Pig Beach first opened in Gowanus as a seasonal venue back in 2016. That’s well after the 2000s barbecue revolution in New York City, but it’s been around long enough to have established itself. A year after opening the first seasonal location, it expanded into a warehouse next door to provide year round accommodation.

The restaurant kept getting more popular and continued to expand with a second location set to open in April of 2020. The reporting on the opening in early 2020 had not predicted the pandemic. The Gowanus location only opened in July of that year, embracing its outdoor location, and delaying the Astoria opening a year. The Gowanus location later closed after a city rezoning, and property owners forced the popular spot to shut down in order to redevelop it. Since then, Pig Beach also opened in Boston and West Palm Beach. There’s even a Pig Beach Cookbook.

Chef Matt Abdoo, co-founder of the brand, started his career at Del Posto, a fine dining restaurant. His Italian and Lebanese heritage also informed his culinary outlook. In researching this article, I came across this interview with Abdoo about allergens and food safety. Though it has little to do with Pig Beach, it does offer some insight into the training that has gone into the restaurant.

Pig Beach embraces a southern, beachy themed atmosphere with drinks and decor to match. It’s a fun vibe, and the Astoria location is a huge space, especially for New York City.

We were meeting our friend from Astoria out here for lunch and drinks. It was November, but New York’s new subtropical climate made it the perfect day to sit outside in the enormous yard. The interior is big too with multiple rooms and private areas. A second bar in the back probably keeps drinks moving at peak times.

My wife and our friend sat outside entertaining our then three-year-old. Writing this six months later, its amazing to think how much has changed in that time. He’s no longer in diapers, he’s sat through indoor dinners, albeit with the help of a tablet, and is palette has– oh wait, no he still only eats French fries and pasta.

I headed in to order. The food is served up cafeteria style. It wasn’t all that busy an afternoon, but even at busy times I could see how this line moves fairly quickly.

The first thing that happened was they were out of lamb. The lamb is seasoned with Greek flavors and white sauce–not only has this become a de facto New York City food these days, but Astoria is home to the city’s Greek population.

That disappointment aside, I selected turkey, brisket, and pulled pork. The pork was great, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

After paying, I came to the sauce dispensers. It was an intimidating set of tanks with five varieties of sauce available.

The brisket had a bit more fat than I would have wanted, but it was a great way to sample the various sauces that were on tap. The mustard was tang and sweet, but not too mustardy. The red sauce was a little sugar bomb, all sweetness and not much tang.

The meat I enjoyed the least was the turkey which came across as a bit too dry and not flavorful. It was a poor substitution for the lamb. The various sauces didn’t help enough and I would definitely skip the turkey next time.

The Mac and Cheese had a great texture. It was thick and creamy, but I did find it salty and lacked a distinctive cheese flavor profile. I was still happy to eat this, but it wasn’t that distinctive.

The collard greens were sweet and bitter, but mostly bitter. I have certainly had better examples of collards.

The beans had big pork chunks and I did like the favor. Overall they were a bit sweet, but I think combined with the bitter collards it balanced out.

We also ordered fries for our toddler who wasn’t that interested, and these were great dipped in the beans and various sauces.

Pig Beach was a great place to bring a toddler. The open yard, especially since it was mostly empty, meant he had a bit more opportunity to run around without disturbing anyone. Like the nearby Bohemian Hall, a German-style beer garden, it is a good place to meet up with friends for drinks, especially if they have small children. The atmosphere is jovial, but family friendly. I think there are probably better tasting barbecue restaurants in New York City these days, but Pig Beach as an experience is hard to beat.

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If you like barbecue barbecue in New York City, check out the other spots I’ve eaten at: John Brown’s, Hill Country, and Mable’s.

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