Success Strains Madison Park BBQ

        There was a lot of smoke wafting over Madison Square Park last weekend and it wasn’t just from Danny Meyer’s annual barbeque cookout. Some fans were smoking with indignation that certain vendors ran out of grub early both Saturday and Sunday. Late-blooming meat-freaks showing up in the afternoon for the 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Big Apple BBQ were stunned to see Salt Lick from Texas out of brisket by 3:30. Floyd Cardoz was spotted wandering off with a Hill Country takeaway bag but Hill Country was maxed out and closed when our hungry reporter, Bao Ong, passed by at 4:40. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q of Decatur, Alabama, was out of pulled pork shoulder and their crisp spicy-Southern mustard coleslaw soon after. Out of coleslaw? That is an insult. And even hometown host Blue Smoke ran out of brownies. Clearly the feast was a mammoth success. Jeffrey Steingarten dined with regal splendor at his very own little blue-checked-draped tabletop on Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint’s Western Tennessee-style Whole Hog with Sweet pickles. I’m not saying he ate the whole hog but if I’d known you could reserve a table, I would have come myself.

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