A Full Belly

the state of bbq in the city

NYC 'cue Crazy. Gothamist post on how BBQ joints seem to be springing up in the five boroughs.

I visited RUB (Righteous Urban Barbecue), Paul Kirk's brand spankin' new outpost of Kansas City BBQ, last week. I'm still working on a long post about it, so stay tuned for that, but for now let me tell you that the food was outstanding and I cannot wait to go back for more! I know there've been a few reports of slow service and uneven food but keep in mind that most if not all new restaurants would suffer from the same were they to be deluged by our fair city's many foodies (not to mention BBQ fanatics) upon opening, no? And real fans of BBQ, a way of cooking that can frequently take an entire day or longer to get done, should be the first people to realize that good things take time...

Quick Review: Better Burger

The idea behind Better Burger (178 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street and 565 Third Avenue at 37th Street) is burgers that are better for you and better tasting. Meat and poultry burgers are antibiotic, hormone, nitrate, and filler free; lower and fat than what they refer to as "the big boys."

On our visit we had a beef burger and a turkey burger. The beef burger was seemingly greasier than a "big boy" burger and otherwise a pretty average burger. The turkey burger was better than a typical turkey burger, which can sometimes have a not quite natural texture. We also sampled some of the organic condiments -- our favorites were the spicy wasabi sauce and karma ketchup. Better Burger's french fries have 2/3 less fat than regular fries thanks to air-baking -- if that's true, no complaints. We washed it all down with a very tasty and refreshing mango lemonade.

 

Reviews: Digital City, NYMetro.com, NYTimes