Restaurant Profile: Virgil's BBQ

Virgil's
152 West 44th Street, New York, New York, 10036   
http://www.virgilsbbq.com/index.php


An old favorite, to be sure. I went to this place with my famery probably 8 years ago. Got a chance to revisit it for lunch last month. It is as delicious as I remember. This place is a down an dirty BBQ joint. Don't come in expecting to have your napkin in your lap and white table clothes. They don't actually even give you napkins. They give you fucking maroon washclothes. One 'rub' (boom) on this BBQ joint is that it tries a little too hard to LOOK like a dirty southern BBQ pit. Kinda dark. Wood-grain everything. Like you can't look like Ted's and charge $10 an appetizer. Sorry, bro. But every Times Square restaurant, of course, needs a theme. So I guess you can't blame them for being conforming tools. Also, the service was, I suppose, strange. The waiter was totes stoned and kinda looked like Taco from The League and seperated every word with 'um'. Not a great combination if you're lookin' for a substantial tip. This is NYC, baby. I expect to be entertained.

What I had the pleasure of eating:

Hush Puppies - served with mapel syrup butter
Brisket Melt - grilled onions and cheddar cheese on grilled rye bread


The food is what makes the cheesy atmosphere acceptable. First, the hush puppies. For those of you unfamiliar, they are kinda like fried balls of cornbread. Accept these weren't balls. They were more like cocks. See picture above. These puppy cocks were served with sweet maple syrup butter that made them ridiculously addictive. I do not recommend becoming addicted to actual puppy cocks. That would most likely lead to jail time. Convicts don't take kindly to beastiality. We got them as an appetizer and there was only two of us. There were enough for 4 people. Pretty much ate them from the second they arrived til the second my brisket showed up. My girlfriend actually had to intervene and say, "Do you really WANT more hush puppies or do you just want them because they're in front of you right now?" Yea, I'm a fat fuck.

Then, my brisket melt sammich showed up. Not usually a huge brisket guy, but this was absolutely the most tender, almost meltinyourmouth, brisket I have every had. You almost don't even need to chew it. Just unhinge jaw and inhale. But you should chew it cause it makes digestion easier. Thick slices of brisket piled high smothered in cheddar. Dont hold it over your shirt. Sauce will fall out everywhere, but not in a messy, difficult/annoying to eat way. The (included) sides were slaw and potato salad. Probably should have gone with the mashed potatoes, mac 'n cheese, or baked beans. The fuck was I thinking? Slaw was just eh and po-salad was too vinegary and actually quite poor. But really the sandwich was the highlight and I didn't end up eating most of the sides anyway. I was filled with puppycocks.

Breakdown:
Service: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Dinner for 2: $50


Overall: 4/5