BBQ Joints Are Feeding Hospital Workers During Coronavirus
John Brown Smokehouse posted this photo of medical workers at Downstate Hospital who were happy to get some BBQ from them.
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As the coronavirus continues to ravage New York, this crisis has also brought out the best in some New Yorkers. Medical and hospital workers have been especially heroic and are selflessly trying to save as many of us as they can, despite lacking enough protective gear.
As we all try to do our part (even if that part is to just stay at home), several barbecue joints have stepped up to feed our medical workers with delicious smoked meats and sides. Several well-known NYC joints — including John Brown Smokehouse in Queens, Hill Country Barbecue Market in Manhattan, and Juicy Lucy BBQ on Staten Island — have all done their part to feed hospital and ER workers in the past few weeks.
John Brown Smokehouse and Mothership Meat Company prepared individual meals for hospital and ER workers.
John Brown Smokehouse (along with sister restaurant Mothership Meat Company) started a GoFundMe where it could raise money in order to make tons of food for hospital workers. All money raised goes to food at cost. More than $5,000 has been raised to date and so far 250 pounds of BBQ and sides were delivered to Kings County Hospital, Downstate Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital, and Girl Scout Troop 6000 (which serves girls in the New York City Shelter System). And more is still to come.
“As we are closed most of the week at John Brown Smokehouse and we have closed our sister restaurant, Mothership Meat Company, till further notice we thought it would be nice to help however we can doing what we do best,” John Brown Smokehouse owner Josh Bowen wrote on GoFundMe. “All money goes to food at cost, labor for a helper (I’ll be doing most of the cooking but I’m fine eating ramen for a while) and any restaurant-related items to get these heroes 10 seconds of their day that’s not a living hell. We have our challenges as a restaurant during this insane time in history, but none of this money is going towards our mounting debts or staffing.”
Hill Country served food in partnership with non-profit organizations to hospital workers this week.
In Manhattan, Hill Country Barbecue Market has been working with non-profit organizations to feed health care workers, police officers, and others on the front lines. So far, they’ve served 250 meals and are sending more out next week.
“My heart breaks for all the front line workers,” Hill Country pitmaster Ash Fulk told me. “We have big smokers and we can feed a lot of people. During times of crisis, New Yorkers come together. But since we social distance now, coming together is challenging.”
Staten Island’s Juicy Lucy BBQ has converted its closed dining room into a staging area to make food to feed front-line workers.
And over on Staten Island, Juicy Lucy BBQ (of which I wrote about in detail last week) has been making tons of meals the past few weeks and delivering them to front-line workers. Deliveries have been made to every Staten Island hospital, nursing homes, police precincts, and firehouses. Owner Richie Holmes has been working around the clock making barbecue and Italian food to feed those in need.
“Just wanted to take a second to thank all the people who donated their time and their money to help us today to get food to all the hospitals on the island, two nursing homes, the 122 pct, the 120 pct, three firehouses (one of them actually refused the food and told us to bring it to a nursing home), and so many wonderful people kicking in their time and money to help total strangers who are working on the front lines caring for total strangers,” Holmes wrote on Facebook.
Outside of NYC, other Northeastern joints have also chipped in to help their communities and front-line workers, including:
Jersey Shore BBQ in Belmar, NJ has raised more than $8,000 and is spending all that money on buying and making food for front-line workers.
TSTBBQ in Leonardo, NJ is running a gift card promotion where part of all gift card purchases are used to buy and make food for local nurses, police, EMS squads, and more.
Carlitos Tacos in Paramus, NJ has donated meals to local hospitals and started a GoFundMe to help them buy more food to prepare.
Bear’s Smokehouse in Central Connecticut been making and sending lunch to different hospitals in the area every day.
I’m sure I missed other joints throughout NYC and the Northeast that have helped their local front-line workers and hospitals during this crazy time, so thank you to all restaurants helping our heroes during this crisis.
Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ
EAT ALL ABOUT IT
Here are the top BBQ and related food news stories you need to know about this week:
Randall's Barbecue, a Lower East Side BBQ joint, has sadly closed its doors for good.
Sad news: Randall’s Barbecue on the Lower East Side has closed its doors for good. “We tried keeping our doors open as long as possible, but the time has come and Friday will be our last day offering take out and delivery as we will be sadly closing our doors,” owner Jared Male wrote in a heartfelt post on Instagram.
Outside of my BBQ life, I also write articles concerning business and startups. One recent article I strongly recommend for all small businesses in NYC (and beyond) to check out is my explainer on how to get an emergency Paycheck Protection Program loan from the government. The PPP is part of the $2 trillion CARES Act and one way it can help small businesses. Friday, April 3 is the first day lenders are allowed to start issuing these low-interest forgivable loans, so check with your local bank or credit union today to see if they are able to help.
As you already know, NYC restaurants are hurting. Grub Street reports that delivery is not working for many of them and Eater NY says restaurateurs are pleading with landlords for rent forgiveness and deferment. Please keep helping your local restaurants however you can.
In an act of kicking a business while it was already down, a robber broke into Dinosaur Bar-B-Que’s location in Harlem while the business was closed for a deep cleaning. Thankfully the thief was caught shortly after he left the restaurant. Dinosaur’s Harlem location has re-opened as a “new and improved pick-up and delivery restaurant until this thing passes.”
Darryl Thomas, owner of Smokey Pit Stop BBQ in Manchester, CT, opened his new BBQ joint in the middle of March despite the crazy situation happening in the U.S. His business is focused on takeout, so he’s able to make his slim operation work. “I’m a person where that everything happens for a reason,” Thomas told the Journal Inquirer. “If you don’t adjust for the times, you’re going to be left behind.”
IRL BBQ
NOTE: Given the coronavirus crisis, I will be leaving this section blank for the next few weeks. Some events have been canceled entirely while others have been postponed to the summer or fall. Many events during the next two to three months are now up in the air, but I’ll be doing my best to keep the website up to date with events that are confirmed.
Check out the full up-to-date NYC BBQ calendar here.
SAY HELLO (BUT 6 FEET PLEASE)
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