The Essential Barbecue Restaurants of NYC (2024)

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Where to find the city’s best brisket, sausages, burnt ends, and smoked bologna

by Robert Sietsema Updated May 30, 2024, 1:21pm EDT

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| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This might be the prettiest barbecue in the state, with its flower-filled pots on a Westchester street that slopes down to the Hudson River. The St. Louis ribs are nicely charred, the brisket smoke-ringed, and the pork sausage cross-hatched and made in-house. Vegetarian salads on display are particularly fresh and colorful, an oddity in good barbecue.

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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Founded in Syracuse in 1988 and still boasting upstate flourishes, John Stage's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is one of the more established barbecues in NYC. Rather than settling on a single style, its menu evokes several different places around the country. Go for the pork ribs, baked beans, and, best of all,Syracuse salt potatoes. Located on the edge of Columbia University’s north campus, Dinosaur is a great spot for dining with kids. You will find other locations in Park Slope and upstate New York.

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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This Manhattan Valley meat restaurant, part of a mini-chain with other locations in East Harlem and Washington Heights, specializes in Oklahoma barbecue and takes the concept further than Mable’s in Brooklyn. The hot links sandwich (tell them to hold the lettuce) is the number one thing to get, but the Sooners-style ribs and smoked bologna are also interesting, especially for barbecue enthusiasts jaded by the usual choices.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Virgil's Real BBQ in Times Square makes real hardwood barbecue more accessible to tourists than any other place in town. It’s owned by the same hospitality company as the Italian restaurant, Carmine’s. The barbecue is surprisingly good despite the corporate feel, with decent brisket, pulled pork, and barbecue beans bobbing with little tidbits of meat. Like Carmine’s, another branch resides on the Upper West Side.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pig Beach founders are Balthazar alum Shane McBride and Del Posto vet Matt Abdoo, and while this Queens branch lacks the estuarial views of the Gowanus original, the barbecue has gotten a shade better. Sliced thick and sold in portions as small as a quarter pound, the brisket is now one of the best on this map. Pulled lamb shoulder with yogurt sauce is a tasty outlier, and the provolone-laced sausage is the only thing that was just so-so on a recent revisit. It’s a great place for families with kids.

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Describing itself as Kansas City-style, John Brown BBQ moved into the old location of Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation suggests, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and house-cured pastrami. There’s also a beguiling array of invented sandwiches, such as the John Brown Reuben, deploying pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The splendid backyard is another lure.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Hill Country turns out a faithful version of Central Texas barbecue, inspired by Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Founded by Texas native Marc Glosserman, the brisket is available fatty or lean, in addition to “clod” (beef shoulder). The small chain (there’s another location in Washington, D.C.) makes its own hot links, and they’re damn good. As at basically all great Texas barbecues, the sides are just so-so. The meat is served by the pound on butcher paper with a choice of white bread or soda crackers.

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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

With seven branches in NYC and one in Hoboken (note the original in the East Village is closed), Mighty Quinn’s serves up what pitmaster Hugh Mangum describes as “Texalina style,” a fusion of the barbecue traditions found in Texas and the Carolinas. But what really emerges is a uniquely New York iteration: Maldon salt is sprinkled atop the meat as it’s served, and some dishes, like the smoked chicken wings, make use of a deep fryer.

• Open in Google Maps
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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This barbecue in Jersey City, a few blocks from the mouth of the Holland Tunnel,was founded in 2016 by brothers Michael and John Gondevas. In addition to great beef brisket, pork ribs, and pulled pork, find uncommon items such as brisket sausages, crusty and chewy lamb belly, and tacos filled with various forms of barbecue, squiggled with sauces. The fenced-in side yard is an added plus, about as close as the metro area ever comes to Austin.

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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Mable's is a real Oklahoma-style honky tonk fit for brew-swilling crowds. Try the brisket, St. Louis-style ribs, and locally sourced kielbasa that stands in for hot links sausage. The platters with three meats and sides are a good deal for a crowd, but the individual diner or couple could easily be seduced by some of the side offerings, including a Frito pie with top-notch chili, barbecue tacos featuring your choice of meat, and peanut butter pie. Skip the pulled chicken.

• Open in Google Maps
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Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This barbecue across the street from Jersey City’s Grove Street PATH station doubles as a beer bar, and has seats along the open front windows that offer great views. Predictably, there’s a speakeasy in the basem*nt. Chef and pitmaster Kenny Callaghan was the original pitmaster at Blue Smoke, and his beef ribs and pulled pork appetizer show it.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

While the original branch of barbecue pioneer Blue Smoke closed during the pandemic, the Battery Park City outpost motors on under chef Christine Espinal-Rosa. This branch has always been known for its ribs in the Memphis and St. Louis styles smoked over cherry wood. The Texas-style brisket sandwich is good, too, and so is the barbecued chicken, smoked and then grilled. The menu now has Arkansas cheese dip and an updated version of its fried chicken.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
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Photo via Blue Smoke/Facebook

Early on, this longtime barbecue spot tucked in a Williamsburg alleyway established itself as a maverick operation with a broad range of barbecue options. The chalkboard menu often ran to pork belly, beef tongue, pork chops, and pig tails, in addition to the usual ribs and brisket. The quality has always been high, with a much more aggressive drink program than most barbecue spots, including shots of premium whiskies.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

For those who couldn’t keep up with this lauded Queens barbecue pop-up from Ruben Santana, there’s now a permanent location on the spacious fifth floor of Time Out Market. For perhaps the first time, great barbecue offers Dominican side dishes like plantains and an enthralling form of cornbread, and a few less common BBQ meats, such as chicharron and pernil. Only as much meat as can be sold in one day is smoked, meaning the selection varies and the product is as fresh as can be.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Brooklyn BBQ is a young establishment at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn Heights with an eclectic assortment of meats. Sure, the fatty brisket and burnished pork ribs are top notch, but also find some really distinguished Alabama-style chicken thighs speckled with a black pepper rub, and a pork-and-cheddar cheese sausage with a snappy skin. Sides are pretty much all the usual.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

When Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue burned down a few years ago, my feeling was that it was already slipping in the quality of its smoked meat. But now it’s back with a bang. The substantial, black-pepper-rubbed pork ribs are better than before, the footlong jalapeno sausage is spicy and grainy enough for anyone’s taste, and the brisket is tasty — even though it’s sliced with the grain contrary to the usual practice. The roadhouse ambiance feels just right.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Hometown is pitmaster Billy Durney's vision of local barbecue, and its menu leans more toward eclecticism than ever before. While it’s, on one hand, Texas-style, it is at its heart and soul a New York restaurant, offering Korean and Oaxacan flourishes, among others. It’s often declared the best barbecue in the city; the move is to order everything on the menu, especially the short rib, brisket, Jamaican jerk ribs, and spare ribs. A branch in Sunset Park’s Industry City may be more accessible.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Eater NY

This might be the prettiest barbecue in the state, with its flower-filled pots on a Westchester street that slopes down to the Hudson River. The St. Louis ribs are nicely charred, the brisket smoke-ringed, and the pork sausage cross-hatched and made in-house. Vegetarian salads on display are particularly fresh and colorful, an oddity in good barbecue.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Founded in Syracuse in 1988 and still boasting upstate flourishes, John Stage's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is one of the more established barbecues in NYC. Rather than settling on a single style, its menu evokes several different places around the country. Go for the pork ribs, baked beans, and, best of all,Syracuse salt potatoes. Located on the edge of Columbia University’s north campus, Dinosaur is a great spot for dining with kids. You will find other locations in Park Slope and upstate New York.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This Manhattan Valley meat restaurant, part of a mini-chain with other locations in East Harlem and Washington Heights, specializes in Oklahoma barbecue and takes the concept further than Mable’s in Brooklyn. The hot links sandwich (tell them to hold the lettuce) is the number one thing to get, but the Sooners-style ribs and smoked bologna are also interesting, especially for barbecue enthusiasts jaded by the usual choices.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Virgil's Real BBQ in Times Square makes real hardwood barbecue more accessible to tourists than any other place in town. It’s owned by the same hospitality company as the Italian restaurant, Carmine’s. The barbecue is surprisingly good despite the corporate feel, with decent brisket, pulled pork, and barbecue beans bobbing with little tidbits of meat. Like Carmine’s, another branch resides on the Upper West Side.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pig Beach founders are Balthazar alum Shane McBride and Del Posto vet Matt Abdoo, and while this Queens branch lacks the estuarial views of the Gowanus original, the barbecue has gotten a shade better. Sliced thick and sold in portions as small as a quarter pound, the brisket is now one of the best on this map. Pulled lamb shoulder with yogurt sauce is a tasty outlier, and the provolone-laced sausage is the only thing that was just so-so on a recent revisit. It’s a great place for families with kids.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Describing itself as Kansas City-style, John Brown BBQ moved into the old location of Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation suggests, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and house-cured pastrami. There’s also a beguiling array of invented sandwiches, such as the John Brown Reuben, deploying pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The splendid backyard is another lure.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Hill Country turns out a faithful version of Central Texas barbecue, inspired by Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Founded by Texas native Marc Glosserman, the brisket is available fatty or lean, in addition to “clod” (beef shoulder). The small chain (there’s another location in Washington, D.C.) makes its own hot links, and they’re damn good. As at basically all great Texas barbecues, the sides are just so-so. The meat is served by the pound on butcher paper with a choice of white bread or soda crackers.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

With seven branches in NYC and one in Hoboken (note the original in the East Village is closed), Mighty Quinn’s serves up what pitmaster Hugh Mangum describes as “Texalina style,” a fusion of the barbecue traditions found in Texas and the Carolinas. But what really emerges is a uniquely New York iteration: Maldon salt is sprinkled atop the meat as it’s served, and some dishes, like the smoked chicken wings, make use of a deep fryer.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This barbecue in Jersey City, a few blocks from the mouth of the Holland Tunnel,was founded in 2016 by brothers Michael and John Gondevas. In addition to great beef brisket, pork ribs, and pulled pork, find uncommon items such as brisket sausages, crusty and chewy lamb belly, and tacos filled with various forms of barbecue, squiggled with sauces. The fenced-in side yard is an added plus, about as close as the metro area ever comes to Austin.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Mable's is a real Oklahoma-style honky tonk fit for brew-swilling crowds. Try the brisket, St. Louis-style ribs, and locally sourced kielbasa that stands in for hot links sausage. The platters with three meats and sides are a good deal for a crowd, but the individual diner or couple could easily be seduced by some of the side offerings, including a Frito pie with top-notch chili, barbecue tacos featuring your choice of meat, and peanut butter pie. Skip the pulled chicken.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This barbecue across the street from Jersey City’s Grove Street PATH station doubles as a beer bar, and has seats along the open front windows that offer great views. Predictably, there’s a speakeasy in the basem*nt. Chef and pitmaster Kenny Callaghan was the original pitmaster at Blue Smoke, and his beef ribs and pulled pork appetizer show it.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

While the original branch of barbecue pioneer Blue Smoke closed during the pandemic, the Battery Park City outpost motors on under chef Christine Espinal-Rosa. This branch has always been known for its ribs in the Memphis and St. Louis styles smoked over cherry wood. The Texas-style brisket sandwich is good, too, and so is the barbecued chicken, smoked and then grilled. The menu now has Arkansas cheese dip and an updated version of its fried chicken.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Photo via Blue Smoke/Facebook

Early on, this longtime barbecue spot tucked in a Williamsburg alleyway established itself as a maverick operation with a broad range of barbecue options. The chalkboard menu often ran to pork belly, beef tongue, pork chops, and pig tails, in addition to the usual ribs and brisket. The quality has always been high, with a much more aggressive drink program than most barbecue spots, including shots of premium whiskies.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

For those who couldn’t keep up with this lauded Queens barbecue pop-up from Ruben Santana, there’s now a permanent location on the spacious fifth floor of Time Out Market. For perhaps the first time, great barbecue offers Dominican side dishes like plantains and an enthralling form of cornbread, and a few less common BBQ meats, such as chicharron and pernil. Only as much meat as can be sold in one day is smoked, meaning the selection varies and the product is as fresh as can be.

• Open in Google Maps

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

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Brooklyn BBQ is a young establishment at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn Heights with an eclectic assortment of meats. Sure, the fatty brisket and burnished pork ribs are top notch, but also find some really distinguished Alabama-style chicken thighs speckled with a black pepper rub, and a pork-and-cheddar cheese sausage with a snappy skin. Sides are pretty much all the usual.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

When Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue burned down a few years ago, my feeling was that it was already slipping in the quality of its smoked meat. But now it’s back with a bang. The substantial, black-pepper-rubbed pork ribs are better than before, the footlong jalapeno sausage is spicy and grainy enough for anyone’s taste, and the brisket is tasty — even though it’s sliced with the grain contrary to the usual practice. The roadhouse ambiance feels just right.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Hometown is pitmaster Billy Durney's vision of local barbecue, and its menu leans more toward eclecticism than ever before. While it’s, on one hand, Texas-style, it is at its heart and soul a New York restaurant, offering Korean and Oaxacan flourishes, among others. It’s often declared the best barbecue in the city; the move is to order everything on the menu, especially the short rib, brisket, Jamaican jerk ribs, and spare ribs. A branch in Sunset Park’s Industry City may be more accessible.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

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