First time poster....great BBQ in Upstate NY...

Howdy all,

This is my first post here - long time reader of Roadfood and RFForums, but never posted...yet. I'll start off my mentioning that I'm from Upstate New York - pretty much BBQ Hell. :( However, within the past two years or so, a great BBQ place opened nearby in Cohoes - I mean NEARBY - 5 minutes away - and has won awards for being the best local BBQ. Not sure how great they'd stand up to anything down south or out west, but their beef brisket and chopped chicken are awesome, IMHO - and all of their sides are homemade. Great catfish and chicken fried steak too - not a common thing to be found around these parts! They also do all of their own smoking, daily, in a smokehouse behind the restaurant - which is in a residential neighborhood, not sure how much the neighbors love that! I'm no BBQ expert, but I order from there roughly once a week, and have never been disappointed - except one time when the BBQ beef brisket was too dry and actually somehow burnt - but that was a one-time occurence only, and shortly after they first opened. Anyway, if you're ever in the Albany area of upstate New York, give Tex's Pig Pit BBQ a try. :)

Here's their website: http://luluslist.com/pigpitbbq/default.php

Benny... I sure hope that wasnt a blatent plug for a company you may work for...
Though you sounded honest!

Welcome to Roadfood... Hope to hear some more of your local eats, and from your travels also...
Those dried out tips are sounding tasty! ha ha... I'm in Michigan, and finding decent Q around here is hard... (Unless you hit the bad side of town in the summer... Then there's some real folk that can serve up some life long memories (good ones at that)!!!)..

Welcome to Roadfood!

Sounds like you have a gem there in Upstate New York, which is not particularly known for it's fine BBQ! I checked out the website listed above and actually their own website does them more justice!
www.texsbbq.com

Thanks everyone for the welcome!!!!

Nope, no plug. I'm a stateworker, not a BBQ'er, and wouldn't know the first thing about cooking BBQ - not YET, anyways. I don't work for them, but have been a longtime fan since their earlier incarnation in downtown Albany maybe 10 years ago or so - which had pretty much the same menu - but that operation folded, and Tex's only existed afterwards as a streetside BBQ cart in downtown Albany for state and office workers in the spring-fall season. It was good to see them reopen a restaurant again (and like I said, 5 minutes away!) - they seem to be doing a very good business now, that they've got the word out and got the "kinks" out of their operation (when they first opened, they screwed up my order once or twice, and some of the food was cold) - because the place is always packed with people picking up take-out-orders.

Benny, I've never posted on Roadfood even though I visit the site every day. I'm always afraid I'll be suspected of working for a restaurant that I want to share, but I think it's time to speak up because I'm from your neck of the woods. I think the best BBQ around is PJ's on Rt. 9 south of Saratoga. I've always been amazed that it hasn't been reviewed on Roadfood because it is so close to a popular tourist destination. They have a website, http://www.pjsbarbq.com/. Unfortunately, they don't open again until tax day. Try it next time you are north of Albany.

hey Benny...better than PJ's IMHO is Bobby Brown's Rockin BBQ on Saratoga Lake...the southern shore on 9P I think, cold beer..awesome Q.....I haven't gotten to the pig pit yet...but it's on my list.......

correct me if im wrong but i think rachel ray covered this place on her 40.00 a day show. the place looked awesome and the chicken fell off the bone.

You know, I've been past PJ's many times, but never stopped in - I've always headed for the Parting Glass (awesome Irish food!) or Esperanto (fantastic eclectic and *cheap* but quality food!) - or that Indian restaurant (whose name escapes me right now) on the main drag when in Saratoga. But I'll definitely be checking out PJ's this spring - thanks for the tip pbanjo! :)

Rachel Ray?!!?? *drools* god I love her! Anyways, I wasn't aware of this, but if so, it's great to see a local BBQ place get exposure!

Oh, and hey Linda, thanks for the advice - will definitely be checking it out, maybe this summer! Saratoga Lake is GOOD TIMES in the summer, no doubt! :)

PJ's IS GREAT!!! After a day at the track, usually during Travers weekend, I stop at PJ's to bring back a few racks of Ribs and some chickens, as well as the hot dogs, and even a Beef On Weck back to my home in the NYC Burbs. Also after hitting PJ's, just about 100 yards on US 9 south is this farmstand ( forget the name of that place) I ALWAYS stop to buy some of the best pies (usually Blueberry and Peach) in the region, not to mention some flowers and mums!

I found PJ's last year after opening day at Saratoga. It was terrific, and I always wondered why it was never mentioned on this site. Great place to stop after taking the waters !

quote:

Originally posted by marky

correct me if im wrong but i think rachel ray covered this place on her 40.00 a day show. the place looked awesome and the chicken fell off the bone.

The show you are thinking about is from Cooperstown, She went to Brooks BBQ, that place rocks and is great for a Roadfood Budget, I might have to make a trip down there this weekend. Yum
Just plan on standing in line, but it is worth the wait which is why people are standing in line.

Thanks for clearing that up,Octopus. After reading marky's post I thought I was nuts. Bobby Brown's is allright, but basting a chicken with sauce and grilling it isn't really BBQ. PJ's is the real deal. I snuck over there for my first visit of the year on Monday and it was just as good as ever. I highly recommend any of the "Wick" sandwiches for lunch. Most of PJ's side dishes are nothing special but any of their meats are worth the trip. Also, don't get the Loganberry drink (it isn't quite a soda)unless you like very sweet tasting beverages. I always cut mine 50/50 with water.
Bobby Brown's is a fine place to eat, but I'm not sure it is worthy of "Roadfood" status. http://www.bigbobbybrowns.com/

Ordered again from the Pig Pit yesterday after maybe a month or so, and for Upstate New York, I still think the quality is excellent - since my first post, I've become educated (through the roadfood reviews and all of the posts in the BBQ forum) about the various regional types of BBQ. Based on that knowledge, Tex's is authentic TEXAS BBQ - beef brisket is their speciality, and their homemade sauce is of the thick red Texas variety. Personally, I'd like to see some competition open around here, like a place with authentic clear-sauce North Carolina BBQ or mustard BBQ, but we're lucky to have anything like this at all around here. Got their BBQ Chicken and BBQ Beef in a Blanket, which is almost a tex-mex thing - basically a burrito stuffed with nothing but BBQ and sauce - and it was good stuff. Had a chance to talk with the owner while my order was being packaged, and he told me that this Cohoes, New York location has been the most successful location he's run - the store is in a former barber shop, and he also bought the old firehouse directly behind the place, which he uses as his smokehouse! This I would have never guessed, but it sounds inventive, at the very least. Also that in the past two years, he's done so well as to pay off both buildings, and that the sign that was on his roof a month back (12,000 pork sandwiches sold in 2006!) was absolutely true. If I had a complaint about last night's meal, it would be that the Beef Brisket seemed a little bit oversmoked for my taste, and that not enough BBQ sauce was used, but I'm still very
satisfied. Obviously the exact flavor varies on a day-to-day basis, as everything is smoked daily, and the owner may have left that batch in the smokehouse a little bit too long. Once again, I have no financial stake in this place, but as a resident of Cohoes, I'm glad it's here - true Texan BBQ in upstate New York is a rarity, as the only decent competition locally open year-round is Smokey Bones (yes, as in, the chain)