John Brown BBQ
Barbecue restaurant · Long Island City
27-20 40th Ave, Astoria, NY 11101
Highlights
Kansas City-style BBQ with burnt ends, ribs, and a large backyard
Kansas City-style BBQ with burnt ends, ribs, and a large backyard
"John Brown BBQ may advertise itself as a Kansas City-style pork paradise, but the best thing on the menu at this smokehouse in Long Island City is the brisket burnt ends. They’re chewy yet tender, sticky, and somehow infinitely more delicious than the actual brisket, which skews a little dry. This is a spot for Kansas City purists, both in terms of barbecue sliced to order and city pride—there are several shrines to Chiefs’ legends, like Patrick Mahomes and Tony Gonzales. The ribs come in a sweet, but not overpowering glaze, and the pork belly leaves an oil slick on the butcher paper that would make any mechanic upset. It's a quiet neighborhood spot six months out of the year. But the great selection of beer and contingent of TVs make the LIC restaurant rowdy and fun on football Sundays, provided that your team isn’t playing Kansas City. And if the weather cooperates, hang out in the backyard with a couple of pale ales and Midwest transplants. Food Rundown Brisket Burnt Ends The thing to order here. Thick with bark yet tender on the inside, these are an excellent representation of what Kansas City-style BBQ is all about. They tend to sell out. But if you see them available, make sure to contribute to someone being saddened later in the day (sorry to those future guests). A half pound for every three or so people will be more than enough. photo credit: Will Hartman Pork Ribs Rosy pink and tender, these come glazed and on the bone, and are cooked perfectly. Your teeth will leave a bite mark, as opposed to ripping the meat clean off the bone. Brisket Despite being cooked until tender, this brisket lacks some of that quintessential smoke factor. It’s not bad, but if you aren’t here with a lot of people and getting a whole spread, your money is better spent elsewhere. photo credit: Will Hartman Rib Tips With more cartilage comes more flavor, and these rib tips prove it. They require slightly more work to eat than their meaty counterparts do, but it’s worth the reward. photo credit: Will Hartman Pastrami Unfortunately, our pastrami experiences here have been dry and stringy. The flavor is good, and John Brown’s platters do come with the basic building blocks for a sandwich: white bread, pickles, and mustard (standard operating procedure for any self-respecting barbecue platter) but look elsewhere for hot pastrami in New York City." - Will Hartman
"Describing itself as Kansas City-style, John Brown BBQ moved into the old location of Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation suggests, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and house-cured pastrami. There’s also a beguiling array of invented sandwiches, such as the John Brown Reuben, deploying pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The splendid backyard is another lure." - Robert Sietsema
"If you like the sound of eating meat slick with sweet and tangy sauce underneath a shrine to Patrick Mahomes, then John Brown BBQ is your spot. The Kansas City-style restaurant in Long Island City is famous for its burnt ends and, rightly so— the fatty, tender, 360-degrees of bark are easily the best thing here. Beyond the meat, John Brown's big patio, contingent of TVs, and good beer make it a useful spot to hang out on a Sunday, provided you’re in the mood to listen to the screams of Chiefs fans." - neha talreja, hannah albertine, bryan kim, matt tervooren, will hartman
"Describing itself as Kansas City-style, John Brown BBQ moved into the old location of Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation suggests, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and house-cured pastrami. There’s also a beguiling array of invented sandwiches, such as the John Brown Reuben, deploying pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The splendid backyard is another lure." - Robert Sietsema
"Lots of foods have nicknames - flapjacks, frickles, za - and most are pretty uninspiring. A notable exception is burnt ends, also known as Kansas City caviar. Almost as important as finding ways to use that term as often as possible, is eating them at John Brown Smokehouse. It might be the best bite of BBQ in the city, and like everything on the menu, it’s available in their backyard every day from 12-8pm." - matt tervooren
