This past Saturday, hundreds of barbecue fans gathered at Industry City in Brooklyn for Rib King NYC to try great smoked meats from 15+ pitmasters and to see who would be crowned as the next “king.”

Pitmaster Jose Perez from Connecticut-based Bear’s Smokehouse was crowned the winner, with amazing smoked pork ribs that had a perfect balance of flavors and were topped with chicharron dust to give them extra texture.

“As the head judge, I can say it was a hard-yet-easy decision,” Rib King Judge Adam Poch wrote about the ribs from Bear’s. “[This] rib had it all. Good cook, great accompanying sauce, and texture with the beautiful (and tasty) addition of chicharrones. Thank you for making a perfect rib!”

The runner-up at Rib King was awarded to Anthony Scerri from Brooklyn-based pop-up Smoke Sweats. Scerri served up smoked pork ribs topped with a “morning wood” barbecue sauce with coffee and aged maple syrup providing the primary flavors.

“Never in my lifetime did I think that a small joke turned BBQ popup would ever receive such an honor,” Scerri wrote on social media. “We've come so far from rooftop events in Astoria to COVID deliveries here in Bed Stuy, and now we're officially crowned royalty within the community.”

Other outstanding ribs at the event could be had from Blue Smoke NYC, Fire & Smoke, Sands Jerk Hut, Taste of Surabaya, Kam Rai Thai, and Empire BBQ. On top of ribs, there were also a few other amazing bites, including the focaccia cornbread from Alexandra Donnadio and bacon-wrapped Oreos from Ray Sheehan.

The full winners' list from Rib King NYC 2023 is as follows: