Dixie Highway. It has won many awards in the five years since it opened. Southern Living, Palm Beach Illustrated and Boca Magazine have mentioned it. It also appeared on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

The menu is Florida forward. Popular items include a brisket empanada and gator sausage, which the team prepared for its television appearance. Smoked chicken drumsticks and highly sought after burgers complete the list. For anyone hunting the Best smoked meat in West Palm Beach, it is an easy place to start.

Co owner, chef and pitmaster Rick Mace described the goal in plain terms. "It has always been the aim to have a neighborhood spot that is family friendly and straight forward with come often prices," he said. That makes it one of the Family friendly BBQ restaurants in Florida.

Mace said the team buys the best product. It sources beef, pork and chicken from family owned farms and co ops. These include Bell & Evans chicken, Demkota Ranch Beef and Compart Duroc Pork. "We will start always with great groceries," he said. He added that prices have risen only in small annual steps, so families can keep coming.

The restaurant is also proud of its yearly events. Smoke & Sunset and Smoke & Sunshine bring renowned pitmasters from across the country for a cookout and a DJ. The restaurant closes for two days each time. Mace said it still turns a profit and donates a check to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, every year.

The next Smoke & Sunshine is on Saturday, Jan. 23. Mace likes to push the envelope. In 2025 the team collaborated with Kewpie Mayo. A new idea is a partnership with Everglades Oysters of Everglades City, which is producing what he called the "first ever tropical oysters" in the continental United States.

Other Palm Beach County Finalists

The Palm Beach County BBQ restaurants on the list go beyond the Dixie Corridor. Mrs. Smokey's Real Pit Bar B Q in Jupiter is family owned and operated. It opened in 1979 and is a quick service spot run by Elisa Howie and chef Scott Howie. Together they have over 50 years in the business. The report points to the cornbread lasagna, the fried biscuit sliders and the strawberry shortcake. It is at 5430 Military Trail.

Nevs Barbecue Palm Beach Gardens opened in 2022. It is owned and operated by Tommy Nevill and is known for Texas style barbecue in Florida. The kitchen focuses on scratch preparation and consistency. It was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on April 24. The next morning lines waited at opening, and the restaurant sold out by early evening. It is at 9910 Alternate A1A.

A Fair Look at the Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach List

A careful reading is useful. This is a reader vote on a site launched in 2025, not an inspection. The first list was curated from recommendations and reviews, according to its founder. Only some of the 49 finalists are named in the report. No winner exists yet, so the Florida barbecue restaurant awards label is premature.

Most praise for the two West Palm Beach restaurants comes from their own owners. Television appearances also give some finalists a head start with voters. Still, the facts are firm. Both restaurants are finalists, and the vote runs to Dec. 31. Restaurants of every kind build a following through word of mouth, as in the story of La Pino'z Pizza Parsippany.

What Smoke and Patience Earn

Barbecue is slow work. Meat spends hours in the smoke, and the pitmaster waits. A vote like this is a rare moment when the wait is noticed by strangers.

That may be the real prize for the Best BBQ Restaurants in West Palm Beach. A list is only a list. But a plate of brisket, a good price and a crowd on a Saturday keep a restaurant going long after the voting ends.

Find out more on the official website: https://pigbeachnyc.com/west-palm