Hometown BBQ
I’ve been here a few times already now. It’s always a trek to get here from the F/G train stop at Smith St, which is about a mile away. If you go walking at night, it’s a little sketchy at times. But this is supposedly the BBQ place to go to if you’re in NYC. Every single time I’ve come here, there’s always a wait for the food. On a Saturday night, it can be ~1 hour wait, but if you come right when it opens, you can get in pretty fast.
Ambiance & Service
Believe it or not, the wait is not that there’s a lot of people. It’s really because there are large parties of people ordering the food. There’s one station for cutting the meat, and they literally cut each piece and serve the sides in parallel. You can walk up to the bar without waiting in line to get drinks at any time.
As you get closer to the station, you simply tell them what you want and how much of it in portions, and that’s it. The prices are on the wall on how you can order, e.g., brisket can be ordered in half pound increments.
Food
September 9, 2018 - First Visit
The first time I went, I found the lamb and brisket super buttery delicious. The lamb was a bit gamey, so it might not be your cup of tea if you don’t like that. I thought it was good, but I still wouldn’t go out of my way to order it.
March 17, 2019 - Second Visit
This next time I went, we got the following:
- spare ribs - this was really good. Some parts are super fatty, but nothing was dry.
- brisket - the brisket was the disappointment this time around. It was juicy on some parts, but other parts was a tad overcooked. It was surprisingly the worst of everything we got today.
- bacon - yeah the bacon. The char on this is amazing. It’s crispy, and super tender.
- beef ribs - this was really good too. A meat was tender and fall off the bone. I would definitely favor this over the brisket next time.
We also got the following sides:
- bbq beans - I am not a fan of beans, but my gf liked it a lot. There are chunks of meat in it as well.
- potato salad - I actually like this a lot. It’s a bit vinegary, so if you don’t like sour sensations, then you might not like this.
- corn bread - the corn bread is delicious! It has this honey glaze on top, and the breading is not overly crumbly.
- banana pudding - I like it better than Magnolia Bakery. Enough said. It’s also not as sugary too.
Despite the distance, by far this is one of the better, if not best, BBQ places in New York City. I would stay away from anything that does not sound good, e.g. Korean style brisket.
June 19, 2026 - Third Visit
The Beef Rib ($45 per pound; pictured 1.32 lbs for $59.40) came on a gigantic bone. This was by far the largest disappointment. I recall in a previous visit this being pretty good, but this time around, the seasoning was excessively on the saltier side such that it was nearly edible. The texture was extremely fattening, and there generally was not a whole lot of meat. It was just a very fatty meat to bone ratio, and the seasoning only made things worse. It was like eating fat with a lot of salt and char. It’s not a great feeling eating it, so we decided to take most of it home. Note that it was a terrible left over because the seasoning continued to make it worse. I’m not sure if this was an off night or something else, but I was extremely disappointed.
The Corn Bread ($7 per piece) was underwhelming this time around. It was actually overly dry for some reason, and it was tastefully underwhelming.
The Italian House-Made Sausage ($12) tasted pretty good. It had a nice bounce and nice flavors to it. This wasn’t salty, and it was quite edible.
Next to the sausage, was the Brisket ($44 per pound, pictured 0.65 lbs for $28.60). This was decent, though dry and not super flavorful. It’s quite expensive for the portion size.
Pictured here left to right:
- Texas-Style Pinto Beans ($8) came with smoked pork. I thought this was OK though it was on the sweeter side.
- Collard Greens ($8) came with smoked pork. I felt these were a little underwhelming. It tasted similarly to other collard greens cooked in this fashion.
- Backyard Potato Salad ($7) was probably the best side of the 3 that we ordered today. It was starchy and not too wet.
Overall Impression
At an early point, I thought this was the de-facto BBQ restaurant in NYC, and people had to make the trek here to try this out. The food was really good, and the seasoning was on point. It felt they were very conscious of the meat quality, and you can taste it.
After my most recent visit, the restaurant has descended to not worth the visit. If you really are clamoring for BBQ, then sure check this out, but the food has significantly degraded such that I don’t think it’s worth the visit because the BBQ is comparable nearly everywhere else.
Yelp & Google Jabs
Best dish by far was the Korean sticky ribs.
The ribs are glazed pretty heavily with Korean flavors, and for me, if I’m going to wait in a long line, I rather not eat an Americanized Asian flavored thing. If you haven’t tried the original things, you should give that a shot because that’s what had helped them get noticed.
The brisket melts in your mouth with that beautiful bark and smoke ring. The beef rib is massive, tender, and full of deep smoky flavor.
Their brisket is notoriously hit and miss. Of the few times I went, 2 of those times the brisket was dry like sandpaper. The beef rib from my post was also hit or miss. I think it may be the part they cut for you, or maybe the meat quality is going downhill as some reviews have indicated.
Revisions
- Jun 19, 2026 - Another visit.
- Mar 17, 2019 - Second visit.
- Sep 9, 2018 - Initial revision.