10 Restaurant Chains That Serve the Best Pulled Pork
Pulled pork is an all-American dish that is deeply rooted in southern cuisine. According to Smithsonian, its origins may be traced back to Spanish explorers who discovered the barbacoa style of cooking in the Caribbean and brought it to indigenous people in the Americas, where it was incorporated it into their cooking. Over time, slow-cooking a whole hog became a southern tradition.
Whether slowly roasted or smoked pit-style, pork becomes tender and easy to shred. Pulled pork has become a favorite as it's versatile, easily served, and can be tucked into tacos, piled high on a roll, or served on a plate with sides. Restaurants across the U.S. serve this tender favorite, each putting a spin on the classic with different smoking styles and wood choices, and of course, there are the sauces and sides to create a flavor balance.
Ahead, find 10 chain restaurants, big and small, where you can feast on extraordinary pulled pork.
Texas Roadhouse
The great thing about Texas Roadhouse is there are a lot of locations—more than 600 nationwide—and the menu seems made to fill a meat craving. Among those meats is a hearty, comforting pulled pork dinner. The plate consists of tender, slow-cooked barbecued pork with toasted, fresh-baked bread, and a veggie side.
Smokey Bones
A national chain with more than 60 locations, Smokey Bones is a reliable spot to get barbecue around the U.S. It serves a crave-worthy hand-pulled pork platter. The pork is house-smoke for nine hours and then hand-pulled and seasoned with salt and pepper. The platter comes with buttery garlic bread and two sides.
Famous Dave's BBQ
You may know the spot for its ribs, but Famous Dave's roughly 150 locations serve Georgia Chopped Pork, the restaurant's version of pulled pork. Using hickory wood, Famous Dave's BBQ restaurants hand-rub and then slow-smoke all of its meats, including the chopped pork. You can get it as a combo or as a sandwich topped with the house-made Rich and Sassy Sauce.
City Barbeque
This fast-casual barbecue chain was founded in Ohio in 1999, and the company now has more than 65 restaurants across eight states. All of the restaurant's meats are smoked in-house—and the sides and desserts are also made daily on-site. You can get pulled pork by the pound, and the sweet, rich meat pairs nicely with the chain's green beans with bacon, macaroni and cheese, sweet vinegar slaw, corn pudding, hush puppies, and cornbread.
Rudy's Real Texas Bar-B-Q
With more than 50 locations in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and, of course, Texas, Rudy's has a dry-rubbed style pulled pork you need to try. Rudy's slow-cooks its meats over oak wood to take advantage of the longer burning time, which gives the pork an oaky flavor. The pulled pork is available by the half pound and on a roll. Try it with a jumbo smoked potato for a real comfort meal.
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
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Don't think you can get good BBQ north of the Mason-Dixon line? You're seriously wrong. Good Morning America visited this New York-based chain in 2022 to highlight its seriously good 'cue and the pulled pork, made from pork butt (the meat surrounding the shoulder blade) and smoked for hours. If you can't get to one of the restaurant's five locations across New York State, the pulled pork has several copycat recipes.
4 Rivers Smokehouse
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This Florida based 'cue spot is one of the fastest growing chains in the Southeast, with 15 locations across the state. Named the South's best BBQ spot by Southern Living magazine, the restaurant's goal is "de-regionalizing" barbecue, so you'll find all your smokehouse favorites here, including pulled pork. You can order the pork, made from bone-in pork shoulder rubbed with the house rub and smoked for 12 hours until fork-tender, on a platter with other meats, or sandwich style.
Corky's Ribs & BBQ
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Founded in East Memphis in 1984, this micro-chain has eight locations in Tennessee and Arkansas, and it's worth seeking out for just about everything on the menu, but the pulled pork is special. The chain offers a traditional pulled pork plate, with a half-pound of hand-pulled pork covered with Corky's BBQ sauce and sides of baked beans, coleslaw, and freshly baked rolls. Still, if you're feeling adventurous, you can get a half-and-half plate of pulled pork paired with Corky's legendary spaghetti.
Joe's Kansas City BBQ
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Joe's Kansas City specializes in pulled pork, and it's so good that you can get it shipped by the pound. This is great news for anyone outside of KC because this micro chain only has three locations, the first of which is in a gas station. This is classic KC style 'cue, slow-smoked over the area's abundant oak and hickory hardwoods and complemented with a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes.
Mighty Quinn's Barbecue
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A Northeast fast-casual chain with locations in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Maryland (and also Dubai), Quinn's first opened in New York in 2012, and it's been building a small 'cue empire ever since. The chain only uses wood smokers, never gas, and its pulled pork is available on platters or as a hearty sandwich topped with coleslaw. You can also get the pulled pork and bean empanadas if you're on the go.
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