BUDDY's BAR-B-Q

Barbecue is like babies -- everybody thinks they make the best.

Buddy and Lamuriel Smothers moved to Knoxville from Alabama and didn't much care for the barbecue they encountered. So they started making and selling it they way they liked it. Since 1972, when the first Buddy's Bar-B-Q restaurant opened, a lot of other folks have liked it, too. Today, the family-owned business includes more than a dozen restaurants, a catering department and the Bearden Banquet Hall.

Runners-up: Calhoun's and Corky's