The 13th annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party returns on June 13 – 14, 2015 to Madison Square Park in New York City.
The event is what I’d credit for making me a big fan of barbecue. It’s probably one of my favorite kinds of foods although I wouldn’t place it above pizza and burgers! 🙂
The Big Apple BBQ is probably one of the top barbecue event on the east coast of the US.
The event attracts top pitmasters from all around the country. This is what makes the event so special. Imagine trying barbecue styles from New York (does it really even have a style?) to Alabama to Texas and more.
Expect to find lots of different varieties of ribs, brisket and pulled pork (among other things) available for purchase. Menu items range in price from $9-$11 which while not cheap seems pretty fair for amazing barbecue.
Here is a list of the pitmasters/ restaurants/ location which will be there:
- Drew Robinson: Jim N’ Nicks Bar-B-Que- Birmingham, AL
- Chris Lilly: Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Que- Decatur, AL
- Mike Mills: 17th Street Barbecue- Murphysboro, IL
- Mike Emerson: Pappy’s Smokehouse- St Louis, MO
- John Wheeler: Memphis Barbecue Co.- Horn Lake, MS
- Brad Orrison: The Shed Barbecue- Ocean Springs, MS
- Gary Roark- Ubon’s Barbecue of Yazoo- Yazoo City, MS
- Samue Jones: Skylight Inn- Ayden, NC
- Bill Durney: Hometown Bar-B-Que- Brooklyn, NY
- John Stage: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que- New York, NY
- Jean-Paul Bourgeois: Blue Smoke- New York, NY (tried at Citi Field)
- Charles Grund Jr.: Hill Country Barbecue Market- New York, NY
- Jimmy Hagood: BlackJack Barbecue- Charleston, SC
- Patrick Martin: Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint- Nashville, TN
- Scott Roberts: The Salt Lick Bar-B-Que- Driftwood, TX
- Tim Love: The Woodshed Smokehouse- Fort Worth, TX
- Wayne Mueller: Louie Mueller’s BBQ- Taylor, TX
From this list of restaurants, I’ve been to four of them and tried one at a ballpark location. I’ve also tried many of the other pitmaster’s food when they participatd in the event in years past.
Hometown Bar-B-Que, from Brooklyn, NY is my favorite barbecue joint in the NYC area. When it comes to food I’ve tried at the Big Apple Barbecue, the hot links & pimento cheese from Jim N’ Nicks is up there as one of my favorites. We visited Tim Love’s Woodshed Smokehouse during our trip to Dallas in winter 2013. The food is delicious- not traditional barbecue, more a hybrid style.
I was a bit disappointed to not see a single barbecue restaurant from Kansas City represented. A little less than a year back we visited KC and feasted at 5 BBQ joints. We even picked up some souvenirs there.
For those of you in or close to NYC on June 13-14, I’d definitely recommend that you try to stop by Madison Square Park for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party. The event takes places from 11:00am to 6:00pm.
I’ll just warn you in advance- expect long lines and food will sell out. (I know it has in years past.)
Find out more about the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party here.
Tom- The lines are long but I’ve found the BBQ to be a fun event. I haven’t attended the past couple of years since I’ve been away. You’re app idea for ordering sounds like an interesting one!
I bought the fast pass the last time I went to the BBQ. It did make the event a much better experience. I don’t get why this option has been switched to an overly pricey $275 p/p option!
Either way, if I have time I do plan to stop by the Big Apple BBQ on Saturday.
The lines at this thing are atrocious. Not worth it, especially if you have been to BBQ events in other cities where there are no lines and the prices are a fraction of the cost. They really need to come up with a better system than waiting in line for 30-60 minutes. Maybe app based ordering and it texts you when the food is ready.
In past years they had a fast pass that cost $100, but allowed two people to cut the line and you could spend the entire $100 on food. Get four friends together and alternate turns and it was easy to use up the whole amount. That was the way to do it. Looks like VIP tickets this year are $275 per person. Yikes!