Restaurant Review - Waterfront Ale House

I got turned on to the Waterfront Ale House via email by Seth, who is a member of the Feugheadaboutit Barbecue team. They may not remember me, but I met him/them in real life at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Connecticut KCBS Barbeque contest in 2004.


Waterfront Ale House has two locations, 540 Second Avenue in Manhattan and 155 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I went to the Brooklyn location today for lunch. The place is located not far from Long Island College Hospital on Atlantic Avenue where I was having my hand examined. It's fairly large compared with Pearson's or Daisy May's. It is a real saloon with a great selection of beers and whiskeys. It feels like it's been in business for 100 years.

For lunch today, I had their $9.95 lunch special. Let me tell you, this is an incredible deal. The soup of the day, a mug of beer, soda or coffee and a choice of 8 entrees, 3 of which are barbecue. I had a pint of Liberty Ale and the pulled pig sandwich. (My waiter forgot to bring me the soup, but I didn't miss it)

The pulled pig came piled high on a white bread bun. It was moist and tender, beautifully cooked. The pork had a nice dark bark with light deep meat. It was sauced with a "Carolina" style sauce. A traditional Carolina style sauce is heavy on the mustard and or vinegar. Some sections of Carolina eliminate the tomato from the sauce completely. The sauce was good; it had a nice vinegar bite to it, but it also had a little too much tomato flavor for me. That being said, I wouldn't want to be on the other side of a competition table from this pulled pig! The meat worked better when eaten in the bun. There the flavors of the meat and bread blended nicely.

The sandwich was served with "creamy mustard slaw." Unfortunately, the mustard over powered the rest of the flavors in the cole slaw. I could swear that it was flavored with Wasabi, but there were large mustard seeds scattered in the sauce. This slaw definitely opened your sinuses!

Over the long bar, towards the back you can see some of their hardware (Read that trophies and awards) from past Barbecue contests. Very impressive.

One complaint I did have was with the music being played. It was an eclectic mix of light jazz and Muzak. I heard things like the theme from The Newlywed Game to jazz covers of Nirvana. They even played a version of The Beatles Norwegian Wood, but it was a cover and in another language. I don't think this music was the usual stuff, because one of the cooks was razzing the bartender about it. Don't mess with my Beatles, boys!

Prices for Appetizers run from $5.95 to $11.95; for Soups, Salads and Sides: $2.00 to $11.95; Sandwiches, Burgers and Chili: $7.95 to $10.95; and Entrees $12.95 to $23.95.

Will I be back - you betcha! I want to try their "award winning barbeque spare ribs" and hickory smoked beef brisket.