– So there’s this: The 10 Best Barbecue Chains in America

– Big Wayner checks out Whispering Pines, a hidden jewel of barbecue joint that still cooks over wood in Albemarle

– Fervent Foodie has the lowdown on the new brunch menu at Elwood’s Barbecue & Burger Bar in Ballantyne

– TMBBQ’s Austin barbecue guide for those in town for SXSW (jealous)

– There are two ways to win a ticket to the NC BBQ Map launch party at NoDa Brewing this summer

– Bob Garner is having a book signing for his barbecue book March 19 in Pittsboro

– Taste Trekkers offers up Five Unique Barbecue Experiences in Atlanta and an interesting perspective on barbecue in the city in a post guest-written by Grant from Marie, Let’s Eat!

One of the meanest things that has ever happened in the last forty years of people writing about regional food was somebody, somewhere, up and decided that Atlanta, Georgia was not a barbecue city. Since then, scores of misinformed food writers have made the poor decision to give the Peach State short shrift and focus on barbecue in other places. Make no mistake, I bow to nobody in my admiration of the awesome barbecue traditions of Texas, Memphis, North Carolina, and all points in between. But this nonsense that Atlanta’s not a barbecue town, that Georgia’s not a barbecue state, has gone on long enough.

– The newly-formed NC BBQ Association is hosting a cooking school next Saturday at Mac’s Speed Shop in Charlotte.