12 Finger-Licking Locations for BBQ in MKE

At Doc’s Commerce Smokehouse, simplicity is the key to award-winning and palate-pleasing BBQ. Located near Baird Center in the heart of downtown, Doc’s follows the deceptively tricky Southern art of BBQ, using only spices and hickory smoke to slow-cook all of their meats. With over 60 local craft beers on tap and 200 bourbons, the sprawling restaurant space is the perfect place to catch the game or meet up with friends. Be sure to swing by on Sundays for the burnt ends.

Follow your nose to Sherman Phoenix Marketplace for Junior’s Smoked BBQ’s physical location inside of the food hall. Serving made-from-scratch sides and delectable slow-smoked BBQ, you can also find Junior’s sharing their smokey BBQ goodness with the world at the Greenfield, Brown Deer and South Shore Farmers Markets.

Rumble on into MOTOR Bar & Restaurant for a taste of brand-new BBQ with a side of classic Americana. Located on the campus of the Harley-Davidson Museum, the restaurant has updated its recipes and techniques to create an even better BBQ. Rev your engines with a beef brisket plate or sandwich. Slow-smoked for 14 hours, it’s the best BBQ meal at a restaurant dedicated to two wheels in Milwaukee.

Everyone loves good comfort food and Nino’s does it better than just about anywhere else—but it’s also home to stellar BBQ eats too. Found along Oakland Ave. just north of downtown in Shorewood, the restaurant offers classics like smothered pork chops and fried chicken wings as well as specialties like pork chitterlings and BBQ pigs feet. Swing by for some great BBQ and, of course, out-of-the-world sides like green beans, yams, mashed potatoes and so much more.

Need even more of the tangy taste sensation? Head out to Muskego to Pop’s Pub on Pioneer for a meal of the fall-off-the-bone delight. Smoked all day with oak wood, the BBQ is as delicious as it looks in photos. The restaurant offers everything from burnt ends and perfectly cut brisket sandwiches to BBQ pizza and brisket nachos.

Known best for its trademark sampler platter at festivals all around town, Saz’s cheese curds, chive fries and mozzarella sticks are a rite of passage, but there’s so much more on the menu—including BBQ! Inside their brick-and-mortar restaurant in Wauwatosa, Saz’s offers award-winning baby back rips in addition to a wide selection of BBQ offerings, including delicious BBQ pulled pork mac and cheese, riblets and so much more. Order the ribs and fried chicken…with a side of those classic mozzarella sticks of course.

Discover a menu stacked with BBQ options at Smoke Shack. Just a few blocks from downtown, Smoke Shack carefully curates a menu of small-batch meats all day, every day, creating a menu piled high with mouthwateringly fresh meats. Beyond phenomenal BBQ offerings with sauces in the style of regional favorites from around the country, the restaurant also features a brunch with items like pulled port benedict, fried chicken and poblano waffles and the Alabama biscuit sandwich. Make your plans for BBQ tonight, or plan ahead for a one-of-a-kind fusion for your next brunch out.

While speed is in the name, slow-smoking meats are the game at Speed Queen Bar-B-Que. Originally a BBQ and secret sauce shop in the 1950s, word spread so fast about the condiments’ quality that founder Betty Gillespie earned herself the title of Speed Queen. Located in the Triangle North neighborhood, the restaurant is known to have some of the best BBQs in the city, using the largest BBQ pit in Milwaukee to produce their sweet, delicious meats. Order up some pork shoulder with a side of loaded mac and cheese and chow down at this local staple.

Before your next concert or show in the Milwaukee Theater District, stop by Turning Tables. Located just below Turner Hall Ballroom, the downtown restaurant is also a teaching kitchen, providing not only a sublime dining experience but also training to budding culinary entrepreneurs. Serving lunch and dinner, Turning Tables’ menu is always cooking up something new, including delicious classic BBQ offerings and unique fusions like the Midwest BBQ rice bowl. Swing by for a bite, then head upstairs for a show.

Double B’s Barbecue is an award-winning hidden gem of delectable, fall-off-the-bone BBQ located in the heart of West Allis. In search of the perfect BBQ recipe, Double B’s cooked up a special laboratory, that they affectionately refer to as the “Zen Den,” designed to create the holy grail of ribs. Grab a rack of the fabled spareribs along with unique tasty treats like smoked bacon balls and timber logs.

There’s good and then there’s heavenly good BBQ. As seen in season one of “Good Things Brewing,” Heaven’s Table BBQ offers a wide selection of southern-style cuisine and BBQ. Located just blocks away from the new North Avenue Market in Milwaukee, the restaurant specializes in perfectly smoked and seasoned chicken, St. Louis-style smoked pork ribs with house dry rub and Texas-inspired beef brisket served the traditional way. Careful, while it’s called Heaven’s Table, some of the sauces can be devilishly hot.

Seek Southern hospitality at Pat’s Rib Place. Load up your plate full of BBQ classics at the restaurant’s location inside the Milwaukee Public Market. Then, take your tongue-pleasing taste sensation to the market’s outdoor patio, upstairs dining area, or across the street to the park for a BBQ picnic vibe. If you want the smoke, don’t pass up the chance to add the smokey fries to your pulled pork sandwich for a little extra kick.