Virgil's Real Barbecue

Lunch with certain coworkers always leads to gutbombs and I love them for it. Instead of our usual burger conquest, we went for barbecue. Virgil's is close and easy. I haven't been there in years so I also wanted to see if I still liked or disliked it.

Virgil's is located in Times Square and is always filled with people. No worries though. It's really big and spans for more than one floor. It will fit large parties easily. And due to its tourist attraction-esque feeling, the portions are VERY large. So order with the notion of not finishing your meal. I'm  not kidding around people. Unless you're a garbage can in human form, be warned.


With that notion of too much food in my head, I skipped the appetizers and went straight to entrees. My friends had a different idea. He ordered the Trainwreck Fries ($12) to share. Think nachos but with fries. Oh man, these were addictingly good. Thick fries smothered in melted cheddar and jack cheese with bacon, scallions, jalapeno's and ranch sauce. Gosh darn it. At this moment I knew I would be sleeping at work for the rest of the afternoon. Especially since this could happily feed 4-6 people as a starter and it was just us 3.

Smartly, one friend ordered a smaller entree to counter the huge appetizer. He had the Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich ($14) topped with mustard slaw and with his choice of cole slaw and potato salad as his sides. He seemed to enjoy it and ate the whole thing.

My other friend who is frighteningly thin but eats like none other had the Pick Two BBQ Combo ($24). He chose the Memphis style pork spare ribs and sliced Texas beef brisket. His choice of sides were mac n cheese and baked beans. He's a good southern boy and eats all things barbecue.

I also had the Pick Two Combo ($24) with the Memphis style pork spare ribs and barbecue 1/4 chicken with a side of cole slaw and mac n cheese. The meals also comes with a corn muffin and pickles. My ribs were okay. They were quite large and lacked the slow smoking (no smoke ring) that would come from incredible ribs. These, obviously, were not incredible but satisfied me just fine with their meatiness and seasoning. The chicken was better than the ribs though. The skin rendered a bit and had a similar seasoning on top. The meat was juicy and succulent and I enjoyed it. The sides were completely forgettable and mediocre. The same goes with the corn muffin. They forgot my pickles but my friends gave me theirs. The sourness cut through the greasy foods well.

I went to Virgil's not expecting the best barbecue but with the attitude that it would satisfy me with decent food. And it did just that. Sure, it's not considered "real barbecue" but it tasted just fine and certainly filled me up. I went home with half of my food to be consumed for dinner. I would go back again.

Virgil's Real Barbecue
152 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212) 921-9494
virgilsbbq.com