The 10 Best Barbecue Joints in NYC for Watching March Madness

House of ‘Que’s bar is perfect for enjoying BBQ and brews while watching March Madness.

House of ‘Que’s bar is perfect for enjoying BBQ and brews while watching March Madness.

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March Madness is here in full force, and I hope yesterday’s games haven’t already busted your bracket! With all these good games on, you might also be wondering where you can watch the games and enjoy high-quality barbecue in the New York City metro.

Allow me to help. Here are the top choices for combining college basketball and BBQ:

Blue Smoke (Manhattan)
Both Blue Smoke locations (in Flatiron and Battery Park City) will be playing all the Men’s NCAA games and will offer up half-priced wings (spoiler: they’re really good) during every game. Each location has two TVs.

Daddy O’s (Staten Island)
Daddy O’s is one of the most natural places to combine BBQ and big sporting events. They have two 180-inch HD projectors and 30 60-inch TVs, so you’ll have a great view no matter where you sit. They’ll have happy hour specials, including assorted $3 and $4 beers and drinks. For food, they have $5 smoked wings and 10 other food specials at the bar only.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Q (Brooklyn and Manhattan)
Dinosaur’s joints in Brooklyn and Manhattan will be showing the games throughout the tournament, but sadly no food or drink specials.

Hill Country Barbecue Market (Manhattan)
Hill Country in Flatiron will be doing a lot for March Madness this year, just like they did for the Super Bowl. They will have extensive special menu available during all the tourney games, with specials like the “Fowl Shot,” which includes 10 chile-rubbed wings and a shot/beer. They also have $1 Jell-O shots if a shot is made at the buzzer. (Love this.) Hill Country has four TVs at the upstairs bar area and I expect it will be poppin’.

House of 'Que (Hoboken and Weehawken)
House of 'Que has two New Jersey locations and both will be playing March Madness games. The Hoboken location will have 32 TVs on and the new Weehawken location will have 33 TVs playing the games. Both joints will have $30 beer buckets during every game.

Mable’s Smokehouse (Brooklyn)
Mable’s in Williamsburg will have all the games on during the tournament. They have two TVs, so get there early if you want a good view.

Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue (Brooklyn)
Morgan’s has three TVs in the bar and they will all be showing all of the games. They will be offering half-price wings at the bar during the March Madness basketball games through the end of the tournament.

Pig Beach 's interior is large and great for watching sports (or anything else really).

Pig Beach 's interior is large and great for watching sports (or anything else really).

Pig Beach (Brooklyn)
Pig Beach has 14 TVs so you can watch the basketball games from all over the restaurant. They will be offering $5 pulled pork sandwiches and a $5 daily beer as specials during the games.

Queens Bully (Queens)
Queens Bully in Forest Hills has 9 TVs and one big projectors set up for the games. They’ll be offering $20 pitchers and $2 off all drafts during the games.

Randall’s Barbecue (Manhattan)
Randall’s on the Lower East Side will also be a good spot to watch all the March Madness games, with new drink specials every week during the tournament. These include $20 High Life buckets this weekend and $16 beer buckets next weekend. Randall’s has two TVs.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the games!

Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ

EAT ALL ABOUT IT

The mighty Mighty Quinn's MQRib sandwich will soon be available at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.

The mighty Mighty Quinn's MQRib sandwich will soon be available at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.

Here are the top BBQ and food stories in New York area this week:

  • Yankee Stadium is getting two new good BBQ food options from local favorite Mighty Quinn’s — a MQRib Sandwich (MQ’s take on the MCRib) and slow-smoked baby-back ribs.

  • In a new cheap eats roundup, Eater NY says that Newark, New Jersey’s McWhorter Barbecue (a Portuguese barbecue joint for the record) serves up great chicken and pork ribs that are cooked over charcoal. The meat is prepared on a hand-cranked rotisserie inside a recently renovated dining room.

  • The owner of Juicy Lucy BBQ, a new joint coming soon to Staten Island, was interviewed by a Minneapolis newspaper for “stealing” their burgers, but overall the paper was very fair to him. Look for the anticipated opening of Juicy Lucy BBQ in April.

  • Popular Texas-style barbecue food truck Roscoe’s Traveling Smokehouse will soon open its first permanent location in Wallingford, Connecticut. Menu items include smoked meats, breakfast sandwiches, and desserts.

  • Connecticut Magazine says that Ricky D’s Rib Shack in New Haven does not have the name recognition of Bear’s Smokehouse or Hoodoo Brown BBQ, but it does offer special “Kansa-Lina” barbecue sauce and great ribs.


IRL BBQ

The benefit for deceased pitmaster Jeff Michner on April 13 will feature incredible pitmasters from all over the country.

The benefit for deceased pitmaster Jeff Michner on April 13 will feature incredible pitmasters from all over the country.

Here are the top BBQ (and related) food events coming soon to the New York metro area:

  • April 7: At The Bloody Mary Festival in Brooklyn, you’ll be able to try some of the craftiest and most creative Bloody Marys in all of NYC for 2 hours. It also includes a Brooklyn bagel bar, cheese station, and more. Buy tickets here.

  • April 10: The awesome Brisket King NYC event will be returning to Brooklyn on April 10. Hosted at Biba of Williamsburg, the all-inclusive event will feature 20 chefs and pitmasters serving their brisket creations. It will also feature a selection of beer, cider, wine, and spirits to enjoy. Early bird ticket sales end on March 15, so don’t delay. Buy tickets here.

  • April 13: Pig Beach in Brooklyn will be hosting the Jeff Michner BBQ Benefit on April 13 to raise money for Michner’s family following his death last year. The event will have an all-star lineup of pitmasters and chefs from all over the country. Read my write-up about the event to learn more. Buy tickets here.

  • April 13: The first-ever Tastes of Gowanus Food & Drink Crawl debuts in April, inviting locals to sample culinary options including barbecue from Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, among other good options. Four tastes will cost you $20, while 11 tastes will set you back $50. Buy tickets here.

  • April 13 & 14: Enjoy hot sauce samples from makers all over the world at the 7th annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint. On top of samples, beer and BBQ will be available for purchase and there will be spicy food eating competitions to watch as well. Buy tickets here.

  • May 18: Mark your calendars for The World’s Fare 2019 at Citi Field in Queens. More than 100 vendors will come together and unite through authentic food, drink and music curated by the city’s leading culinary advocates. Buy tickets here.

  • June 8: The NYC Bacon and Beer Classic 2019 will take place at the Brooklyn Mirage and will celebrate two of the best things in life: bacon and beer. Over 50 local restaurants will be serving bacon-inspired dishes, and local breweries will be pouring over 100 top craft beers. Early bird tickets are on sale now. Buy tickets here.

SAY HELLO

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Sean LudwigNYC BBQ Weekly