Local Knoxville Restaurant’s Meal Named Top-10 BBQ Dish in the Country

Tennessee sports aren’t the only thing in Knoxville earning top rankings in the country. On Tuesday, local restaurant Dead End BBQ announced that it has earned the No. 8 dish on Food Network’s Top 10 BBQ Dishes in America list, which it released during the summer of 2026.

The prized dish is ‘The Burny Mac’. The meal features macaroni and pimento cheese topped with brisket burnt ends.

“A generous portion of our house-made macaroni & pimento cheese topped with brisket burnt ends,” the Dead End BBQ menu describes. “Garnished with spicy BBQ wing sauce, green onions, and local hot chow-chow.”

WE GOT #8 🏆🔥 The Burny Mac was named one of the Top 10 BBQ dishes in America by @FoodNetwork!

It’s truly an honor to be recognized alongside the best in the country. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.@ManeetChauhan, @ChefDPhillips pic.twitter.com/dfZ80bvzPm

— Dead End BBQ (@deadendbbq) June 9, 2026

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Dead End BBQ is just a short drive from UT’s campus in the Pond Gap community of Knoxville. In the fall of 2009, the restaurant opened and has served as a local favorite since.

“Friends and neighbors were always raving about the food and saying we needed to enter BBQ competitions,” co-owner George Ewart said. “So, around 2004, we started on the national competition circuit and a few years later, we became the State Champions of Tennessee. Then, in 2008, we were selected to represent the state at the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue competition. After that national recognition, we knew we had a great product and decided to go for it. We opened a custom-designed restaurant space about a year later.”

The decor at Dead End BBQ also features a healthy amount of Tennessee Athletics merchandise, along with tastes of local high school sports and the SEC. A closer look at the walls reveals countless signed photographs of local celebrities, primarily coaches and athletes who have visited during their time as Vols and Lady Vols.