This area of Astoria is not in the heart where Ditmars and Broadway are, but rather on the cusp. There are a lot of different restaurants around that are not overly busy, so it’s easy to get a seat on most nights. We decided to stop by this new-ish BBQ restaurant on our way to the market. Pig Beach actually has alternative locations in Miami and in Brooklyn, and it has its own unique BBQ zest to its mix.
Ambiance
What is cool about this place is how large it is. The tables and benches are gigantic, so we didn’t have any issues at all finding a seat. Outside, there are many benches and large umbrellas. However since it was very cold in the mid 30s, no one was outside, but this definitely can be a very happening place when the water warms up.
You order the food at the front, and they give you a buzzer. When the buzzer vibrates, you go pick up your food and bring it to a bench. If you want drinks, there’s a center bar that you have to place orders separately.
The food itself was served pretty fast, about 10 minutes after we placed our order.
Food
We ordered black cherry Boyland soda (left) and a draft Schofferhofer beer. If you have not had Schofferhofers before, they tend to be fruity beers. We have a few passion fruit ones at home. I forgot what flavor this was, but it was very smooth, crispy, and tasty.
The corn bread was a small slice. It was neither super moist nor was it the best we’ve had. They gave some butter on the side, but it wasn’t necessary.
The baked beans with smoked meats came with some strong sense of peppers (the vegetable) in it. The sauce itself was subtly spicy, and it had this tang to it that wasn’t excessive. I thought it was pretty good, but the pepper taste was more than I was expected.
The hatch vinegar wings came with 6 pieces and were smoked, charred, and slathered with BBQ buffalo sauce and NYC white sauce. The wings tasted like the classic buffalo type wings. The white sauce didn’t add too much flavors on top of the buffalo sauce other than make it a bit more creamy and suppress the kick of the buffalo sauce.
The sampler platter came with 1/4 lbs of ribs, pulled pork, turkey, and beef brisket. We also added a sausage link. The meat sat on some bread slices and came with some pickles. The ribs were pretty good. The meat was very tender and had some subtle crisp to the edges. The pulled pork was deliciously tender and soaked with lots of sauce in it. The turkey was on the dry side, so it was probably our least favorite. The brisket reminded me of Mighty Quinns. It was tender and fatty. The sausage link was just OK for me. It had some cheese in the middle, but unfortunately my link was on the cool side. Nonetheless, all this for $36 is not a bad deal. We could not finish and had to bring some of this home.
Final Verdict
This BBQ joint is about comparable to Mighty Quinns, and it definitely brings its own character to the BBQ game. I still think Dinosaur BBQ or Hometown BBQ are still the best BBQ joints in the city, but for a neighborhorhood BBQ joint in Astoria, this place exceeded my expectations. If you’re in the Astoria or LIC area, this is a great place to try out if you’re craving classic BBQ.
Yelp Jabs
The barbecue is not that great. I think it was slathered in a bit too much barbecue sauce. My friends said the brisket and the turkey were dry. My friend’s favorite was pulled pork. I had a pulled pork sandwich but again it was too much sauce.
Perhaps this Elitist got the scraps of the end, but I felt the meat we got was pretty decent.
The only downside is that the food wasn’t really hot, more on the lukewarm side.
I think this is going to be a little difficult to ask for in general. Almost all of the BBQ places in NYC will serve you a subset of BBQ food lukewarm. For example, the ribs are probably not going to be that hot since they’re cooked already. I would expect anything that is soaking in sauces to be at reasonable temperatures. In addition as the temperatures are dipping around the area, the food is going to cool down very quickly.