354 Metropolitan Ave (near Havemeyer Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-963-3404
Rating: Very Addictive
Cuisine: Barbeque
Entree Price: $5-$22 (most things are sold by the pound)
Hours: Sun-Thur: 5PM-2AM; Fri&Sat: 5PM-4AM
Most addictive dish: pulled pork
Review
I’m from Texas, and I’ve had my fair share of barbeque. From the local spots in my home town to the chains in Dallas to the mom and pop gems in the one-stoplight-towns, I’ve tasted hundreds of versions of Bessie (the name given to almost every cow in Texas). So, when a friend mentioned that we should motor out to Brooklyn to Fette Sau for something that is so close to my heart I was staunchly dubious. Sure, I’ve had good barbeque in NY, but nothing like the stuff back home…and then I went to this place.
The space is a hard core dive (yet sitting at the bar with the utensil-handled beer pulls can feel strangely civilized). Ssaddle up to a saw horse picnic table to secure a place to chow down (if the bar is full), and then get in the (always) long line. We ordered everything, and our tray weighed close to 10 pounds for the three of us (we had big eyes).
We quickly ordered one of the many local beers on tap and sat down to our first taste. Silence. We continued eating...and eating, and after about 5 minutes we realized that none of us had spoken. Suddenly we all stopped, looked up at each other and started laughing, knowing we all thought the same thing: the food was so good we couldn't be bothered to stop to talk about it. The world-class pulled pork was the most flavorful I ever remember tasting, and the ribs transformed us into territorial dogs each vying for the last one. We didn’t finish everything, but we got close. I used to have a couple of standard BBQ places in the city, but now I force myself onto a Brooklyn bound train for more of that Fette Sau goodness.