Fight Breaks Out Over Whether Dallas BBQ is Serious Eats
Serious Eats’ Ed Levine devoted his weekly New York review to Dallas BBQ today (there is one in Midtown on 42nd btw. 7+8th), and the Feedbag’s Josh Ozersky came down on him, saying that restaurants like this are an “affront to the city”. As much as it pains me to say this, I tend to agree with Mr. Cutlets on this one- but admit to always being curious about the Dallas BBQ $9.95 2 chicken take out special I used to see advertised in the subway. (Do they even have that deal anymore?) [via Grub Street]
Posted by Zach Brooks at 3:45 pm, September 30th, 2009 under Dallas BBQ.
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30 Comments
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Absolutely agree regarding the value. I’ve had a few meals at various Dallas BBQs throughout the city. For what you pay, you get an amazingly large quantity of food. My experience has been that the service is very fast and very friendly. And, the drinks are HUGE, should that excite you.
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Adam – you left out Olive Garden. Applebees too.
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Dallas BBQ is more NY than any of those chains. The bbq is horrible, but the bang for buck is insane. The only wood in that place is at the bar.aWhat other restaurant chain has to employ bouncers!?
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Nothing wrong with Dallas BBQs if you want a huge plate of food and a large cup of booze for a reasonably affordable price. Get rid of them? Hell no. It should stay put. Not that I would encourage going to BBQs often though. Maybe once a month or less frequent. Much better than Bubba’s, TGIF’s, and Applebee’s, especially when it’s about value and quantity of food! Olive Garden – I wouldn’t even bother with the fake italian. Maybe if the other places served larger portions or had better specials, then there wouldn’t be so much praise of BBQs.
I’ve had the early bird before. It’s an awesome deal (dine-in only). 2 servings of 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken, Homemade Soup, Potato or Yellow Rice and Corn Bread. According to Yelp, they still have it:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dallas-bbq-new-york-7
Not sure about the times of early bird though… -
Ozersky took a break from shilling for Jeffrey Chodorow to slam Levine? I’d be interested in seeing how long IAC plans on losing money on CitySearch before shutting that crapper down.
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People like Ozersky and Bruni make me sick. Those pretentious pompous pricks need to get off their high horse and learn a thing or two about the reality of the world.
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@sushiburger – Bruni is a pretty awesome dude, and a seriously talented writer & critic. Ozersky’s not even in the same league.
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@chris6sigma: I agree he is a talented writer. I have no doubt about that. However, his reviews make me sick. I hate people like Bruni… the pretentious people of the world.. i wanted to smack the shit out of him when he came on Colbert.. I wasn’t coupling Ozersky and Bruni in terms of “talent”.. I was grouping them in terms of personality as shown through their writing.
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Still not sure how you could call him pretentious. The NYT doesn’t pay him to visit 50% off sushi places or your neighborhood diner.
His goal was to inform readers on whether or not they should be dropping their dough on where it really counts – the high end places. A bad meal at Joe’s diner will set you back $20, but a bad meal at Cipriani’s will set you back $200 or more.
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Again, my problem isn’t with him not visiting everywhere in the city. It’s his whole approach to food and i think his personality shows in his writing (as well as the interview he did). In any case, imho, he’s a little prick.
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I love wings. Let the record state that before I begin this comment…
The Dallas BBQ location on W. 72nd St. was a common destination for me and my college buddies; some went for the $9.95 chicken special (yes, Zach, it still exists), while me and a few others went for the wings: big, juicy, and slathered in sauce. We all had one thing in common, too: the “Texas-sized” margaritas and beers.
All that being said, unless you want chicken for cheap, a good (and large) platter of wings, and large beer, don’t go to Dallas. I’ve become a Brother Jimmys fan as I love the wings and rib tips, but I need to try more places. Any recs, guys?
Oh, and I’ve had the best wings from the W. 72nd St., East Village, and 23rd St. locations, if anyone was curious…
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(oh, and I LOVE the sweet tea from Bro Jimmys – gf’s from [and is still in] North Carolina, so I get my NC fix…though the UNC memorabilia makes me miss her more :-( )
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Haven’t been to Dallas BBQ. But would have to agree that it doesn’t fall into the “blight on the city landscape” category like Olive Garden, TGIF and other tourist crapaterias. Dallas BBQ serves a purpose especially for families on a tight budget and starving students.
I’ve tried a few of the BBQ joints around NYC and here’s my 2 pennies worth:
Virgil’s (Times Sq): terrible, overseasoned, overcooked
Blue Smoke: Love most of the Danny Meyer creations, but this one is a lousy excuse for real BBQ. Flavors are all wrong. Just don’t get it.
Hill Country: Meh.
Brother Jimmys: Pretty good, standard BBQ.
RUB: Best I’ve tried so far. The smokey exterior of the ribs and brisket is near perfect. Hot & spicy BBQ sauce is great.
Dinosaur: Haven’t tried yet, but looking forward to it.
Any other recommendations? -
Fette Sau is pretty good
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You can’t hate on the giant drinks with extra test tube shots, come on. And I am not afraid to say I love Dallas wings and I will fight anyone who has a problem with that.
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If you understand there is nothing BBQ about Dallas BBQ (it’s basic diner faster food fair than anything else), then it’s not so bad. I used to go there about 10 yrs ago, but I was never a huge fan. i guess that’s why I’ll pretty much go anywhere else (except Indian) if that’s the suggestion, although I won’t cry if that’s the final verdict. If I’m doing a chain, Im going to outback, where i prefer the bloomin onion to Dallas bbqs onion loaf. I think Outbacks burgers are better too. Same with Houstons–i’d be there in a heartbeat over Dallas bbq and outback.
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@ bigapplescowel: No need to waste your time at Dinosuar unless you want to be awoken to gut wrenching pain at 4am and then almost—welll–have an “accident’ before you could run to the WC. Thankfully, I am very spry in the dark…
And I agree,RUB is no dooubt–solid. I live a couple blocks away and make RUB runs every month or so….
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Dallas BBQ, despite having little to nothing to do with Dallas, or barbecue , is more NYC than most of the restaurants in existence here. I remember going there in the late 80’s. Thank god there are still places like BBQ’s left. I think the one on 8th st ended up becoming a Commerce Bank, which is a cliche for current NYC. I’d rather see a 100 more BBQ’s than another Starbucks. My ex gf would raise issue w/ those wings however. She ended up sleeping on her bathroom floor after consuming a few of them a few years ago!
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oooooh man….undercooked wings are NOT cool…..I’ve suffered from my own attempts before I perfected my southern style fried chicken in my cast iron….
I dunno. Dallas isn’t my first choice when going out. But every time I’ve been there, I haven’t thought “I regret having had this meal”. Using the term ‘affront to this city” should be saved for Bubba Gump and TGIF. Dallas is marginally “better” than those places (and would be next in line for the “affront” status if those places didn’t exist).
I agree with ed that the value factor is through the roof at Dallas compares to other places.