Barbecue in Brooklyn

Oh hai, guys. I’m Emily, the other half of the author you’ve been reading for the past few months. We’ll be doing this here blog together from now on. You’ll get another perspective and hopefully a lot more reviews of our dining experiences in Brooklyn (and beyond). Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Name: The Smoke Joint

Location: 87 South Elliot Place, Brooklyn, NY

What I eated: A half order of spare ribs with sides of corn on the cob and cornbread. (I’ll admit, I considered getting popcorn at the movie following dinner, so I might set a personal record for most foods eaten with “corn” in them in one day.” I decided against it.)

What he eated: Shredded brisket and a side of collard greens. A drink called “The TIger Woods,” a play on an Arnold Palmer; this had limonade and sweet tea. Disclaimer: The menu said sliced brisket, KT’s preference, and that’s what he ordered, but what he got was shredded…

Price: $33 for all of the above.

Tasty: Fantastic! Maybe some of the best barbecue I’ve had. And I’d say I’ve had a fair amount of barbecue, especially after living in the South for two years.

Service: Probably better if you’re not eating at the bar, where the server mostly ignored us and never made eye contact.

Atmosphere: Like you’d expect from a place called The Smoke Joint. It was fairly loud, stuffed and stuffy, but had a nice, diverse clientele and a steady list of favorite jams from the ’90s (including Sublime) was playing.

Portions: More than enough. With a little help from KT, I finished the ribs and the only food left was a bit of cornbread.

For the money: I was pleasantly surprised to see the check for $33. Seemed reasonable. (Of course, we didn’t drink any alcohol…)

Comments: We will be back. The food was good enough — and there were enough delicious-looking sides on the menu that we didn’t get to try — that we’ll go back for more. And now we know it’s worth the wait for a table, rather than settling for seats at the bar. The poor service at the bar was almost enough to ruin the experience (KT would probably say it did ruin the experience), but the servers at the tables seemed friendlier and more aware.