Here’s what I’ve concluded after all those thousands of miles and pound after pound of smoked meats: the South has a lot of really, really good barbecue, and it just gets better each year. It also seems that the South’s brisket fever is finally starting to break. Yes, many new barbecue restaurateurs, regardless of where in the South they are working, still look to Texas for inspiration, often unabashedly branding their operations “Texas style.”