*Chef Vincent Mangual of Empire BBQ in Staten Island was crowned this year's Rib King. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

This past Saturday, nearly a thousand people came to Industry City in Brooklyn to kick off their Memorial Day weekend with Rib King NYC 2024. The event featured a stunning array of delicious ribs, sides, drinks, and good company.

*Hundreds of hungry barbecue fans came out to Rib King NYC in Brooklyn. (Photo by Chris Gampat)*

Chef Vincent Mangual of Empire BBQ in Staten Island was crowned this year's Rib King. Mangual is no stranger to coming up with an award-winning formula. The Empire team came in fresh from their "Let's Tacquito About It" award at Brisket King NYC last month and took first place at last year's Pig Island NYC.

*The beautiful Porkstrami Rib from Empire BBQ won the top prize at Rib King. (Photo by Chang Media)*

Empire served the "Porkstrami Rib," a cherry wood smoked pork pastrami rib topped with a pickled jalapeno, yellow mustard BBQ sauce, and rye bread crumbs. This sauce essentially came out to a more savory Carolina gold with the heat coming off the pickled jalapeno, but no more than a tingle to keep you warm. The rib itself was a tear-off-the-bone pastrami that gave me so much satisfaction to see the vibrant pink as you were eating it.

*Runner up at Rib King NYC went to Anthony Scerri of Smoke Sweats. (Photo by Chris Gampat)*

In second place came the winner of the longest line award and a repeat winner of last year’s second place: Smoke Sweats BBQ. Anthony Scerri went out of his way to travel to Finback Brewery to turn their “Banana Pudding” stout into a BBQ sauce for his St. Louis Pork Ribs topped with … real edible 24K gold leaf! So yes, the lines were insane, but can you blame them when they’re topping each individual rib with literal gold? And even without the gold, hints of the bitterness and sweetness coming off the stout, peppery kick in the bite all made for one meaty, savory hit.

*The fanciest rib of the day from Smoke Sweats was topped with real gold flakes. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

Scerri notes that his winning rib creation was a love letter to the BBQ community because six years ago, he was the one waiting in line for ribs at this event.

*Darlene Lawrence from Sands Jerk Hut won the People's Choice Award. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

For the Friends of Firefighters People’s Choice Award, Darlene Lawrence of Sands Jerk Hut fame took it with her apple honey smoked Jerk Ribs & Peach Cobbler Cornbread. The jerk ribs were light on the heat side but you may still catch a tingle, but very seasoned and spiced rib that you’d expect of a jerk rib.

*The ribs and peach cornbread from Sands Jerk Hut was a huge hit. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

Lawrence's sauce was exceptionally well-balanced in that you could easily go back for seconds or thirds without your mouth getting tired of the strong flavors. But also, you wouldn’t get tired of it because the cornbread had the whole place buzzing: imagine a very moist, hot, fresh cornbread, and then toss in some freshly cooked peaches in the batter, and the result is a clear winner.

*The rib from Morgan's Brooklyn Barbecue won the "KISS: Keep It Simple Smokey" award. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

Other awards that were distributed during the closing ceremony included:

Prehistorically Delicious: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
Size Doesn’t Matter: The Dancing Pig
KISS: Keep It Simple Smokey: Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbeque
Vampire Killer: Archie Moore’s

A few other bites that weren’t mentioned but still rocked were from Kam Rai Thai, Iron & Oak Catering, and Fire & Smoke BBQ.

*The inventive rib from Iron & Oak Catering. (Photo by Dennis Cheng)*

There were also many great sides, such as grilled cheese sandwiches and desserts provided by Mum’s Kitchens, plus many beers, spirits, and hot sauces that I can’t imagine anyone not having a great time.

*Rib King NYC was a massive success. (Photo by Chris Gampat)*

And if you've noticed the recap is slightly different than usual: Nice to meet you! My name is Dennis, and I go by @sindacait on Instagram. I'm a passionate lover of all great foods and drinks, especially barbecue.

See more photos from Rib King NYC 2024 below!

Dennis Cheng
BBQ Enthusiast

Special thanks to Dennis Cheng for writing and photos, Chang Media for a photo, and Chris Gampat of The Phoblographer for photos.

Empire BBQ Wins Rib King NYC 2024