Best BBQ in New York City?

The Zagat survey is out for 2011 and as usual it has some surprising conclusions. Brooklyn's restaurants have stepped up in a big way, but none so surprising, is that Fette Sau has been crowned the best barbecue in NYC. I am shocked. It's been awhile since I've been out to Fette Sau, but to me, it barely squeaked in to the top ten. Looks like a road trip is due.

Some other interesting items from this year's Zagat...

• The Health Department’s new letter-grading system is popular, with 83% of our surveyors approving of it. (New York recently switched to a letter graded system for the cleanliness of restaurants instead of the old numbers based ratings)
• 42% of surveyors think that the government should require restaurants to reduce the amount of salt in their dishes, but 49% oppose a tax on sugary drinks. (the Bloomberg administration has toyed with requiring restaurants to lower the amount of salt in their food and the Governor's office floated a tax on sugary drinks this year.)
• 81% of surveyors feel it’s acceptable to take pictures of their food, but 64% say it’s “rude and inappropriate” to text, e-mail, tweet or talk on a mobile phone at a restaurant. (FANTASTIC NEWS! I always feel uncomfortable taking pictures of food in restaurants. Now I know it's OK and I'm not bothering the other diners. Whew!)
• Surveyors rated overall hospitality in the dining scene a 17, up from 15 during pre-recession times.
• The average cost of a meal in New York is $41.76, a marginal decrease from $41.81 last year. That’s the first decrease since the post–September 11 slump in 2002. (I don't see this at all. Maybe food costs are down in the upper echelon, but in the restaurants I visit prices have been creeping up steadily.)

Photograph of a Fette Sau platter courtesy of Pig Trip - Your guide to BBQ joints in Boston New York and everywhere in between. Not used with permission but I hope Pig Trip won't mind.

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.