Liz BalmasedaPalm Beach Post
Palm Beach County’s burgeoning barbecue restaurant landscape has taken on exciting new layers, thanks to a few former fine-dining chefs, including one who is a TV celebrity. There are new flavors to try and places to visit, all adding to the barbecue scene’s diversity.
Those flavors range from Texas and Tex-Mex barbecue to American-classics barbecue to soul-food barbecue.
The new barbecue offerings come at a time when two West Palm Beach favorites — one takeout and one dine-in — are ready to expand to new locations within the city.
Let’s catch up on what’s hot and new in Palm Beach County barbecue.
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Pig Beach
Competition cred with celebrity recognition
You may have seen celebrity chef Matt Abdoo firing up the grill on NBC’s “Today” show or the Food Network. The executive chef and co-founder of Pig Beach BBQ, the Brooklyn-born restaurant concept with a year-old location in West Palm Beach, is a national expert on barbecue and grilling.
Or you may have seen Abdoo in his chef’s apron at Pig Beach on South Dixie Highway. (He and his family moved to Palm Beach County last summer.)
But did you know Abdoo worked for years as a fine-dining chef? He was chef de cuisine at Manhattan’s Del Posto, the now-closed Italian restaurant co-owned by Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali.
Abdoo met fellow fine-dining chef and Pig Beach partner Shane McBride (former executive chef at SoHo’s Balthazar restaurant) while competing in a 2014 Memphis barbecue competition known as “the Super Bowl of swine.” Abdoo and McBride, a West Palm Beach native, were part of the team that opened the original Pig Beach in Brooklyn in 2016.
Their fine-dining days may be in the past but their fine-dining skills are very much a part of Pig Beach, Abdoo says.
“When we decided to leave the fancy New York City dining world, we took that chef-driven mindset to Pig Beach,” says Abdoo, who describes the Pig Beach menu as “an homage and ode to all the barbecue regions” in the country.
How up-to-date is Pig Beach’s American barbecue concept? McBride’s competition barbecue team Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe won the Grand Champion title at this year’s “Super Bowl of swine,” the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest on May 20.
Menu highlights: Good variety of smoky items such as competition-style baby back ribs with peach and sticky honey glaze, smoked beef brisket, Pig Beach’s black pepper and herb-crusted Smokin’ Turkey Breast, smoked chicken wings with sauce or dry rub, plus various burgers, sandwiches, salads and side. There’s a full bar as well.
Combo deal: quarter-pound meat and two sides, $15.
Hours: 4 to 9 p.m. Monday; 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Happy hour is served 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Brunch specialty items are served Saturday and Sunday.
2400 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach; 561-803-0333, PigBeachNYC.com
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Austin Republic
Buzzy food truck with restaurant goals
Pitmaster James Strine, also a chef with a strong fine-dining background, opened the “Texican” Austin Republic with business partner John Webb (Roxy’s Pub owner) on April 18. While the West Palm Beach concept remains in its initial stage, with both a mobile kitchen and a bar operating out of refurbished shipping containers-on-wheels, it has quickly picked up a following.
Their goal is to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant and bar on the South Dixie Highway property, the former Braille Club site by Phipps Park. Right now, picnic tables are set up out front and orders are taken at the mobile kitchen window.
Peer in and you’ll see Strine (formerly of Café Boulud and Grato/Buccan) working his magic while Austin Republic’s huge smoker and separate rotisserie oven work their own magic. Strine has been experimenting with new menu items such as enchiladas and smoky, curled corn ribs. The corn is smoked on the husk, cut into rib-size parts and served “elote loco” style, topped with street-corn flavors.
Menu highlights: Texas-style smoked prime brisket, pork spare ribs, rotisserie chicken, various tacos served on locally made corn tortillas, brisket burgers, sandwiches and sides such as Strine’s thick and rich “rancho” beans. There’s Mexican beer and Mexican co*ke as well.
Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. daily
4801 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach; on Instagram @TheAustinRepublic
Tropical Smokehouse
Downtown spinoff coming soon
Much has happened in the short time since former Café Boulud executive chef Rick Mace opened the Florida-inspired barbecue restaurant Tropical Smokehouse in 2021. His premium smoked meats, smoked fish, killer burgers and tropical-meets-Southern sides have given the place destination-dining status. And earlier this year, Mace earned a spot on the semifinals list for a coveted James Beard Award for “Best Chef” in the South.
In late July, he and business partner Jason Lakow plan to open a Tropical Smokehouse spinoff, a counter-service barbecue spot and upscale deli market called Tropical BBQ Market in downtown West Palm Beach. The partners have taken over the former Aioli bakery space at 206 S. Olive Ave. as well as the adjacent space.
“Tropical BBQ Market not only allows diners to enjoy our delicious items in a fast-casual setting but also presents the opportunity to take home our signature menu items through our grab-and-go component. This is an exciting moment for the entire team,” Lakow said in a recent news release.
As at Tropical Smokehouse, meats will be smoked onsite at the new location.
Meantime, Mace continues to refresh Tropical Smokehouse’s menu offerings.
Menu highlights: Smoked prime brisket, 3-bone Duroc pork spare ribs, smoked chicken drumsticks, mojo pulled pork, brisket empanada, smoked mahi, gator sausage made with wild Everglades gator and Duroc pork. There’s a full co*cktail bar as well.
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday
3815 S. Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach; 561-323-2573, EatTropical.com
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Nevs Barbecue
From steakhouse to barbecue counter
Veteran steakhouse chef Tommy Nevill, who for years opened and ran III Forks restaurants, took a leap into Texas-style barbecue — his longtime culinary passion — when he opened Nevs Barbecue seven months ago.
The counter-service barbecue restaurant debuted Nov. 28 at the Promenade (Publix-anchored) plaza in Palm Beach Gardens, quickly drawing locals.
Nevill, who first gained an appreciation for low-and-slow, subtly seasoned smoked meats while living in Texas nearly two decades ago, uses post oak wood to fire up the closet-sized rotisserie smoker behind his storefront barbecue restaurant.
As for the menu, Nevill describes it as well-focused. “It’s a very small menu,” he told The Post as he prepared to open Nevs. Although the menu features few items, he said, “we’ll focus on doing them very well.”
Menu highlights: The smoked USDA Prime brisket here is a big seller, and with good reason. Nevill offers that (and other meats) in one-third-pound increments. There’s also burnt ends, pulled pork, pulled chicken and sausage, with baby back ribs sold on Saturdays. Nevs offers various sides, salads, cornbread and desserts. Beer and wine is served as well.
Hours: 11 a.m. “until meat runs out,” Monday through Saturday
9910 Alt. A1A, in the Promenade (Publix) plaza, Palm Beach Gardens; 561-437-6387, NevsBarbecue.com
Off Tha Bone
Second location coming soon
Pitmaster Daniel Spann’s menu of Southern-style barbecue and soul food favorites at Off Tha Bone sparked a cult following in its early days as a roadside stand in 2014. He opened the current brick-and-mortar location on Tamarind Avenue in West Palm Beach in 2017.
Now Spann is preparing to open Tha Blueprint, a second Off Tha Bone concept in the city. He says he hopes to open the restaurant, to be located at 4065 Haverhill Road, sometime this summer.
He’ll double-down on the concept he describes as “a hybrid of Texas and Memphis style” barbecue with deep South flavors.
Menu highlights: The pork spare ribs slabs and half-slabs, served with buttered bread and choice of sauce, are the top-selling items here. Those ribs are also served boneless in the “Pound of Ribs” sandwich. Huge turkey legs are sold here in limited quantities. Southern-style pork souse is offered on weekends. Soul-food sides include collard greens, pigeon peas and rice, macaroni and cheese and Sunday yams.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday
1516 N. Tamarind Ave., West Palm Beach; 561-904-6142, FallofftheBone.com
