A buddy of mine, John, has been trying to drag me to his American Legion for the longest time. It is a bit out of my wandering range, a couple of miles away, but it was nice out yesterday so The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I decided to walk there. Well, we got there but no John. Oh well, for $1 gin and tonics and 50 cent glasses of beer I could afford to wait for awhile. But after a bit we decided to head down the street to pop into a place we passed on the way.
Fletcher's
As you can tell, I am having a bit of a problem with pictures. The Mysterious Chinese Woman took these with her iPhone and I am not sure how to go about formatting them to get rid of that big white margin. Oh well, I will use my camera from now on.
Anyway, let me tell you that this little place is a real gem. I take pride in my own smoking and barbecuing, and I am not going to suggest that this place had better ribs than mine, but they did have dynamite ribs. Dry rub with sauce on the side, just the way they should be served. And Brooklyn Brewery's Sorachi Ace on tap. Sorachi Ace is named for the lemony smelling hops that were created by the Japanese in 1988 when they crossed the British “Brewer’s Gold” and the Czech “Saaz” hops. It is one of my favorite beers and is a relatively strong 7.6% ABV (Alcohol By Volume).
Aces Will Get You High
So I settled in and had myself some ribs and beer. Seemed like the thing to do.
What Could Be Better?
The people here were quite friendly, including the guy I was sitting next to. We discussed smoking and barbecuing and Matt, the Pitmaster and Executive Chef joined in. It turned out that he had spent time in Minneapolis and we liked some of the same music (Tom Waits, The Replacements, Hold Steady). Stuffed pork shoulders were coming out of the smoker and he generously provided us with tastes. Quite delicious.
Lookin' And Tastin' Great
They did there own smoking on the premises and they had some pretty significant smokers.
A Bit Big For My Apartment
I can give a whole-hearted recommendation for this place. It is located at 433 Third Avenue in Brooklyn, between 7th and 8th Street. A bit out of the way but you can easily walk from two nearby subway stops and it is on a bus line. Well worth the trip.
Oh, I did pop into Hank's Saloon for a quick Old Crow and water for old times sake. I hear that it only has about another couple of months left before the building is torn down and replaced with Who knows what? The place really should be land-marked.