Hickory BBQ Kingston, NY

Wow, what a disapointment! Today we drove 140 mile roundtrip to try this Zagat rated BBQ joint, well, had to be done to find out! Anyway, here's what we ordered:

Buffalo Wings - Not Bad, a wee bit over sauced for my liking but very meaty and pretty good

Rib Tips - Tough & tasteless without the addition of the house sauce

Mustard Greens - not bad but a bit tough, could have been braised longer and seasoned a bit better

Mac n Cheese - Yuk - burnt on top and nothing but elbows with a lousy cheese sauce maybe out of a 10 can

Roasted Potatoes - tasteless and at leat a day maybe two old

Slaw - had nice texture but really lacked in the seasoning dept

Ribs, pork, chix & brisket - at least a day old re-heated & all dried out! Really lacked in flavor and seasonings, I was truly disapointed because I had high hopes after all of the press and reviews listed on the website.

Barnstormers in Newburgh is the next stop.... Tried today at 1:00pm when they were supposed to be open but weren't.

+1 on the disappointment.

I live 15 miles from there and haven't been back after a couple of disappointing meals.

I guess I was spoiled by living in Austin and OKC during the 70s.

Max's Memphis BBQ in Red Hook is a bit better, but, for my money, I either make the trip to Hill Country or Blue Smoke in NYC or to Smokey Bones (gasp! a chain) in Colonie (Albany).

Hickory BBQ makes a very nice pulled pork, and I'm sorry you were disappointed. The only other dish I have tried there was brisket and it was not very good. I'm sorry you missed Barnstormer, they have a very good (better than Hickory) pulled pork and their sides are also very good. Max's is also worth a visit for their pulled pork- cant opine on any of their other dishes.

Hey, This aint Lexington NC, but its pretty damn good for us Yankees to produce,

Cheers, John

Although I live in NYC (don't laugh, we are in the middle of a barbecue renaissance here these days) I used to drive by Hickory BBQ every weekend on Mountain bike trips to the Plattakill Ski Mountain. I ate at Hickory on a number of occasions and while it was fairly decent when they first opened the last few times I ate there is was really poor. I stopped going altogether after my last experience,the meat had not discernible smoke flavor at all.

I'll check it out when I get home from Mobile, but I've heard a rumor that it might have been sold.

Cheers, John

If you are willing to come across the river, I highly recommend Big W's in Wingdale. It's about 40 minutes from us in Hyde Park (I teach at the CIA), and we've had nothing but great food from Warren. Admittedly, it is a VERY smoky style of bbq, which I happen to love. The chickens are deep mahogany masterpieces, smoked for around 5 hours. Imagine, for a few bucks more than one of those cooked supermarket birds, you also get some excellent sides. The beans have meat trimming in them and the braised greens (usually cabbage) are great. Pork and beef are great, too; the sauce is pleasantly thin, with some soft onions still in there.

Highly recommended! Check out the review on this site.

john

We tried to get to Big W when he was still operating out of his truck, but always seemed to be there on the wrong day. We're looking forward to driving out to Wingdale as soon as possible to try his BBQ.

BTW:Fischgrape, do try to get to downtown Mainstreet in Poughkeepsie to have a Soul dog at Soul Dog - the place is well worth a visit. I really liked their dog with peanut sauce.

Cheers, John

Seafarer,

I have, indeed, had a few great dogs at Soul Dog, although the fries could have used a wash before frying to get the grit off. I will definitely give them another chance, both for the fries and to try the peanut sauce.

BTW back atcha: my wife and our friend Sue and I were the proprietors of the now defunct Monster Taco on Rte 9 in Poughkeepsie. Don't know if you tried it during its 1.5 year run, but we sold some pretty good tex-mex fare.

One last mention (for a presumed local), have you been to Gus's restaurant in Newburgh on 9W? Great family German-based roadside restaurant. I would be glad to meet you there to create a Roadfood entry for the site.

john

I think Gus' is a great idea- its been a while since we've been there, but we've heard a lot of good things about it lately. Let's try to work out a date and time.

Sorry, never got to enjoy your offerings at Monster Taco.

Also, how about a roadfood visit to the Apple cafe at your school - we think that's a delightful place for coffee and a sandwich or pastry.

Cheers, John

Don't forget you have All Smoked Up Roadside BBQ on Rt 55 in Beekman, NY. Roadside schedule is on the website calendar allsmokedup.com

quote:

Originally posted by Roadfoodfan

Don't forget you have All Smoked Up Roadside BBQ on Rt 55 in Beekman, NY. Roadside schedule is on the website calendar allsmokedup.com

I want a schedule like theirs: 3 months of 2 days a week, then the summer and fall off... Can I apply for a job???

The proprietor of All Smoked Up was a student of mine at the CIA. Great guy, career-changer...and boy did he change his career!

jf

Both LaBella ( presently closed for renovations) and My Hero here in New Paltz make a credible meatball sandwich- with or without parmesan.

And, as to Hickory BBQ, they ,not too long ago, opened a branch in Kingston. We hav'nt been, but that might be enough to cause a slack-off in the original location in Hurley (or is that Shokan?). whatever, they are apparently still under the ownership of the Slutsky's .

Cheers, John

Update on my prior post regarding Max's Memphis BBQ in Red Hook:

Had dinner there with a friend yesterday (her choice). My selection was the smoked sausage dinner with sides of cheese grits and corn. Very nice flavor, nicely smoked and grilled. Her choice was the grilled shrimp salad. She really liked it too.

My assessment of Max's went up from a C to a B.

I guess I'll just stay away from the ribs and stick with the sausage.