Be prepared for ridiculously long lines at annual Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13
Admission: free; $8 per plate
www.bigapplebbq.org
If you think the lines for the Shake Shack are long, just wait till you see how many people queue up for barbecue at the eighth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, more than one hundred thousand BBQ lovers are expected to sample Joe Duncan’s St. Louis-style ribs from Dallas, Garry Roark’s pulled pork shoulder from Ubon’s Barbecue of Yazoo, Mike Mills’s baby backs from the 17th St. Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Ed Mitchell’s whole hog from the Pit in Raleigh, Drew Robinson’s homemade smoked sausage from Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, Ken Bosley’s BBQ mutton and burgoo from the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro, Myron Mixon’s beef brisket and baked beans from Jack’s Old South in Udadilla, and other slow-cooked delicacies from pitmasters from Charleston, St. Louis, Martinsville, Decatur, and right here in New York. (We’re still trying to figure out why people line up for something they can get any day of the year at Blue Smoke, Hill Country, Wildwood, and other city joints.) Each plate is eight bucks (proceeds go to the Madison Square Park Conservancy), and the portions tend to be on the small size. The only way to do it, if you’re determined to go despite the chaos, is to gather a bunch of friends and have each one wait on a different line at the same time and then meet up by the stage to eat while checking out some hot live music from Secret Country, the Derailers, Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band, and other groups. (There are also book signings, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and even a short film screening.) The $125 FastPass, which gives access to express lines that keep getting longer every year, are already sold out, but we don’t like their existence anyway; Danny Meyer and his Union Square Hospitality Group always speak of egalitarianism and fairness, but the FastPass reaks of exclusivity and can kiss our grits.