87 South Elliott Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-797-1011
I love BBQ.
It’s one of my favorite food groups.
So when I heard that the Smoke Joint was opening in the LaFu* I was ECSTATIC.
But I was also a little wary.
BBQ is one of those simple foods in concept but very difficult in execution. There has been a lot of BBQ places that have opened up, mostly in the city, and very few have managed to do it right.
Luckily, the Smoke Joint does it right.
(*I will continue to call the area around Lafayette and Fulton LaFu until it sticks. I’m stubborn, even a little stupid, like that.)
The inside of the Smoke Joint is very sparse in decor. Just a few wooden tables and some lights and a view of the very open kitchen where you can easily spot Craig and Ben busily preparing the food. I really like that as it’s like built in entertainment – and they are both extremely friendly and willing to talk to the customers. I thought that was a nice touch and definitely made it feel like a “neighborhood” place.
The Smoke Joint’s dining system is cafeteria style. You look at what’s on the board, you place your order and you sit down. No waiter/waitress service here but there were a couple of runners to bring the food to your table as well as assisting the diners with anything they needed like sauces, more napkins, etc. They even have plastic utensils instead of real silverware.
All this is more than okay with me.
BBQ is not fancy dining.
It’s messy dining and this was set up for you to get down and dirty.
And boy did I get down and dirty.
The meal started off with what I thought was going to be a small tasting plate. Just something to tie me over as I waited for the rest of my party. It consisted of (Freedom) Fries shaken with jointrub ($2), Brooklyn Wings ($7) and Tips and Bits ($7).
Oh.
My.
God.
The jointrub on the fries gave it a nice spicy-ish flavor making it like “a BBQ potato chip, only better” as one diner commented.
The Tips and Bits were amazing. One of my favorites of the night.
The Brooklyn Wing were plentiful, I think I got 7 or 8 in my order, and flavorful but not very spicy. A quick dip into one of the hot BBQ sauces, Hollapeno or Hotbanero – I’m not sure which, took care of that little problem.
The above alone could have been a meal as it was quite a bit of food for the price.
But I’m here for BBQ and BBQ means Meat and by Meat I mean RIBS.
Pork Ribs.
Mmmm…Pork.
So I got a half slab of the Spare Rack ($10) along with the Corn on the Cob ($2).
The ribs are of the dry rubbed variety and cooked to perfection. There’s a selection of BBQ sauces you can choose from, Ben was nice enough to bring our table a tasting of all of them for us to try, and I have to say that my favorites were the Jointsmoke and the Brown Sugar-Chile. While the hot BBQ sauces were good my personal preferences is towards the sweeter flavored sauces.
I tried some of the Baby (Got) Backs ($9) and I have to say I thought the Baby’s were slightly better. A little smaller, a little leaner but a little more tender in my opinion. It’s really close and neither one will disappoint but if I had to go with one over the other I’d get the Baby (Got) Backs.
At this point I was about to explode so some of the other meals on the table – the Brisket, the Hacked and Stacked Chicken sammich, the Hacked and Stacked Pork sammich along with the Mac and Cheese and coleslaw – I didn’t get a chance to try but there’s always next time.
And, oh yes, there will be a next time.
And since everything can’t be positive…my complaints are that the napkins are kind of flimsy, you’d need like a hundred to get through a meal, and I would like a few wet naps afterwards.
And maybe a bib as I happened to get BBQ sauce all over my shirt.
The Smoke Joint
87 South Elliott Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-797-1011
www.thesmokejoint.blogspot.com
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13 Comments
What about WaFuL for Washington/Fulton/Lafayette?
DUDE! We went last night- I dragged the missus out even though she had a cold and was feeling pretty ‘stay at homeish’.
We’re both kinda BBQ snobs that frown on most NYC ‘cue joints (our fave is “BBQ Revue” in Cincinnati, OH) but we both agreed this place gets it right. Delicious, smoky, tender- they have a real smoker on premises and the food tastes like it! The mac and cheese was good too ( I like the mac and cheese at Ruthie’s, but the missus likes it more creamy like they had at Smoke Joint). Didn’t love the cole slaw; ’twas a bit flavorless and spicy.
Friendly service despite being a little uneven due to newness. I’ll be back- hell, I’d go back tonight!
Oh- and $3 bottles of Blue Point Toasted Ale, the perfect beer with smoky food…
My mouth is literally watering as I type this.
I ate there last night. Thought it was pretty good. My one criticism would be that they need a better selection of beers but on the other hand they’re all less than three bucks which is a deal.
Awesome review. I went here last night for my roommate’s birthday and it was fantastic. Seriously, everyone was raving about what they ordered and Ben, one of the co-owners, even sent over a piece of Cake Man Raven cake! They also said they would be adding delivery soon and were developing a dessert menu. They are also working on getting some wine in there, but I have no problem with the beer.
dude, what’s the address??
The Smoke Joint
87 South Elliott Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-797-1011
http://www.thesmokejoint.blogspot.com
dude… i cannot wait to go here
Sounds good. However,the best bar-b-que in the country is Melvin’s in Charleston,South Carolina just down the road from my house.
The best bbq is the Texas Hill Country. And there, they don’t even bother with plastic utensils: it’s just you, a pile of meat, a bottle of Shiner and your two hands.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Texastexastexas. One of the problems with Texas cue, though, is their over-reliance on beef rather than pork. (Actually, just giving Texan a hard time… Sometimes I pray in the general direction of Lockhart, Texas).
Thanks for pointing out this place. Will definitely try. By the way, if you can get up to Connecticut, go to The CookHouse, which is the BEST barbecue in the tri-state area. I guaran-goddamn-tee it. Better than Rub. Better than Dinosaur (both of which I like immensely).
we ate here tonight and all we have to say is yum! The staff is so very friendly and the prices are right. the portions were good size. the wings were awsome. knowing my buffalo wings like i do these were a nice change from the ordinary. the baby got ribs were excellent. the pulled chicken sandwich was so tasty. the iceberg wedge with blue cheese was a nice cooling offset to the spicy sauces. definately going back. here’s hoping the guys really do well. they’ve got a great product in a relaxed, comfortable setting. kudos!!!!!!!!!
[...] Y’all had lots to say about The Smoke Joint when we first discussed it here, and Time Out gave it some love in last week’s issue, so armed with these recs we decided to sample the wares at the Fort Greene barbecue spot on Friday night and discovered a few pleasing changes. Jay from ClintonHillBlog happened to be sitting at the table next to us, and he mentioned that one of the sauces had gotten distinctly hotter since he reviewed the place last month. Turns out the owners (one of whom was serving tables himself and chatting amiably with customers) recently rejiggered the recipe after extensive taste-tests; to us the new version–vinegary in a way that recalls North Carolina sauces, with a truly tongue-tingling finish–was perfect. [...]
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