Attention, carnivores! May is National Barbecue AND Burger Month!

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Imagine my surprise when I showed up at work and found not one but two wonderful e-mails in my inbox. As if our (finally improving) Southern California weather were not enough, apparently May is National Barbecue and National Burger Month! Needless to say, I can barely contain myself. I don’t know whether to go out to dinner to celebrate ... or give myself some sort of smoky facial by hovering over the grill tonight.

In honor of this holiday, we’re going to compile some of our favorite burger and barbecue recipes from the L.A. Times’ test kitchen’s archives.

In the meantime, I’m curious to know what you think are the best joints in town. Where can you find the best burgers and barbecue in Southern California?

I’ve already picked some brains to get the list going -- and most are around Los Angeles, so we need to broaden the range. Add to it. Challenge it. I double-dog dare you.

Here goes....

Best Burgers (in no particular order):

• The Apple Pan
• Umami Burger
• Father’s Office
• In-N-Out
• Original Tommy’s
• Pie ‘n Burger
• ...

Best Barbecue (in no particular order):

• Baby Blues BBQ.
• Jay Bee’s Bar-B-Q
• Spring Street Smoke House
• Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs
• Bludso’s BBQ
• The Original Texas Barbecue King
• Bigmista’s Barbecue
• ...

-- Noelle Carter