Miami's Top Ten Barbecue Restaurants: Dry Rubs, Jerks, and Ponies

4. Shiver's BBQ
To get to Shiver's BBQ, just drive south on South Dixie Highway. Way south. Like, next-stop-Florida-Keys south. Is the drive to Homestead worth it? You bet your pork it is. For the past 50 years or so, people who are serious about their meat have flocked to this wagon-wheel-decorated shrine to barbecue. Go Tuesday or Wednesday for all-you-can-eat barbecued beef or pork for only $9.49. Go any day you have a hankering for ribs -- pork spare, baby-back, or beef. Can't decide? Order a trio of ribs for $17.95, which includes two sides such as coleslaw and beans. Order extra Shiver sauce ($3.95), because you'll want to pour it, dip it, drink it, and bathe in it before the evening is over.

3. Harvey's Smokehouse BBQ
Down Old Cutler Road in Cutler Bay you'll find a mecca of Southern cooking, Harvey's Smokehouse BBQ. Chef-owner Harvey Alexander gets off on rubbing his meat. Make every dirty joke you want, but Alexander has his own method that produces the some of the best barbecue you've ever tried. Taking the best from every school of barbecue, Alexander first wet-rubs, then dry-rubs, and then smokes his meat. The result: fall-off-the-bone goodness to die for. Go with a few buddies (or a major appetite and a medical insurance card) and dig into the smokehouse sampler. For $50, you'll get a full rack of baby-back ribs, a whole chicken, a pound of pulled pork, a pound beef brisket, a large side of mac 'n' cheese, a large side of baked beans, a large coleslaw or potato salad, and six pieces of Texas toast. Defibrillator not included (but what a way to go).