:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63742232/HometownBBQ_249.0.jpg)
The Hometown Bar-B-Que team’s two new Brooklyn restaurants are just about ready to pop open. The much-delayed restaurants from meat master Billy Durney have made a few changes in the years since they’ve been announced, and the Industry City location will now be a second Hometown Bar-B-Que, while Red Hook Tavern has expanded its focus a bit.
Originally slated to be a Jewish deli-inspired sandwich shop, Hometown Deli in Sunset Park will now be another Hometown Bar-B-Que, albeit with some new deli-style menu items. Options in the previous space had included pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, egg salad, and chicken salad. There will also be new tacos that are different from the brisket and pulled pork ones in the Red Hook original. The 1,200-square-foot restaurant is adjacent to a private event space and commissary kitchen.
Meanwhile, over at Red Hook Tavern, the concept has changed slightly again. Billed as an old-school-style place inspired by Corner Bistro and McSorley’s Old Ale House, the restaurant at 329 Van Brunt St., at Sullivan Street will now have a more general tavern menu. Originally, it centered on fried chicken, then added a Peter Luger-inspired, 45-day dry-aged burger. There will still be that fried chicken and burger, but dishes like chicken liver pate with pickled cherries and rye toast, game charcuterie, and steak au pouivre will also be offered. There will be about 170 mostly natural wines, classic cocktails, and a light and dark ale, McSorley’s style, in the throwback, wood-filled space.
The two restaurants have been planned for several years now, and Durney says they’re “ready on our end in every way” to open, but that the gas needs to be turned on. The fried chicken restaurant faced construction snafus, and Durney has run into permitting hold-ups at both locations.
Durney built his name at Hometown Bar-B-Que, his flagship restaurant that opened in Red Hook in 2013. The distinctly NYC-style smoked meats, pulling flavors from around the world, is regarded as the city’s best place for barbecue.
Stay tuned for more on the openings.
