Dreamland Bar-B-Que facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Genre | Restaurants |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Founder | "Big Daddy" John Bishop |
| Headquarters | , |
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Number of locations
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11 |
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Area served
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Alabama, Georgia and Florida |
Dreamland Bar-B-Que is a super popular barbecue restaurant chain. It started in Alabama and is famous for its delicious ribs and special barbecue sauce.
The first Dreamland Bar-B-Que was opened in 1958 by a man named "Big Daddy" John Bishop. He started it in the Jerusalem Heights neighborhood of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Since then, Dreamland has grown a lot! It now has many locations. You can find Dreamland restaurants in other Alabama cities like Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile, and Northport.
Dreamland also has restaurants outside of Alabama. There are two locations near Atlanta, Georgia, in Roswell and Duluth. In May 2016, Dreamland Bar-B-Que opened its very first Florida restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida.
Why Dreamland is So Famous
The original Dreamland restaurant in Tuscaloosa is truly legendary. USA Today called it "the most famous rib joint in the east" in 2014. They also said it was "arguably the best college football joint in the land." More recently, the newspaper called Dreamland "a true legend in the field."
Business Insider even ranked the Tuscaloosa location very high. It was number 13 out of 365 restaurants across 48 different states! This was on their list of "America's 25 best barbecue restaurants." The University of Georgia's athletic department once tweeted that Dreamland was "a tasty Crimson Tide tradition."
Many other news outlets have also praised Dreamland. Southern Living magazine listed Dreamland as number 4 in their "The South's Best BBQ Joints 2019" slideshow. A writer named Wendell Brock from AJC said about their food, "Ain’t nothing like ‘em nowhere." In 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution put Dreamland at #3 on its list of "the best eateries around the SEC."
In May 2008, Details Magazine said Dreamland had the best barbecue you could order by mail. When the first Florida location opened, the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper wrote about its "hickory-grilled ribs, tender pork, chicken and sides." They even reminded readers to bring lots of napkins! Dreamland BBQ is even mentioned in a song called UFO's, Big Rigs, and BBQ by Mojo Nixon.
In 2019, something very special happened. "Big Daddy" John Bishop, the founder of Dreamland Bar-B-Que, was honored. He was added to the Barbecue Hall of Fame after he had passed away. This shows how important he was to the world of barbecue!
- ~ Interior and exterior ~
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The outside of the first Dreamland restaurant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2008.
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Alabama Crimson Tide football fans inside Dreamland's original Tuscaloosa location after a game, in 2008.
See also
- List of barbecue restaurants
