BBQ in Da Citay

BBQ is one of my favorite foods. I love that every BBQ entree is beef or pork based, I love the whiskey that goes with it and I generally always have a good time whenever I venture out to get me some BBQ. People might say New York is a yankee town and knows nothing about good ole Southern cookin' and to be honest maybe they are correct. Honestly I've never had BBQ in North or South Carolina or even in Texas. So I really have nothing to compare it to but I really don't care. The BBQ food I eat right here in my backyard of New York is good enough for me. I enjoy it, isn't that all that matters??

I break this category down to three departments, excuse me, the three most IMPORTANT departments: Wing, Sides, and Meat. Best BBQ wings in the city hands down goes to Dinosaur BBQ located on 125th street and 12th Avenue (might as well be in NJ).  This place is awesome. Almost looks like a big barn from the outside with a huge bar off to the right and the causal sit down dining room to the left. As you should know already, I love sitting at the bar so I can't comment on the dining room portion. They have a great beer selection and even better, you can get buckets or pitchers of any beer to save a few bucks. They have very interesting flavors of wings; not just your generic mild, medium and hot. They have anything ranging from Honey BBQ to Garlic Chipotle (my favorite). Huge meaty wings you can make a meal out of. Then walk it off getting back to civilization.

Best sides go to Hill Country located on 26th and Broadway. I would say this is the most popular place in the city because of their central location and very fun atmosphere. Looks like a dining hall, as there are stations to get your food cafeteria style. But don't let that fool you, the lean or juicy brisket will make you forget where you are. Do not forget the sides station. Their corn pudding is killer. I want to bathe in it. I literally want to stick my face in it. Once, after a few too many bourbons I actually thought that was a good idea. (Save that story for another post). (Side note: Recently opened Burger and Barrel might even top Hill Country corn pudding but they aren't a BBQ restaurant so I'll keep them out of the discussion, but wow go to Mercer and Houston now!)

This is a tricky one because I hate ranking places I love, but for the best all around BBQ I think Fette Sau in Williamsburg, Crooklyn wins it. I think I fell in love with this place the moment I walked in. The bar menu has every type of whiskey you can dream of. To top it off they have these whiskey flights where you can sample like four different kinds. Genius! It's also where I met my love, Hudson Whiskey. And no that's not a name of a porn star. It also helps to go with a large group so you can order a lot and try pretty much everything and trust me you will. Everything on the menu looks and even more importantly, tastes great. Menu is broken down in two columns: Beef and Pork. Do I need to say more? Only tricky part is, it's a hole in the wall place, kind of behind a garage lot so seating is tight and the wait can be long when you go in prime time. You should know me by now, you can find me there on a Monday at 1pm with my ribs and whiskey flight all alone at the bar, because, "Hey, I'm retired at 28"!