New York City's Best Barbecue

Today, I want to talk a little about New York City's best barbeque restaurants. I recently received a copy of the Zagat Guide to New York City Restaurant's for 2009.

Naturally I immediately checked out the barbecue restaurants, because I'm a BBQ guy don't you know, in New York. I was surprised to see how many didn't make it into the book. Places like Mo Gridder's, Waterfront Ale House, Georgia's East Side, Duke's, The Hog Pit and Jake's aren't mentioned anywhere.

While I don't expect Zagat to cover every restaurant, it would be nice to read how they make their selections. I have no idea how a restaurant qualifies for inclusion in the guide. In my neighborhood, only 2 restaurants are listed, even though in my mind they're nothing but take out joints. Why aren't the sit down places included? Sheepshead Bay has a large concentration of restaurants along the water. But that's another post and would require some research on my part.

This is the list of the barbecue restaurants included in the Zagat Guide to New York City Restaurant's for 2009 and their ratings. Zagat's rating system are - 10 to 15 fair to good, 16-19 good to very good, 20 - 25 very good to excellent.

So here goes (in alphabetical order)...

1. Blue Smoke... 21.
2. Brother Jimmy's... 16.
3. Daisy May's BBQ USA... 22.
4. Dallas BBQ... 14.
5. Dinosaur BBQ... 22.
6. Fette Sau... 24.
7. Hill Country... 21.
8. Johnny Utah... 13.
9. Lookout Hill Smokehouse... No rating.
10. Rack & Soul... 19.
11. RUB BBQ... 20.
12. The Smoke Joint... 22.
13. Spanky's BBQ... 15.
14. Virgil's BBQ... 20.
15. Wildwood BBQ... 17.

My ratings on Monday. As you'll see, I don't always agree with the fine folks at Zagat.

Photo of New York City - Manhattan, courtesy of New York Skyline.