Kevin's BBQ Joints

Nice little piece in the New Haven Advocate about a Hamden, Connecticut favorite, Smokey’s Char-Grill BBQ. There aren’t a ton of BBQ Joints in Connecticut, so it’s nice to see that there are some places that people can go to get some low and slow BBQ.

Photo courtesy of Kathleen Cei

From the article by Betsy Yagla “Smokey’s smoker is gas-fired and gets its smoke from hickory wood. The machine is six feet tall, five feet wide and eight feet deep with 15 rotisserie-like racks inside. The smoker is loaded up at night with spice-rubbed meats to cook at 225 degrees. The pork butt smokes for 15 to 16 hours and the brisket for about 12. He also cooks baby back ribs and chicken (which first gets brined in apple cider) this way for about five hours.

I haven’t been, but would love to know if anyone out there has. Send over some comments or a review and I’ll post. You can read the entire piece here

Updated 11-12-10 – I stand corrected, there are actually a large number of joints in Connecticut. I had my geography off as I had Maine in my head. Thanks Gary at Pigtrip.net.

Check it out here:

Thanks to Brooklyn Que for the heads up that Southern Hospitality is opening their second joint in New York, this time in Hell’s Kitchen.

Per the article from the New York Post, “Justin Timberlake and restaurant partners Trace Ayala and Eytan Sugarman will open the second outpost of their Memphis-style barbecue joint, Southern Hospitality, in Hell’s Kitchen. The two-level eatery and lounge will be twice the size of the original on Second Avenue at 76th. Investors in the new location include MTV founding father Bob Pittman and OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder. Online oenophile Gary Vaynerchuk will preside over the wine list.”

Photo courtesy of Pigtrip.net

The only thing I question is Timberlake’s involvement now as Grub Street says “Justin and his brother are not investors, owners or partners, nor do they have any knowledge of or involvement in the operations of the restaurant.”

Regardless, there’s another branch coming to the southern part of NYC, and that’s a good thing (especially with Gary handling the wine…you have to check out his site if you’re at all into wine or humor for that matter).

Check out the new location to come here:

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I’ve been hearing the rumblings about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que coming to Troy, New York for a while now and thankfully we are only two days away from the Grand Opening on November 11th.

Since I’ve wanted to add them to my search engine for a few weeks now, I realize how difficult it’s been to find the address or phone number online. I’ve got it now and for those wanting to be the first to try (although they did have a sneak peek preview last night), here’s my link to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Troy, NY.

Photo courtesy of Philip Kamrass / Times Union

I know that the reviews, posts, and write-ups will be pouring in, so once I have more information I’ll update them here, but here are additional photos from the Times Union and here’s a great photo of their ribs, which are really quite amazing.

Photo courtesy of We might be windmills

Here are links to their three other wildly popular (almost cultish) locations:

New York City Location

Rochester Location

Syracuse Location

See them on facebook here

Researching BBQ joints across the United States has definitely given me a quick primer on US geography. Case in point is the article by CityBeat on new BBQ joints popping up in the ‘greater Cincinnati’ area. You might be as surprised as I was to see that one of the joints listed is in Kentucky (northern Kentucky just across the Ohio river that separates the two states).

Photo courtesy of SoapBox Cincinnati

It’s nice to read that BBQ (really good BBQ) is spreading to cities all across the nation. Most importantly these joints will feed off each to put out more and more quality BBQ. The trend is definitely leaning towards the mediocre joints losing business to those that take the time and really care what they are serving.

Here are the three joints featured:
The Classy Pig

Riverside Barbeque and Drive Thru

Pinky Sue’s Smokehouse

Read the entire article here

Check out my complete list of Ohio BBQ Joints here

A new BBQ joint, Company 7 BBQ, will be opening within days in Englewood, Ohio.

They’ve got a great story. Per their site “Company 7 BBQ was founded by a family of firefighters after considerable research and investigation. We are convinced that customers will prefer excellent, slow cooked barbecue in a friendly, upscale atmosphere. Décor evokes the feel of a 1920’s fire house – warm woods and a lot of brass. The facility is decorated with fire awards and memorabilia that the owners have collected over the past 25 years.”

They offer 6 six sauces from all four major BBQ regions:
1st Alarm – “The Rookie” – Mild but flavorful
2nd Alarm – “Firefighter Sweet” – A sweet Memphis style
3rd Alarm – “Lieutenant Tangy”- A thick Kansas City flavor with a tangy kick
4th Alarm – “Captain Carolina” – a real treat of vinegar and mustard-based Carolina sauce
(often served Carolina style with Cole Slaw on top of your meat)
5th Alarm – “Chief Smokey”- a full smokey flavored sauce
6th Alarm -’‘Commissioner Burns” – a Texas style hot sauce

Not only will you be able to dine in or take out their slow cooked cue, but they also have drive thru. Check out their menu here

Follow them on twitter here
‘Like’ them on facebook here

Be one of the first to try them out (I don’t think you’ll be disappointed) here:

Poor Taste Magazine just ran their 100 Greatest Cult Restaurants in America. They chose Hot Doug’s in Chicago, Illinois as their #1, but as you’d expect some BBQ joints made the cut.

Smitty’s Market courtesy of Spurtalk

Here are the BBQ Joints featured:
#26 – Smitty’s Market – Lockhart, Texas
#28 – Phil’s BBQ – San Diego, California
#46 – Memphis Minnie’s Barbeque Joint and Smokehouse – San Francisco, California
#57 – Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ – Kansas City, Kansas
#70 – Dinosaur BBQ – Syracuse, New York
#73 – Pappy’s Smokehouse – St. Louis, Missouri
#77 – Redbones Barbecue – Somerville, Massachusetts
#80 – Salt Lick Bar-B-Que – Round Rock, Texas
#92 – Fat Matt’s Rib Shack – Atlanta, Georgia
#93 – SLOWS BAR B Q – Detroit, Michigan

The list is definitely worth checking out and printing up for future reference. You can see the entire list starting here.

Of course it missed tons of cult BBQ joints, but it is a nice cross section of BBQ around the country. What do you think of the list?

On a side note, I was very happy to see a childhood favorite, Dan’s Super Sub’s in Woodland Hills, California come in at #24.