Blue Smoke (BBQ)
116 East 27th St between Park/Lexington Aves
New York, NY 10016
(212) 447-7733
Subway: 6 train to 28th St; Bus: M1 to 28th St


If you've never been to Danny Meyer's BBQ heaven (it is one of my favorite places to eat & drink in NYC), definitely make a reservation, unless you want to wait 2-3 hours at the long bar, sometimes standing 2-3 people deep to order a drink... dinnertime any day of the week can be chaotic.

Once you are seated, plan to indulge. On this visit, sister#3 and I had birthday brunch on a Sunday, which was the quietest I have ever seen this restaurant. Most of the occupied tables had children, another anomaly to me here. We were hungry, and we ordered plenty for two.

I always get the pulled pork sandwich (accompanied by coleslaw) because it is THAT GOOD (the pulled pork platter is $6 more, has a little more meat and comes with beans); however, it's always on the menu, and on Sunday, there was a special that sounded great: short rib sandwich with potato salad. So I went with it. My sister ordered the oyster po' boy. We shared a side of mac & cheese, french fries and chicken-jalapeno sausage.

The oyster po' boy was delicious - not exactly authentic, but shredded lettuce, tomato, perfectly fried oysters... had there been a little more remoulade, it would have smelled like New Orleans. The celeriac slaw, however, was not authentic and tasted dirty. The short rib sandwich could have been amazing, except for the sauce, which was overly sweet. I tried to wipe it off, but there was too much. The fries are always good (not tough to make good fries), and I love the mac & cheese, elbow noodles in a creamy, cheesy, slightly processed (in a good way) sauce. The sausage was too spicy and not really good.

We had both come off a night of drinking so it was water only, but if this were a usual meal, I would've ordered a Lynchburg Lemonade or mint julep. And next time I go (which will hopefully be soon), I know my husband will get the Texas salt & pepper beef ribs, and I'll either check out Sunday night's special chicken-fried steak or stick with my old favorite, the pulled pork sandwich.