PrintDallas BBQ: Boldly Going Where No Other Food Writer Has Gone Before
"I'm not going to spoil the party. I just don't know that I need to return any time soon."
[Photos: Robyn Lee and Erin Zimmer]
Dallas BBQ
261 Eighth Avenue, New York NY 10011 (at 23rd Street; map); 212-462-0001; dallasbbq.com
Other locations: See website
Service: Friendly and familiar the first time, off-putting and weird the next
Setting: A big diner with cacti, a concrete ceiling, and reasonably well-spaced tables
Compare It To: Applebee's, Chili's, TGI Friday's
Must-Haves: Hot Dog, Onion Loaf, Chicken Tenders, and yes, a big ol' blue drink
Cost: Twenty bucks will get you enough food for two to share and one of those drinks
Grade: C+
Almost every day I pass by Dallas BBQ, and each and every time it's packed. Lunch, dinner, even in between. Even more interestingly, it's packed with an incredibly diverse set of New Yorkers, of every race and ethnicity imaginable. All these folks appear to be having an insanely good time. In fact, it looks like they're having a big old house party—complete with super-cheap humongous meals, made up mostly of grilled or fried or barbecued meat and foot-high plates of fried accompaniments, and moat-sized multi-colored drinks (with umbrellas) to wash it all down.
Hundreds of people eat at this restaurant every day, and savor every last fried or grilled bite. But nary a food critic or food writer or blogger among them. Until now. The serious eaters hit Dallas BBQ en masse last week, and I for one survived with my palate intact... and my stomach full for a full week afterwards.
I have an inviolable rule when I order, particularly in restaurants like Dallas BBQ: If any menu item is described as "the best" or "famous," I have to order it.
Dallas BBQ's onion loaf ($5.99) is, according to the menu, the "Best in NYC." I cannot in good conscience tell you that I have had every onion loaf in New York, but damn, this onion loaf is good. It's a crispy ten-inch high mass of greaselessly, lightly battered strands of sweet onion. It's shaped like a shriner's hat, and with a hole in the middle, it looks like an onion ring bundt cake.
A small order of "Famous" Texas Crispy Wings ($7.99) appeared with six cleanly fried, pterodactyl-sized fried chicken wings. I don't know that they deserve to be famous, but they were crispy and crunchy and clearly showed that someone knows how to fry in the restaurant's kitchen.
Chicken tenders ($7.99) also reflected the kitchen's frying abilities, and though they weren't exactly juicy and moist, they did have plenty of crispy, salty flavor.
With our starters, we ordered a Texas-sized, big-as-a-moat Blue Bull ($7.99), a margarita drowned in blue with an extra shot of tequila. Our extremely friendly and knowledgable server brought it to the table with four umbrellas. The bartender could have fit a couple of more in the glass, believe me.
The rotisseried chicken ($5.99), described as the "very best slow rotisseried BBQ chicken, prepared with no additives or sauces every hour on the hour!", is, alas, not even the best in the 'hood. But it is huge (even the quarter chicken is more than enough to eat), the skin is vaguely crisp, and though the white meat is dry, I've had far worse at twice the price.
The barbecue at Dallas BBQ is not even smoked (it's steamed or baked and then finished on the grill), so it shouldn't really be called barbecue. The baby back ribs ($8.99) come with no hyperbolic menu description, nor should they. They are falling off the bone tender, but they didn't have much pork flavor (baby backs as a rule don't), and all you really taste when you bite into them is the sauce. The beef ribs ($11.99) are gigantic, tender, and messy, thanks to the pool of cloyingly sweet barbecue sauce.
The "New" Texas hot dog ($6.99), served with baked beans, isn't described as the "best" or "famous," but perhaps it should be. It's a grilled all-natural, no preservatives, no nitrates, 12-inch half-pound all beef hot dog that is juicy and garlicky and plenty meaty. It comes with beans and your choice of starch, and at $6.99 it's a ridiculous bargain.
The burgers ($7.99 and up with potato or rice) are a half-pound of ground sirloin that our server told us are ground on premises from the steak tips. Alas, the burger joined the ribs in the barely-any-flavor department. Crispy shrimp ($8.99) were kinda crispy, but they were the only thing we ate that tasted as if they had been sitting around the kitchen already fried waiting for someone to order them.
Baked potatoes are huge and tender, though their skin was flaccid.
The French Fries were really fine, fresh, skin-on, thick-cut Idahos that are in fact better than Shake Shack's, though I wish their exterior had been as crispy as the Shack's. But the cornbread is sweet and cakey, and should be considered a dessert.
Which is a good thing, because as we found out, there is no dessert served at Dallas BBQ. Our server directed us to the Baskin-Robbins next door. We all just took another bite of the cornbread and washed it down with a big sip of Blue Bull. Voilà, dessert. The only other thing you'll need if you have the ribs or chicken is a wet nap—which do come in handy, but really stink up the place.
After a few meals, I get why Dallas BBQ is always jammed. Inoffensive, somewhat tasty food; huge, strong, multi-colored drinks (that come with multiple umbrellas on request); ridiculously reasonable prices (the price-value ratio is off the charts here); and a party-like atmosphere in which all kinds of people seem to be having a great time eating. I'm not going to spoil the party. I just don't know that I need to return any time soon.
Read more of Ed's reviews.
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32 Comments:
I have to admit - I love Dallas. I know it's not the best BBQ in the city, but I totally agree, you can't get such a great meal for the same price anywhere else. You guys really got through a lot of food, but next time, try the hot or sticky wings and the brisket!
DocFoodie at 11:18PM on 09/29/09
I lived off BBQ in my broke ass college years; couldn't beat $3.50 for the quarter chicken plate. Even though they've raised their prices as I've grown older, and my tastes have matured, I still can't help popping in a couple times a year as a throw back.
I always leave neither totally pleased or completely disappointed, still finding joy in dipping the slightly soggy fries in bbq sauce, slathering butter on the supremely sugary cornbread, and indulging in the juicy meat of limp-skinned rotisserie chicken. Sometimes I add the great onion loaf into the mix, but totally avoid those ribs, which I'd put my money on being boiled before being quickly grilled.
Glad to see BBQ got some play here.
Joshua Bousel at 11:21PM on 09/29/09
"Flaccid" is an unfortunate term for anything...
hungryhungryhippo at 11:45PM on 09/29/09
I went with Ed twice for this review. I had never been to Dallas BBQ before—I'd always passed its East Village location on the way to other restaurants. The Chelsea location surprised me. It was very clean and much more chic than I thought it would be.
I don't know if I need to go back, though I was not turned off in the least by the place. The hot dog, the chicken tenders, and the onion stack were the best things I had there, but there are so many other restaurants I'd rather spend my money in. It seems like a place you'd go if your coworkers dragged you there (which seems to be the case with a lot of the reviews on Yelp).
Still, my impression of the place was that it would easily fall in the "fast casual" category. Other places that fall in this category are Applebee's, TGI Friday's, Houston's, etc. But Dallas is WAY better than any of those places. I kept saying (and I wish Ed would have worked this into his review) that this is what all other "fast casual" places should strive to be. Something is wrong when shit places like Applebee's can spread their dreck across the nation and Dallas BBQ remains merely a New York City mini-chain. If Applebee's put out Dallas BBQ–quality food, it would actually deserve to be in every damn epsisode of Friday Night Lights.
Adam Kuban at 12:21AM on 09/30/09
Far and away the filthiest restaurants in NYC. Passing in front of the windows of the Chelsea shop, and seeing the diners hoovering the mess off their tables, is enough to put one off one's feed for the remainder of the day.
pingarina at 2:50AM on 09/30/09
Dallas is the best way to get dilicious dish . Dallas mean cheap and best
Acai Berry Detox
ryanharish at 3:06AM on 09/30/09
I'm not ashamed to eat at Dallas BBQ. It's by no means great food, and may not even be good food. But a plate of ribs is $23 at Blue Smoke and $12 at Dallas, so what are you going to do.
Ok, maybe I'm a little ashamed.
morley at 8:10AM on 09/30/09
i don't eat meat, but it's hard to complain too much at the prices they're charging. It's no David Chang's chicken orgasm, but it's definitely affordable eats at an affordable price. These are the places that parents can pay to treat their kids even if they're strapped for cash. Really. A lot of my fav childhood dining memories are hole in the whole dumps and not 5 stars restaurants (which my parents never brought me to).
gargupie at 8:12AM on 09/30/09
"hole in the wall". Sorry for the typo.
gargupie at 8:15AM on 09/30/09
I've had many happy memories at Dallas BBQ -- it's a regular haunt for many who can't afford the frou-frou months in advance reservations only eateries in the city. In fact -- it's adored so completely that one time, during a particularly nasty lightning storm, when the lights went out completely in the middle of dinner, nobody (and I mean nobody) got up from their tables to leave the completely darkened restaurant. Instead we all tucked into our moats of liquor and loaf of fries and hunkered down...a great time was had by all. :o)
juliebugsmama at 8:38AM on 09/30/09
They don't have them down here in Florida. Lee Roy Selmon's would wipe the floor with them.
redfish at 8:59AM on 09/30/09
i've been to dallas bbq many many times. it's where my friends and i go during college years, mostly for those massive drinks. then when i was living over in downtown brooklyn i lived right above one. quite difficult to not be tempted every night. also my friend loves dallas bbq and half price sushi
Ultrateg at 9:07AM on 09/30/09
When I go to Dallas I only order the crispy chicken wings, the corn and the cornbread and for drinks the the regular pina colada. I can't believe you thought the fries were better than Shake Shacks. The ones at Dallas get cold and hard pretty fast and so does the rice.
@pingarino: never in a million years would I call Dallas the filthiest restaurant in NYC. That mess you see on the tables are people who enjoyed their food and their time. The plates are big, the servings are big and people share from each others plate. In my experience, the bus boys at this restaurant clean up pretty fast and they also sweep before anyone is seated.
And I saw someone else call this a hole in the wall. Say what? Yes a hole in the wall with giant plasma tv's, clean bathrooms and great big windows so that you can people watch. It's not a fancy place, but it is pleasant and spacious.
QueenAlli at 9:10AM on 09/30/09
I live up the block and am always amazed by the crowds. I have literally seen busloads of people stop by for dinner. I am guessing they have great word of mouth for tour groups, maybe because it is a NYC only chain.
I've eaten here a few times, and agree that it is a great value and really a good place to take kids.
All that said, I think I would have peed myself if I saw you (Ed) eating here when walking past.
crackblind at 9:29AM on 09/30/09
Once ordered that onion loaf—it nearly killed us.
Maggie Hoffman at 9:41AM on 09/30/09
wow, i had forgotten about dallas bbq. when i first moved to nyc in 1990 my friends and i used to eat there--it was cheap and the drinks were strong. when i did my stint at the new york public library, it was a good place for staff gatherings, because if we librarians were making nothing, you can imagine what the clerks were making, so it was a place everyone could afford. at some point i stopped going there, and i'm sure all the barbeque nuts i know down here in houston would be horrified by the place, but your good-natured review brought back fond memories--thanks.
carriebwc at 9:47AM on 09/30/09
This is fantastic.
City Mitten at 10:03AM on 09/30/09
Did you get their cherry bomb? According to their subway ads, it's New York's best. I would venture to say it's New York's only.
That said, I will say that I have ordered from the UWS location a few times for delivery-- half chicken and ribs is not a bad way to go on a lazy Friday night.
burgerblogger at 11:02AM on 09/30/09
Ew.
jozersky at 2:16PM on 09/30/09
This is the best thing I've read all day. On food-centric Wednesday, too. The onion loaf might kill you, though.
http://www.chains-of-love.com/2009/09/in-other-words-bbqs-is-for-lovers.html
Krista at 2:39PM on 09/30/09
I'm somewhat ashamed to have eaten here on more than one occasion - and yes, it has its time and place. It's a cheap, low brow fill-up, and i'm (secretly) glad that the SE crew decided to devote today's review to the unappreciated (with good reason) restaurants in NYC.
exflexitarian at 9:35PM on 09/30/09
I'm glad you said the fries are better than Shake Shack's way down at the bottom of your post. I would've stopped at that point. :)
Allison Hemler at 11:39PM on 09/30/09
I've eaten at many different branches of Dallas BBQ. Ed, I can't believe you have lived here so long and never eaten at it! I agree that the food is sub-par, but the atmosphere is fun. It's hard to resist, I think.
NYminknit at 4:28PM on 10/01/09
THANK YOU ED!!! It's just a big party full of hungry people who just want a place to hang out! The food is no good...the wings were not too bad though~ The rotisserie chicken was the driest I ever had in my chicken-eating life!! I almost choked!! The name is what dragged me..Dallas BBQ(i'm thinking texas style slow cooked bbq with all the trimmings)..but it was far from that. I surely will not go back there.
shanella at 5:14PM on 10/01/09
I used to go to the 8th street one (now closed) in college for the big ass drinks. When you're a poor student, the bigger the better. And I remember all the girls liked to go to that one because Tyson (the model, not the boxer) used to hang out outside on his motorcycle before he got big.
Tia Kim at 8:55PM on 10/01/09
@Allison Hemler: It's hard not to do fries better than the Shake Shack, so I don't know if Ed's praise here is on the mark. The truth is that the fries are pretty damn good at DBBQ—much, much better than SS or many other places' fries. I'm not a fan of fries, and even I liked them.
Adam Kuban at 11:15PM on 10/01/09
Chain food is not slow food. Even if it does say BBQ.
http://www.wildriverreview.com/wrratlarge/?tag=warren-bobrow
warrenbobrow at 9:40AM on 10/02/09
cheap date! when I was in high school (circa 1990) it was a go-to date joint. not surprisingly they are still thriving, even in this current age of foodie mania.
bettyconfetti at 12:28PM on 10/02/09
Yes, the 8th Street/University Place site was a destination for us in high school (c. 1986) - it was cheap and fun. I recall the W.72nd street one being slightly nicer than the others. Never had a problem with the food - I think the last time I sampled it was after a friend and I did a "Race for the Cure," and we went to the one on 73rd and 3rd; we were starving. The onion loaf was always great, but prepare to lock yourself away for several hours afterwards.
CakeGirl #1 at 3:16PM on 10/02/09
Thanks for posting this. I'm in that neighborhood a couple of times a month, and although the aromas from the place are heavenly, I had heard otherwise.
I'll be there next time I'm in Chelsea.
playingwithsugar at 9:25PM on 10/02/09
Ha, I can't believe you did a review of BBQ. Pretty awesome of you guys. I've eaten at a bunch of them and I'm of the opinion that the food isn't particularly tasty, but I think the biggest draw for a lot of people is the "bowl-drinks," as my friends and I call them.
I'm not sure, but wasn't the now closed 8th street location NOT a true Dallas BBQ? I think I heard several times that they were an imitation, and I remember the name being just "BBQ" and not "Dallas BBQ." However, if it WAS a Dallas, then if they were still open they'd have to bring down the cleanliness score here---I once had a roach crawl onto my table. I work in restaurants, and I'm aware that keeping pests out of NYC establishments is a daunting task, but that was unacceptable.
BrooklynBaker at 9:35AM on 10/05/09
As a self-respecting Texan I will never step foot in that place. Sorry, just can't do it especially with other places as easily accessable (but admittedly more expensive). The chicken looked dry - I would have liked a description of the actual meat because I can bet it's dry as a bone. THAT is what separates the real from the fake in fried chicken.
I have to agree with everyone else and say good on you for reviewing somewhere as overlooked (whether I think that is a blessing or not) as Dallas BBQ.
NYChef10 at 2:36PM on 10/13/09