Melbourne has plenty of options ranging from traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants to upstart mobile vendors when it comes to BBQ ribs. In addition, American, Australian, Argentinean, Brazilian and Chinese interpretations are displayed. Read on to learn about the best ribs near you in Melbourne.
Big Boy BBQ
Viewed by many as the restaurant that started the smoked barbecue trend and thus created a craze around grilled meat, Big Boy BBQ is far from having infant status. Unlike many rib joints, their ribs are not boiled but rather smoked over Hickory wood. 'Slow Food… Fast' is a passion for preserving traditional cooking methods and providing an alternative to unhealthy fast food.
If you like the sound of slow food fast, then head to Big Boy BBQ in the CBD, or their Caulfield counterpart, Southern Grace Diner.
Here you can indulge your love of ribs with their Rib & Three (one serve of ribs with three side dishes) or the Rib Only.
The meat here at Big Boy is tender, courtesy of the hickory pellets that the meat is cooked over, making it succulent and tender.
These guys also sell their Rib Glaze in glass bottles for 16 dollars a pop so that you can marinade up a storm at home after the barbie is over!
Big Boy BBQ's $39 Rib of the Day & Three Sides is one of the most satisfying items you can order. You can thank us later!
Thanks to chef-owner Lance Rosen's obsession with the city, it's Kansas City barbecue at the two Big Boy outlets (translation: a love of spice rub and thick tomato-based sauce). The rib choice is broad: pork or lamb, half or full rack, saucy or spicy. Whichever way you lean, a whole heap of napkin action is required.
San Antone
Kevin Bludso, a third-generation pitmaster, the iconic Los Angeles Bludso's BBQ owner, brings his unique smokehouse flavours to San Antone – exclusive to Crown Melbourne. We are advised to tell you ok to let the smoky aromas guide you with smoked meats, tasty sides, and signature cocktails.
Fifth-generation American pit-master Kevin Bludso lends his name and reputation to this Crown Casino restaurant, where it's all about the low and slow. Order pork ribs solo or let them join an all-out barbecue party with beef brisket, chicken and spicy sausages.
Fancy Hanks
One of Melbourne's best places to get ribs, Fancy Hanks sources its Free-range meats from Gippsland. Then cooked in their two-tonne custom-built smoker, For up to 22 hours. A curated list of local wines, spirits and beers accompany the meals. There is plenty of room, plenty of light, plenty of good vibes. All smack bang in the middle of the CBD.
Fancy Hanks uses free-range meats from Gippsland for their BBQ and cooks it on their custom-built smoker for 22 hours.
There are several BBQ platters to choose from at Hank's. Try the Pitmaster (beef, pork, slaw, nuts, eggs and mayo) if you are after something 'light', or the Super Premium (which is the same as the Pitmaster but with the added benefit of Alabama chicken, cornbread and an Aperol Spritz) if you are ravenously hungry.
If you prefer your ribs unadorned, Hank's also does baby back ribs in half of the full serves.
Melbourne's favourite Hank might have moved to lush new CBD digs a while back, but it didn't lose its status as one of the city's best barbecue champions. Meats are subject to a slow burn in a custom-built smoker for up to 22 hours, so you know it's going to melt in your mouth. Hit the charry lamb rack with cherry barbecue sauce for a convincing lesson in how Australian meatworks when done American-style.
Bluebonnet BBQ
The Bluebonnet BBQ aims to bring some of Melbourne's best slow-cooked smoked Texas-style barbeques. It aims, and oh boy does it deliver. The menu is bountiful with options that would make any meat-aficionados salivate. Look no further than their sides and cold drinks list to compliment your meal.
Third Wave Café
By day this establishment serves the ever demanding café and breakfast crowd. By night the carnivores come out. At least that's how the Third Wave Café sees it. Mastering the art of slow smoking is not easy, yet the café has pulled it off. Providing some of the best ribs in the game by cooking them in a custom-built smoker by Brutus, best accompanied alongside some of their in-house BBQ sauces.
B'churrasco
We have covered a few joints in our list that specialise in delivering American-style barbecued ribs. But what about Brazilian-style barbecued ribs? B'Churrasco is the answer to that question. With a veritable theatre of food cooked over an open fire as freshly barbecued sword-length skewers are carved straight onto your plate. You know you're getting authentic treatment with a staffed kitchen by Brazilian-trained chefs.
The Plough Inn
The Plough and Melbourne, for that matter, have gone through a few changes since it first opened its doors way back in 1868. After a renovation in 2013, the eatery rebranded itself as a trendier place to visit. The menu focuses on many Australian pub favourites, with a Mediterranean twist, with its glazed pomegranate molasses sticky ribs being offered as proof.
Steak Ministry Bar & Grill
As the name would suggest, steak Ministry Bar & Grill takes their love of steak to an almost spiritual level.
But not only can you get the best rib-eye in town here, but you can also order up some delectable ribs.
Will you opt for the classic BBQ pork or the 12-hour sticky glazed beef short rib? Or perhaps the signature sticky glazed lamb ribs?
Happily, if you cannot decide, you can ask for the Ribalicious Shared Starter, which gives you a little bit of everything.
Since you're here for ribs, Dish Cult's recommendation is to sink your teeth into the $40 Mississippi BBQ Pork Ribs at the Steak Ministry Bar & Grill. YUM!
With a name as official as this, the Steak Ministry Bar & Grill must have been the place that Ralph Wiggum wanted to study (WaitThat was Bovine University). But, obscure Simpsons references aside, what you have here is a restaurant that provides some of the best Ribs in Melbourne. A traditional steakhouse with traditional flavours and options, try the old Kentucky-style pork ribs if you want to branch away from the slabs of meat. They are a delight.
Ribs And Burgers
Bringing together what they do best and providing Melbourne with some sublime eats, Ribs and Burgers means business when it comes to, well, Ribs and Burgers. With all of their ribs spending no less than 8 hours in the slow cooker before arriving at your table, you can be rest assured that what you receive is produced with patience, expertise and the desire to strive for optimal barbecued goods in mind.
FAQs About Ribs
Plate short ribs come from the lower section of the rib cage, and they're incredibly tender and loaded with meat.
Baby Back Ribs: The most popular pork ribs, Baby Backs are the leanest and tender. These ribs are located at the top of the bone connected to the spine (backbone), just below the loin muscle.
Baby Back Ribs: The most popular pork ribs, Baby Backs are the leanest and tender. These ribs are located at the top of the bone connected to the spine (backbone), just below the loin muscle.
Pork ribs come in three basic cuts – back ribs, spare ribs, and country-style ribs – depending on the section of the hog where they originated.
Like any meat you cook, it is important to let the rack of ribs rest before you carve and serve it. It evens the heat and lets the natural juices sink into the meat. It would be best if you let the meat rest for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the smoker for a rack of ribs.
Smokin' Barry's Slow Cook BBQ
Who says you need to have a permanent establishment to make it in the ever-demanding world of rib slinging. Well, it sure wasn't Smokin' Barry's Slow Cook BBQ. With a winning formula of providing smoky and delicious ribs from a state of the art food truck, this mobile eatery has been winning fans all over the city. Using a slow, lower temperature smoking technique ensures that all of Smokin' Barry's Slow Cook BBQ meat does not dry out and remain succulent. In addition, they can be hired for a multitude of events, so for your next big party, why not get some ribs into you.
Senor BBQ
We now bring Senor BBQ to continue the trend of mobile barbecue meat providers. It differs from the provider mentioned above because Senor BBQ brings South American flavours or Argentinean passion to the crowds. These guys will enhance your next event or function by using traditional Argentinian charcoal cooking techniques over an Asado.
Le Bon Ton
Le Bon Ton's menu showcases dishes and cooking techniques drawn from multiple regions of the American South. In particular, their slow-cooked, mouth-watering crispy smoked lamb ribs. These are tenderly prepared by their skilled chefs using only the finest quality of lamb infused with a special, smoky coffee rub mixed alongside a sweet and sour barbecue sauce.
Absinthe-soaked good times are to be had at the reinvented Collingwood hooch house, and the Americana menu keeps step with the theme. A pound of crisp lamb ribs in a spicy coffee rub surrenders their hold on the bone to be dipped in a sweet and sour barbecue sauce.
Meatmaiden
Beneath the bustling Melbourne CBD, magic happens. The mind takes us to wonderful places as mystery envelopes us. Down a set of steps off of Little Collins Street, visitors to Meatmaiden are welcomed with the scents and sights of true wonders. The custom-built, wood-burning smoker brought over from the States, seasoned by a thousand briskets. The smoker is kept lit with ironbark from the Blue Mountains. Then there is the dry-aging meat cabinet in which premium produce is hung for up to 40 days to pack in maximum tenderness and flavour.
It's the slick city home of the lobster mac'n'cheese – the ultimate high-low dish. The ribs are no slouch either – grass-fed Cape Grim short rib in a caramel-sticky glaze.
Dexter
It's the home of the Pickle Backshot (equal parts pickle juice and bourbon, guaranteed to put hair on your chest) and sweet caramel short rib, served with pickles, bone-marrow mash and a chunk of charred sourdough.
Sunshine Social
The meat might be sourced locally, but Sunshine Social's ribs are pure Americana. The smoky, slow-cooked pork ribs are served with a house barbecue sauce that makes for a sunshiny meal indeed.
The Gem
The deep-fried catfish tacos on the menu at this friendly pub dining room in deepest, darkest Collingwood are a statement of southern intent. So are the ribs, which change weekly but might feature the likes of chipotle-glazed barbecue beef ribs with sweet potato crisps. Yum.
Cornish Arms
A hipster hangout with a newly unveiled rooftop beer garden, the Cornish Arms is renowned for a menu split evenly between pleasing carnivores and their vegan counterparts. Safe to say, its smoke-roasted, grass-fed beef short ribs slathered in a bourbon and bacon glaze and served with cornbread, slaw and shoestring fries fall into the former category.
Smokey's All American BBQ
The American flag on one wall, US licence plates on the other, booth seats beneath a shack roof; you must be in America, or at least in an Americana-themed barbecue shack. And that must mean you're in for a damn good feed. Smokey's is, not surprisingly, all about smoked meat. It's served on wooden boards for that upmarket-yet-rustic feel, accompanied by fries and a little pickle, so you can pretend you're getting some vegetable matter with your meal.
Whatever your beast of choice, at Smokey's, you'll find some of the best ribs in Melbourne. There's a delicate, almost restrained smokiness to the fat beef ribs, while the chunky pork ribs pick up that delicious smoky flavour and beat you about the head with it. In either case, the hickory-smoked meat falls off the bone and into your mouth, perhaps being swiped through a house-made sauce along the way – there's a few to choose from, but we like the sweet, well-rounded Southern Comfort sauce best. Try the brisket if you manage to wake up from your meat-induced coma. After all, you're not a glutton for punishment. You're a glutton for seriously well-smoked meat.
Meatmother
If you're after flesh for fantasy, you've come to the right place. Meatmother's décor features meat-inspired art and butcher's cleavers, the no-nonsense menu reads meat, meat and salad with meat, and some of the cocktails are made with bacon-infused booze for good measure. Super tender, American-style ribs – both beef and pork – are smoked over oak for hours each day, and once they're sold out, that's it. So book in or get there early, or prepare to suffer the consequences – having to eat the amazing pulled pork or so-smoky-the-fireys-are-on-their-way beef brisket instead. But, hmm, maybe those consequences aren't so bad after all.
Ike's Rack Shack
Question: how do you improve an already excellent bar? Answer: chuck a rack shack out the back, complete with astroturf and sheltered picnic tables for that genuine fake shack feel, which is what The Beaufort's done with Ike's. This popular joint is racking up points with rib lovers for its triple-rack stack – that's a serve of beef, lamb and pork ribs, brilliant for sharing or for those 'I'm so hungry I could eat a cow' moments. The well-seasoned ribs are hickory-smoked overnight, then coated in a bourbon-maple glaze and finally chargrilled for extra smokiness. The succulent, sticky meat falls off the bone and has just enough sweetness to indulge the sweet tooth and the meat tooth. No wonder everyone loves a good rack.
Nieuw Amsterdam
Mary had a little lamb, and then she had a little more. And given that she was eating dinner at Nieuw Amsterdam, who can blame her? This spacious, welcoming bar-restaurant does simple food ridiculously well. So flock in for the barbecued lamb ribs, lifted with a squeeze of citrus and best accompanied by an inventive cocktail from the extensive drinks list. Try the Elmer Had A Little Lamb. A mint julep made with lamb-fat-washed bourbon – the mint complements the lamb ribs perfectly and the spicy bourbon shepherds in a great night out.
Conclusion
So, where can you find the best ribs in Melbourne? Well, it depends on what you're looking for. If you want traditional smoked ribs, your best bet is to head to Memphis Blues BBQ in South Yarra. But if you're after something a bit different – like spare ribs or baby back ribs – then there are plenty of other great options around town. We hope this list has helped give you some ideas and that you enjoy sampling all the deliciousness Melbourne has to offer!
