June 11, 2006
Gothamist Takes On the 4th Annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party
It's the amazing event that pigs and cows fear most! The Big Apple BBQ Block Party took over a good part of the Madison Square Park area with ten different barbecue offerings along a few blocks on Madison Avenue and on 24th Street (we remember when it was only on East 27th!). The BBQ Block Party benefits the Madison Square Park Conservancy, and it was great to see everyone enjoying the event, from hauling loads of foods away in boxes to listening to the live music. Gothamist went hog wild and tried various meats offered by esteemed pitmasters from all over the country.
This year, we rated the 'cue, on a one-to-four sticky-from-BBQ finger scale, four being the highest. While the windy and unseasonably cool weather might have chilled the food, we rated some BBQ lower because it was cold. And we're fans of BBQ with a bit of sauce, so we took that into consideration as well (also whether or not there was BBQ sauce available). Our favorites of the day were Smoki O's Rib Tips and Big Bob Gibson's Pulled Pork Shoulder Sandwich (best sides: Mitchell's BBQ cole slaw and Memphis Championship BBQ-17th Street Bar & Grill baked beans; best drink: lemonade "spiked" with Skyy Citron vodka), but we were happy and full from trying all of it.
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And even though it was a big day for BBQ, there was, naturally, a crazy long line for the Shake Shack.
Photographs: Top, Steve Mitchell of Mitchell's BBQ chopping up whole hog; middle left, Big Bob Gibson's smokers; middle right, Blue Smoke's ribs on the grill; bottom, three fingers for Blue Smoke's St. Louis Ribs
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I went Saturday. Long lines for bbq defeated me. How long, after all, should we wait on line? Got sub instead. Good music, though.
Glad I skipped it - the lines were ridiculous the one year we did go, too many other great options in Manhattan to waste it standing in a parking lot (e.g. 26th St, where they setup their BBQ rigs).
last year it was so stupid, gonna wait in line 1 hour for a sausage & two slices of brisket on top of 1 slice of wonder bread?
went to live bait instead, had a better time.
Stopped by yesterday around 5:30. Figured lines would have subsided by then. Wrong. Half the stands were already closed (to the average Joe; they were still serving people with the \"Bubba Fast Pass\"), and the other half had lines that were insane. Love BBQ, but not enough to stand inline for an hour plus. Guess I\'ll have to go back to Austin to eat Salt Lick food again.
yeah, the lines were ridiculous. we went to Blue Smoke instead and sat down inside (on actual chairs!) and were served (by an actual waitress!).
all in all a small price for comfort given the alternative of waiting on the barbeque version of a russian bread line for 45 minutes.
why can\'t NYC get it right with these events?
the one\'s I went to down south were always well run and fun. instead of tickets priced at $125 and up you buy individual priced tickets. $1 a ticket and you go to vendors who price their foods accordingly.
And, I got to see .38 special AND Molly Hatchet.
Not to mention you get to see all those kichtey Pig memorabilia and art work.
*BLARRGHHH* ME LIKEY PORK
the highlight was the jimmie dale gilmore show. i was sort of dissappointed last year by the food, so i didn\'t bother lining up this time.
and jen, bbq isn\'t supposed to be served hot.
I tried a different technique; never waited more than 15 minutes. I got absolutely stuffed. I didn\'t have a Fast Pass either. I\'m not going to tell you my technique, though. (Okay a hint: you\'re going at the wrong time, all of you).
Do you go 1st thing? for breakfast? mmmmmm, beefy breakfast
\"the one\'s I went to down south were always well run and fun\"
They usually have more vendors, spread out over more space.
I think it\'s a good event, and the Q is great. I hope it continues as an annual tradition. But there\'s no doubt they need to continue revising the system because it\'s gotten a well-deserved rep as a fustercluck. Some ideas:
1. Make sure your damn POS software works well. It was horrible Saturday; transactions moved slowly both in the regular and bubba lines. I understand that they had tech guys rewrite the software overnight and things moved more smoothly on sunday.
2. I think the crowd management was actually a little bit better this year than it was last year. Part of this was due to the fact that they expanded down a side street. Crowds at RUB and Smoki O\'s seemed to move more quickly than in the main drag. Would it be too much to take a block of 25th, 26th, and 27th next year and spread out accordingly? The crappy little street festivals on the avenue muck up traffic more than taking three short blocks off mad sq. would.
3. If you spread out the space, you can spread out the lines. Have lines approaching from both sides of the tent. As it was, each tent seemed to have a tight bunch of 2-3 cash registers clumped together, and that made it difficult to keep things moving through.
4. Speaking of spreading out the space, the two Texas joints seem to be the most popular, why not split them up next year? They were too close.
5. What about a couple of \"general service\" booths? I don\'t think getting meat served quickly was the problem for most of the vendors. So have a few runners go back and forth between the vendors and grab plates, taking them to central general service booths. Limit to one plate at the gen. serv.. You take what they have at the time.
It\'s never going to be as quick and easy as a BBQ festival in the south because it\'s in NYC, and special rules apply, but there\'s a lot that can be done to improve. Otherwise, thanks to the organizers, because problems aside, it\'s still a unique and fun event.
Mitchell\'s sold out of whole hogs on saturday one person before me
it was so depressing
and i HATE the bubba fastpasses, i mean, i know, they cost a lot, yaddayaddayadda, but i thought this was supposed to be a relatively democratic festival? if everyone is to be treated the same, then why not just charge everyone $150 and serve everyone that wants \'cue, not just the vips and press?
What time did the event end?
It won\'t get dark till past 8:30, why not end the event at 9pm?
The southern festivals were as festive as a circus\'
With vendors going all out with their trophies and fun artwork.
You\'re correct in that it does not take long for them to get you the food, how long does it take to cut up ribs?
Ha! Every time you rate a food a 3, it looks like you\'re flashing a West Side gang symbol Jen.
ann -- how is giving people a choice not democratic? i think if you charged everyone $150 i don\'t think you wouldn\'t have the same number of people show up. raising the price, in general, is a good way to keep the participants low. tiered pricing lets everyone win.
was anyone else here surprised at the line for the blue smoke stand? their restaurant is dallas bbq with lipstick, anyway, but it just surprised me that people would stand in line to get food from places that have locations in the city.
the fact that the only two choices are $7 or $150 isn\'t democratic at all, it\'s elitest
either make it all cheap or all expensive, or have something in the middle for people that don\'t want to/can\'t spend $150 to ensure they get more than one cruddy piece of chewy brisket after waiting in lines for 3 hours
ann, do you have any concept of supply and demand whatsoever? Middle range would be something in the $25-$75 range. Almost anybody who hits up multiple stands and spends a significant amount of time at the festival is going to spend in the $25-$75 range. Almost everybody would want to buy a $25-$75 pass. This entirely defeats the purpose of having a limited \"fast\" line.
The only low-cost option I could see working is buying a pass for like a $25-50 non-refundable charge to get into the fast lane, and then paying regular price for the BBQ. But I really don\'t see why this would be less elitist or more preferable to an admittedly expensive pass that you at least get to use every dollar you spend for.
yeah, but what if you\'re not going to be able to eat $150 worth of food?
i myself went by myself and spent $21 before i got $14 back because the Mitchell\'s folk ran out of hog, in the end i wasted 3 hours and spent only $7
if i wanted to buy a fast pass, what do i do with the extra $143?
do i sell it to someone else?
do i just write it off as a loss?
i love food, but there\'s no way i could ever use up that much money, not even if i went both days
i would vastly prefer an option like you mention, see, now doesnt that make sense?
yes, that is supply and demand, and yes, i do understand that concept
ann: if you\'re not going to eat $150 worth of food, stand in line, or anticipate some waste. not that difficult of a concept. the best way to reduce the lines, of course, is to raise prices at the stand too. and how is tiered pricing elitist? i would think that making everything more expensive would be a much more elitist take. at least in this case if you can\'t/won\'t pay for the $150 ticket, you have options.
I went on Sunday and was extremely disappointed. Advertised as $7 per plate. That leads me to believe that a) either it\'s going to be an all you can eat once you purchase the plate situation (ie. southern hospitality) or b) you will get a plate and at least get a generous portion of BBQ. As it happened it was c) Instead of a plate, they gave you a small basket with identical roles at each booth, and rancid coleslaw. The portions were smaller than you\'d expect at even the stingiset NY restaurant. For $7 each, long lines, and what turned out to be cold, poor quality food my girl and I left after 3 plates. I won\'t waste my time next year. Sadly, I couldn\'t even go to Tennessee Mountain for their excellent pulled pork sandwhich and baked beans since they are now out of business.
Yikes, $7 a plate,
I could get half a rack for that price here.
I will try Mitchells in wilson but there\'s plenty or barbecue places here, spread the wealth.
At least Mitchells made out like a bandit. (I bet they\'re thinking how dumb city folks are when they drove home in their PU truck)
WACK! got there @ 3. waited an hour on one line only for them to close it. it was the northernmost line. sum illinois bullsh*t. settled for tabla\'s beef brisket sandwich since it was the shortest line. not half bad but not worth $7. i can\'t believe they charged that much for the portions they were giving. and don\'t get me started on that bubba fast pass bullsh*t. not going next year and i suggest everyone else stay away until the organizers know what the hell they\'re doing. only saving grace was the wind gusts which lead to several seven-year-itch type moments.
ya\'ll should leave manhattan.
weak. ya\'ll are.
this texan got there @ 11:45 both mornings.
sure took and hour for saltlick, but would\'ve taken 5 to fly to austin and then drive there.
weak.
whiners.
stop whining.
First off, the Bubba Passes were $125, not $150. At $7 per plate and $2 per drink that\'s 14 meals. I brought one friend on Saturday, and 3 friends on Sunday (plus a 5-year old) and we worked the pass down to $1.
Second, there\'s nothing elitist about it. It\'s a matter of economics. When I bought the pass, I committed to those 14 plates, or I lost whatever was left on the Bubba Pass. It\'s not like we were getting anything for free. We paid $7 per plate just like everyone else.
As for the Bubba Pass lines, on Saturday AM they had problems, just like last year. They should forget all this high-tech crap and make a simple punch card for next year. Buy a 14-meal card for $108 with 14 punch spots on it. When the 14 are punched, the pass is done.
Not to be cranky...just to clarify. All of the Pitmasters and their crews are volunteering to attend this event. We didn't make out like bandits, we volunteered to work for a non profit event to benefit the park. We enjoyed our time...kinks and all. New York is a great city and we hoped that we could share some of the South with you. We did run out of food...but my New York friends...good bbq takes time and when it's out it's out.