The Best BBQ In NYC

Bark Barbecue started during the summer of 2020 as a roadside Ozone Park pop-up serving smoked meat by the half-pound, sticky maduros, and thick arroz con leche. Now this Central Texas-style spot accented with Dominican flavors is selling its excellent barbecue and sides in the Timeout Market in Dumbo (and at Smorgasburg on the weekends). Get the 12-hour smoked brisket and some luscious pulled pork, which is moist enough to star in a skincare advertisement.

You’re probably going to have to wait an hour in line to get this (mostly) Texas-style barbecue. Once you make it to the counter of this Red Hook institution, though, the brisket, giant beef rib, and the lamb belly bánh mi will all be incredible. If you’re with a group, add some brisket tacos and Jamaican jerk baby back ribs, neither of which are essential but are still pretty great. Plan to visit on a weekend and make a day out of it.

The menu at this Williamsburg BBQ spot in a converted garage changes regularly, and unless you stalk their Instagram, you won’t know what’s available until you peep their chalkboard. They pretty much always have brisket and pork ribs, which you should order. And if you see the hot Italian-style smoked sausage, get it. It tastes like an Italian butcher shop and a Texas smokehouse had a sausage baby. Come earlier in the afternoon (the evenings get slammed) and hold court at a communal picnic table on the patio.

If you like the sound of eating meat slick with sweet and tangy sauce underneath a shrine to Patrick Mahomes, then John Brown BBQ is your spot. The Kansas City-style restaurant in Long Island City is rightfully famous for their burnt ends. The fatty, tender, 360-degrees of bark meat morsels are easily the best thing here, and one of the best BBQ bites in the city. And John Brown's big patio, contingent of TVs, and good beer make it a useful spot to hang out on a Sunday, provided you don’t mind watching the Chiefs play.

If you don’t have the time or patience to wait in line at Hometown, check out Morgan’s in Prospect Heights. This place opened in 2013, and it’s still making great Texas-style barbecue. The fatty brisket is tender and moist, and their pork ribs come covered in a thick, salty bark with a smoky flavor. There’s a big dining room, but bee-line to their patio on a nice day. It's one of most pleasant places to sit outside in the area.

Royal Rib House has been serving legendary BBQ in Bed-Stuy for over 30 years, and the consistently long lines will attest to that. After closing in 2019 and reopening in 2022, they’re more popular than ever, and the food is still good enough to induce amnesia about the wait time. If you put ribs in the name of your restaurant, they better be impressive. These ones are slathered with a hot sauce-based BBQ sauce and fall off the bone. Your next priorities should be the smoky chopped BBQ, moist rotisserie chicken painted with a tangy sauce, and peach cobbler that everyone in line will recommend to you.

This Mott Haven spot makes exceptional smoked chicken wings in a dry rub, along with a ton of other meat and BBQ sides that are perfect for a big, casual group meal. We recommend coming during their weekday Happy Hour (from 3-6pm) to load up on wings and baked beans laden with pineapple and pieces of tender brisket.

Once you get your order of Frito pie from Mable’s, you’ll be transported from the middle of the trendiest part of Williamsburg into the grandstand at a Central Texas high school, watching a football game under those proverbial Friday night lights. Ordering here is easy. Get the deluxe platter, which comes with brisket, pulled chicken, pulled pork, and three sides of your choosing. Be sure to get the mac and cheese—it's non-negotiable.

Dinosaur BBQ serves everything from St. Louis-style ribs and Memphis-style pulled pork to Creole deviled eggs. The grilled ribs and smoked jumbo chicken wings are both great, but make sure to get a few orders of the fried green tomatoes that come with a ranch-based dipping sauce. The location in Harlem is similar to the one in Gowanus in that it feels like a big warehouse that’s been converted into a barn, and it’s great for groups and kids.

Queens Bully is a great spot in Forest Hills for BBQ and day drinking, and it’s the best place in the area to eat while watching sports on TV. The big restaurant right on Queens Boulevard serves some very good smoked chicken and baby back ribs, as well as six types of wings. If you're prepared to sweat, try the sauce made with Carolina reaper peppers.

Hill Country is a good place to know about because it works for just about any situation, assuming you’re looking to eat dry-rubbed, slow-smoked meat off of butcher paper. The upstairs part of this massive spot in Flatiron has outdoor, bar, and communal seating, and the equally large downstairs area has a stage for live music. There’s a pitmaster special—brisket, pork ribs, chicken, sausage, and two sides—but we recommend focusing your attention on the peppery ribs and spicy sausage, which, along with the cornbread, are the best things on the menu.

Izzy’s is a casual kosher barbecue spot about a ten-minute walk from the Utica Ave. subway station in Crown Heights. Whether you keep kosher or not, you’ll appreciate the peppery beef ribs, fried chicken sandwich, and admirably snappy hot dog. But our favorite thing here is the lean but tender brisket. It’s smoked for 18 hours and develops a hunky bark.