Where the Down-home People Dine...

If you’re a gourmand seeking first-rate dining in New York, you’ll likely dine at Le Bernardin, Daniel, Café Boulud, Bouley, Babbo or Nobu. But these restaurants appeal to CEOs, entrepreneurs, and hedge fund managers who can spend $100 to $150 a person on unforgettable dinners. Many tourists are looking for a middle ground, something distinctive that New York offers that isn’t the run-of-the-mill Applebee’s or Chili’s that they can get back home. Where do many middle-class (the few that are left in this increasingly expensive city) dine? At one of the seven Dallas BBQ outposts in the city.           

Frank Bruni, The New York Times’ restaurant critic, will never review any of these Dallas BBQ restaurants in the city. Their food would be considered quotidian. If you’re looking for an eatery to dine on tasty, fresh food, where the chef likely won’t be seen on Top Chef next year, try Dallas BBQ.           

Specialties of the house include half chicken for $8 including fries or baked potato and cornbread, its bar-b-q baby back ribs with sides for $12, or the ribs and chicken combo for $12. For appetizers, try the mounds of onion rings ($5). Dallas BBQ is also known for its Texas-size pina coladas, which come in flavors such as peach, raspberry, blue Hawaii and wildberry.

Bargain lovers can opt for two full chicken meals for $10 if they dine before 7 p.m. One blogger was so moved that he wrote “Dallas BBQ offers food so good and cheap that I felt like I was stealing.”

Dallas BBQ can be found in Times Square, East Village, Chelsea, downtown Brooklyn, Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Washington Heights. Visit its website at bbqnyc.com.