Georgia’s Eastside BBQ

A new barbecue place, Georgia’s Eastside BBQ, opened in the Lower East Side of Manhattan about a block from the famed Katz’s Delicatessen. The barbecue is beer-steamed, then grilled. Not traditional, but worth a try.

Start off with a BBQ wings appetizer. These are meaty, saucy (but not drowning), and have a great crust. The sauce is really cooked into these wings, almost caramelized. The BBQ chicken dinner is very moist and, as with the wings, not over-sauced; the chicken is coated with a sticky, delicious glaze. They serve baby backs here and present them on a cutting board (a nice touch), although no knife is needed. I can’t lie, I do miss the smoke flavor, but these are very tender ribs. The meat just pulls off with the slightest of tugs, and a subtle beer flavor comes through. These are bone-sucking, finger-licking good!

Sides of baked beans, green beans, potato salad, cornbread and french fries are perfect foils to the succulent meat. The baked beans taste just like Heinz Vegetarian Beans and I love them. The potato salad is made with red bliss potatoes, dill, mustard, mayo, and bits of pickle; creamy, with a good dill taste, although it could use more mustard and pickle. The fries are pretty good, not great. The green beans have a nice crunch. The wedge of cornbread is moist and about as buttery as they come.

A small simple menu is always a good sign. They also have daily specials. The staff is great, and I would love to work my way through the rest of the menu. If you’re looking for traditional pit-smoked barbecue, Georgia’s is not for you. But it IS really good comfort food that puts a smile in my belly.