Hot Barbecue Round Up

Forget the Deep South! You don’t even need to leave Chelsea to get a taste of authentic home-cooked barbecue.
 
Go hog wild at R.U.B. (208 W 23rd St, btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves, 212-524-4300, RubBBQ.net) with the Down Home Pig Pick’n ($94.25), which features “the whole butt, bone-n-all” with four sides, and The Baron ($48.25), which offers an exhaustive tasting of beef, pork, ham, pastrami, sausage…the list goes on. The whole deal is topped with a quarter rack of ribs along with side dishes. The Grilled Cheese & Bacon ($9.75) is perfection—try the Swiss and rye combo.
 
Hill Country (30 W 26th St, btwn Sixth Ave/Broadway, 212-255-4544, HillCountryNY.com) is a divine mess—prepare to use an arsenal of forks and knives and a whole roll of paper towels. Diners may either pay for their meat by the pound to take away Katz’s Deli-style, or order off of tickets. A Hot Side ($5.50–$20 portions) of Longhorn Cheddar Mac & Cheese is excellent; Flintstones-sized Pork Spare Ribs ($12/lb.) are perfectly moist dressed in Hill Country’s own BBQ sauce and served on butcher’s paper; Brisket Moist ($22.25/lb) is amazing and don’t leave without devouring a fantastically sweet PB&J Cupcake ($4.50).
 
Although we lament the BLT with fried green tomatoes at Blue Smoke (116 E 27th St, btwn Lexington/Park Aves, 212-447-7733, JazzStandard.net) the Blue Smoke Burger ($11.95) and the Fried Chicken ($18.95) served with a cheddar-black-pepper biscuit, mashed potatoes and plenty of gravy enables us to move on. Sip on a Blood Orange Margarita ($11) while contemplating either of the two dishes.
 
Bone Lick Park (75 Greenwich Ave, btwn W 11th/Bank Sts, 212-647-9600, BoneLickPark.com) is good, but the bargain brunch is even better. On Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30am to 4:30pm, $13.95 gets you Fried Chicken and unlimited Margaritas, Mimosas or Bloody Marys for one hour—so drink up, ladies! And splurge on the Buttermilk Fried Onion Rings ($5.95 additional).
 
I’d probably be hog-tied if I didn’t mention the meal deal at Dallas BBQ (261 Eighth Ave @ 23rd St, 212-462-0001, DallasBBQ.com) where my guilty pleasure is the Chicken & Ribs Combo ($12.99). Order a Texas Size Margarita ($8.99) with an Extra Shot ($1) and just try finding your way home!
 
Peter Sherwood is the Dining Editor for Next Magazine and the author of the blog EveningsWithPeter.com.