brooklyncook

On the subject of the menu being "big," which I've seen mentioned a couple of times now: The Dinosaur in Syracuse actually has a bigger menu than Manhattan. There's something like 17 side dishes up there. The Dino in Manhattan actually started off with less; John 86'ed the notion of having black beans and rice, for example, because there were so many joints in the area that already made good bb&r. And as far as the rest of the menu (the meat) being varied, scrutinize further -- a lot of it is combinations, i.e. pork & ribs, pork & brisket, chicken & ribs. It's actually very basic when it comes right down to it, so I don't see how the size of the menu would have an effect on the quality of the food in this situation.

I've been satisfied -- EVERY time -- by Schnack in Red Hook. The burgers are always good, the foods I try (when I diverge from the usual orders) are excellent, and the folks there are genuinely concerned that you're enjoying your meal. My only complaint, which has nothing to do with Schnack itself, is that the local transportation around the area leaves a bit to be desired. I'll take a bus in from Park Slope, but finding one going back is near to impossible. I'm usually left to call a car service or (hopefully) find a cab.

You don't smell it outside Blue Smoke either. Both places have smokers that are very well ventilated. If you catch the right breeze, you might be able to smell some Dino smoke somewhere in Fort Lee. ← I also would have to chalk it up to ventilation. Maybe I'm more used to it now, but initially when the restaurant opened, you'd definitely notice the smell upon entering -- and hardly at all when you're outside. The smoke room itself doesn't even smell like the smoke unless the doors to the pits are open. As far as the Village Voice review goes, I'm not really sure why he even bothered writing it. We've got a lot of wood stacked in the back of the house -- I haven't personally seen wood deliveries going on, but I'd suspect that, based on the way we try to be efficient, we'd have a lot delivered at once to avoid multiple deliveries that would be an inconvenience.

The brisket's hand cut. Trust me on that one.

Hey, Rochesterians love it too. At $14.99 (more often less thanks to the sales at Wegmans) for a 12-pack, it's an inexpensive upgrade from Genny. Personally, I could never understand the love of Genny beer. I never thought it was that good; relatively watered down in flavor.

After reading this, I figure you've got to take it only half-seriously. Nothing against the writers, but this "Top 100" wasn't a Top 100 -- it was a Top 10 with 90 runners-up, sans ranking. And the entire article was based on the eatings of two people. I suspect that if you'd worked it out to be a bit more empirical, the rankings would drastically change. I mean, check out the tiny burgers sidebar. I've eaten at both Schnack and Pop Burger, and there's no question: Schnack is the better burger, both physically and financially. Paying $5 for a Pop Burger is ludicrous. It's not worth it at all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not presuming people place much faith in Top 50/100/500 lists of any sort (isn't this the time of year for them anyways?) -- but I'd love to see a Top 100 burger list with a bit more meat...pardon the pun.

Yes, currently we're closed for lunches until the 14th, when it'll be a full lunch & dinner opening. I'm not sure if this is just to get everyone fully trained or not.

Thanks! I'm one of the "Rochester transplants" that work there -- I moved down to Brooklyn at the beginning of July, but was offered a job in October. Great place to work, no question -- definitely beats my previous cooking job in TriBeCa.

I had to laugh -- tell me you didn't snap a picture of John using the bathroom. :) verysleepy, I have to disagree on the public transportation (or lack thereof) that you mentioned. Taking the 2/3 to 96th St and then switching to the 1/9 should get you there in no time; the M4 and M104 buses also make stops at the corner of 125th and Broadway. I won't comment on the food there, since I actually work the line -- suffice it to say that now it's clearer to me who all these various folks were that came around with cameras while we were cooking. :)