Big Apple Block Party Lineup Announced

Fifteen Pitmasters for Fifteen Years of Barbecue in Manhattan

Posted April 7, 2017

04-07 2017

Beef ribs on the pit at the 2016 Big Apple Block Party (Big Apple Block Party)

For 15 years, the Big Apple Block party has giving New Yorkers a taste of traditional American barbecue styles from around the country by bringing some of the country’s most noted pitmasters and their cooking rigs to Madison Square Park in the heart of Manhattan.

This year, the party is scheduled for June 10 and Sunday June 11th, and the organizers just announced the lineup of cooks for the event. It’s an impressive list—15 talented teams from 9 different states, representing a broad cross-section of regional styles, and a few hometown favorites, too.

The Locals (New York, NY)
Jean Paul Bourgeois, Blue Smoke
Billy Durney, Hometown BBQ
Ash Fulk, Hill Country
John Stage, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

The Texans
Joe Duncan, Baker’s Ribs (Dallas, TX)
Scott Roberts, Salt Lick BBQ (Driftwood)

Georgia
Jonathan Fox & Justin Fox, Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q (Atlanta)

North Carolina
Sam Jones, Skylight Inn (Ayden) & Sam Jones BBQ (Winterville)

Sam Jones Cooking North Carolina-style Whole Hog at the 2016 Big Apple Block Party (Big Apple Block Party)

Alabama
Chris Lilly, Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Que (Decatur)
Drew Robinson, Jim ’N Nicks Bar-B-Q (Birmingham)

Tennessee
Pat Martin, Martin’s Bar-B-Que (Nashville)

Illinois
Mike Mills & Amy Mills, 17th St. BBQ (Murphysboro)

Mississippi
Gary Roark & Leslie Roark Scott, Ubon’s Barbeque (Yazoo City)
John Wheeler, Memphis Barbecue Co (South Haven)

South Carolina
Rodney Scott, Scott’s Bar-B-Que (Hemingway) and Rodney Scott Barbecue (Charleston)

The Big Apple Block Party is a fundraiser for the Madison Square Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that supports and maintain the gardens, amenities, and programming within the seven-acre public green space. Admission to the event is free, and each station sells their barbecue for $12 a plate. Those with big appetites and an aversion lines can buy a Fast Pass for $150, which allows the holder and a guest to access “express lanes” and apply $100 toward food and drink.

For at least one weekend this year, midtown Manhattan is going to be smelling pretty darn good!