Where to Eat in Brooklyn This Week

By Brooklyn Magazine

Keeping up with the culinary action in Brooklyn is almost futile. Even with our help, there aren’t nearly enough meals or minutes in the day to hit them all, which is why we’ve been trying something new these last few weeks, sending some suggested destinations directly to your inbox, so you always know where to eat, no matter which corner of Kings County you might be exploring. 

If you’re anything like us (carb-driven, sauce-curious, and perpetually hungry), the last three months have likely felt like one long lottery hit. Week after week, since at least June, iron gates have risen across the borough to reveal new taverns, bistros, tacquerias, oyster bars, soccer pubs, slice shops, revived red-sauce giants, and all their respective and collective bounties. But, as we’ve previously noted, the summer was arguably the meatiest one in recent memory, and that’s thanks to a swell of pitmasters and sauce specialists bringing their small-town recipes up to the big city’s BBQ scene, presumably to fill the vast chasm left by Fette Sau’s recent departure.

The latest arrival is Ferguson’s Country, which opened by McCarren Park a few weeks back, just in time to send the summer off, with a distinctive kick back energy (as well as moonshine flights, chicken biscuits, ribs, and a “front porch fritto.”) But let’s not forget the brilliant Dominican-Texas BBQ at Bark’s in Bushwick, where Caribbean flavors and Lone Star techniques collide, fuse, and shine something fierce. And finally, completing the holy trinity of Brooklyn BBQ’s new vanguard is Kirbee’s, the no-frills, plenty of mess, roadside-ish setup on McGuinness in Greenpoint, where you come for the ribs and return over and over again for the surprise breakout: a side of bright green spaghetti.

See where to eat this week in Brooklyn below, and check back for more recommendations every Monday.

Photo by Scott Lynch

Ferguson’s Country Brings Sweet, Funky Southern Comfort to North Brooklyn

Scott Ferguson grew up eating this stuff—the hush puppies, fried okra, shrimp and grits, and the country fried steak. Heck, back in Alabama, where he spent much of his life until moving to Brooklyn a few years ago, Ferguson’s Uncle Wayne used to throw catfish frys out in the middle of nowhere, filleting dozens of the whiskered swimmers while the party raged around him.

This is all to note that Ferguson, who recently opened Ferguson’s Country restaurant and bar across the street from McCarren Park, approaches his love of homestyle Southern cooking with a deep connection to its spectacular spoils.

“Scott owned this space for two years, ran a flea market out of it, and he used to come to BABA and hang out, which is how we became friends,” Gabriella Mann, BABA’s owner and Ferguson’s business partner in this latest venture, told Brooklyn Magazine. “One day he showed me the place and asked, ‘Do you think you could do anything with it?’”

“At first, I was like… ‘Uh, It’s very narrow.’ But then thinking about Williamsburg and the things that do well here—like Pete’s and Bernie’s—I felt like we could make something work. I haven’t seen much Southern food in this neighborhood before.”

The menu at Ferg’s is filled with well-executed Southern crowd pleasers. There’s a half rack of sweet, funky, sauced-up, literally falling-off-bone ribs, which come with your choice of side. I went with a bowl of cheesy grits and unashamedly dredged chunks of the pork through the sticky, creamy grains.

Photo by Scott Lynch

Bark’s Brilliant Dominican-Texas Barbecue Gets a Huge New Space in Bushwick

Ruben Santana has come a long way since those Ozone Park backyard pop-up days early in the pandemic. Back then, with his HVAC installation business on pause, Santana would fire up a few basics like wings and ribs on a grill, send out messages to his network of friends and contacts, make a few bucks while feeding the crew—done. Very casual, very loose.

But, as Santana tells BKMAG, something clicked for him when the algorithm served him clips of pitmaster legend Aaron Franklin hyping the stuff going on at Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas. “This guy spearheaded modern Texas barbecue, with things like offset smokers and wrapping his briskets,”Santana says. “Plus, he just didn’t look like a typical pitmaster. More like a skateboarder geek.”

Inspired by both Franklin’s vibe and his Texas techniques, Santana upped his prep and grilling game, and then really changed everything when he decided to throw traditional Dominican ingredients into the mix. “I grew up in a very Dominican household,” Santana says, “and these are the flavors of our homeland.” The journey led to Bark Barbecue, which Santana opened as a stall in 2022, at the Time Out Market in Dumbo, and last week expanded, spectacularly, with a massive location in industrial Bushwick.

The new Bark seats nearly 300, at long communal tables and big comfy booths. There’s a whole bar area as well, and a stage for live DJs and shows, and an outdoor space they’re still working on, and, on the other side of some big windows in the back, four enormous indoor smokers, the largest such setup anywhere in the city.

Photo by Scott Lynch

At Kirbee’s, NYC’s Best BBQ is Served with a Side of Spectacular Green Spaghetti

Best friends Chuck Charnichart and Jonny White are elite-level pitmasters; each runs a highly acclaimed restaurant in Texas; Barb’s BBQ in Lockhart and Goldee’s in Fort Worth, respectively. Charnicart grew up in Brownsville, White in Arlington, and they met while working at a spot in Austin.

So it is our amazing fortune that, for their first joint venture (and first foray outside their native state), the duo chose an otherwise unremarkable corner of McGuinness in Greenpoint to set up shop. White moved here last year, Charnichart came this summer, and together they opened Kirbee’s a couple of weeks ago, serving, literally, the best barbecue I’ve ever had in my life.

“We really wanted to open a restaurant in New York City, and this is the coolest space,” White told Brooklyn Magazine. “It has the perfect barbecue look and feel to it. Plus, out of all the spaces I looked at, it was the only one we could afford! Chuck was all in, too, and we signed the lease the same day I saw it.”