Big Apple BBQ: An Afternoon to Remember

My excitement has been building for months and it finally came to it's peak today as I emerged from the subway and walked over to Madison Avenue swept away by the sights and smells of the 6th annual Big Apple BBQ. I was a newbie here at the BBQ, unfortunately I had been unable to attend the past two years, but I was well prepared. Armed with a fastpass, mandatory by the way in my opinion, and a small group of hungry friends we plotted our course. There were a handful of must eat places on my list, Mike Mills 17th Street Bar and Grill, Mr. Cecil's California Ribs, Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q, Ed Mitchell's "The Pit" and Blue Smoke for desserts.


Seeing as how it was on the early side, slightly before 12:30, we opted to get some of the "big ticket" items out of the way. 17th Street Bar and Grill are renowned for their baby back ribs and today they were serving Baby Back Ribs and Beans. This would be the longest line of the day for me, I was lucky, and it was well worth it. The ribs were tender, smoky and perfectly moist. However, it was the beans which really sold me. An assortment of pinto, elephant and red beans in a smoky sweet base with shreds of pork, absolutely fantastic.


Trying to kill two birds with one stone I quickly hopped over to Cecil's to see what this Californian pit master had to offer; it was their first time at the festival. At first glance the food looked delicious, clearly not a typical BBQ plate of food: an enormous glistening beef rib with an asian glaze and sesame seeds, a beef and pork cajun sausage and a peppery vinegary salad of onions tomatoes and cucumbers. The food looked great, but the taste was another thing. The glaze on the ribs was quite nice, but the rib was not very moist. The salad, again looked great, but was overpowered by black pepper. The saving grace was the sausage, meaty, spicy with a great bite from the casing, it was delicious and one of the more memorable bites of the day.

Of course on any other day I would be slowing down now, but my appetite was in full swing so after a quick stroll we made our way over to 26th street with the goal of ultimately ending up at "The Pit". First stop on 26th Street, the venerable Big Bob Gibson's of the famed Chris Lilly. My day could have ended here and I would have been pleased. The Pulled Pork Shoulder served up here was everything I could have wanted, moist, tender and when topped with their award winning sauce brought to an all new level. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the sauce as of Saturday afternoon, but that is what the internet is for. The sandwich was served with coleslaw instead of the advertised beans, but it was all about the sandwich.


Moving along 26th Street we took a stop at the newly invited Wilson's Pit Barbeque to try some of their Texas Style Brisket and Slaw. I had been craving some brisket for, but this really missed the mark. I was happy to see another state represented at the festival, but the brisket was dry, tough and lacking flavor. While I did manage to finish the serving I would attribute that to the sauce which at least made the beef satisfactory. Even the slaw was bland and left me wishing I had spent my money elsewhere, but oh well no regrets.


Fortunately, Ed Mitchell's "The Pit" was close by along with his eight smokers filled with whole hogs and whole pig skin, or cracklin's. Surprisingly the line was rather tame perhaps due to the location, it was on the outskirts of the festival, or the unfamiliarity to many BBQ goers. The pork was wildly chopped by the pitmasters and served on a standard bun. The textures were quite different than the pulled pork from earlier in the afternoon, especially when topped with some of the craklin's. I was impressed with the sandwich overall, it had a very deep flavor with a strong vinegar base and a long lasting heat. A creamy simple slaw mellowed out the heat very nicely.

At this point the afternoon sun combined with the amazing amount of meat we had eaten started to take it's toll. Some peaceful bench sitting combined with a bit of wandering through the park provided a bit of relief and of course led to a trip to one of the vendor's as we slowly approached the end of our fastpass. Wildwood BBQ's dessert stand caught our eye with their S'mores and at only $2 each it was a worthy purchase. There was a pleasant hint of peanut on top of the S'more which I really appreciated.


Continuing with the dessert theme we rounded out the day with a stop at Blue Smoke's dessert setup. Serving Root Beer Float's, Chocolate Brownie's and the very popular Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes even the fastpass line was unexpectedly long. The cupcake was delicious, a creamy peanut butter topping with a soft crumbly cupcake stuffed with a small dab of jelly, it was extremely addictive. The float was light enough to keep me from going over the edge and it was remarkably refreshing after a day of heavy eating and 90 degree humid weather.


The day was filled with plenty of food, music, a variety of drinks and of course throngs of people and I can't wait to do it again next year.

A variety of photos from throughout the day can be seen below in this order: the lawn full of BBQ lovers, whole hog being flipped at "The Pit", pork being pulled at Ubon's, Mint Julips at Eleven Madison Park, live music at Eleven Madison Park and the fully used fastpass). Enjoy!