John Brown Smokehouse Moves Locations to Stay Alive
John Brown Smokehouse will soon close its location in Long Island City (seen here) but will move into space formerly occupied by sister restaurant Mothership Meat Company.
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Kansas City-style barbecue restaurant John Brown Smokehouse, long considered one of the top BBQ joints in New York City, announced this week that it will soon close its 8-year-old location on 44th Drive in Long Island City, Queens. However, the joint isn’t finished with its story yet and will be moving to another location in Long Island City in order to keep going.
In the next several weeks, the barbecue joint will leave its home and take over the space of its sister restaurant Mothership Meat Company at the northern edge of Long Island City. Mothership opened its doors in April 2019 and offered Texas-style barbecue, but it closed permanently in March due to the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Pitmaster and partner Josh Bowen tells NYC BBQ that the primary reasons John Brown Smokehouse is moving are that business had slowed considerably since the pandemic hit and the lease on the space was up. So it was time to make a change.
"At John Brown, we're not making jack," Bowen said. "We're open purely so the employees can have money and we can say that we're open. ... But our street is a ghost town now."
The closure of the still-new Mothership Meat Company in March was not expected. But after the reality of the pandemic set in, it was no longer feasible to continue operating both Mothership and John Brown. John Brown was the more popular of the two and Mothership had never taken off in a big way.
"With Mothership not doing as well as John Brown, I wasn't even willing to give it a go," Bowen said. "This idea has been floating around for a while and we own the Mothership building, so this made the most sense. ... Mothership basically came to this world and said, 'this place is insane and I'm getting out of here."
John Brown Smokehouse offers an all-around great BBQ experience.
Fans of the current John Brown location will like hearing that the new location will have roughly the same KC BBQ menu as the old one, with burnt ends, brisket, pastrami, pork belly, and more available. However, Bowen said to expect the flavor the be a little smokier and richer because they'll be using a more powerful J&R Oyler pit smoker.
"When we were feeding all the hospitals [early during COVID], we experimented with John Brown recipes at Mothership and it tasted awesome," Bowen said. "It helped me understand this could work. Our smokers at John Brown were electric and it was a lighter pecan flavor. But at the Mothership location, it's the smoker that everyone who does barbecue wants to have. That smoker produces magic."
While Mothership and its Texas-style barbecue and "experiments" will largely be retired, Bowen said that the new John Brown location will likely have Mothership-style specials from time to time.
John Bowen, pitmaster and partner at John Brown Smokehouse, seen here during the opening of Mothership Meat Company.
Another important aspect of what makes the current location of John Brown special was that it has become a major gathering point for fans to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. Bowen said the Chiefs games last year (which ultimately led to a Super Bowl win) put John Brown in a solid financial position just before the pandemic hit and he felt lucky for that.
"Without Patrick Mahomes, we wouldn't be talking right now," Bowen said. "Without those playoff games and the Super Bowl, we're dead. That's why I feel bad for so many other restaurants that didn't have anything like that. We didn't have the same COVID experience other restaurants had."
Mothership Meat Company's location has more outdoor space, so the new John Brown Smokehouse will be able to take advantage of that.
The new location of John Brown will be decorated with KC sports memorabilia soon and it will continue offering a gathering space for Chiefs and Royals fans. They'll certainly have more restrictions in place due to the pandemic but they will follow whatever regulations they need to in order to make it work.
"I will work 48 hours a day to make sure we don't miss any Chiefs games," Bowen said. "It might be less exciting because we have less people but we'll be open."
If you stop by John Brown Smokehouse, don’t forget to order their famous burnt ends.
Despite making drastic changes in order to keep John Brown Smokehouse alive and a general sense of uneasiness in NYC, Bowen remains bullish on New York and believes good days are ahead.
"One of the reasons we're staying is that this community has made us and we want to fight instead of going to Florida," Bowen said. "We're willing to stick around and bet on New York."
Sean Ludwig
Founder, NYC BBQ
EAT ALL ABOUT IT
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IRL BBQ EVENTS
Pig Island NYC is returning in September as a fun “socially distanced picnic” that will be more spaced out but still have awesome food.
Every Saturday through August 29: Green Hill Kitchen & Que in Greenport, NY (on Long Island) is hosting a Pitmaster Series, where each Saturday a big BBQ name will come and cook. Guests will feature Pig Beach, Gotham Burger Social Club, The BBQ Ninja, and Memphis Barbecue Company. More info here.
September 12, 2020: At Pig Island NYC 2020, this year’s event will be a socially distanced picnic at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden on Staten Island. Come enjoy food and drinks at this 84-acre outdoor space. Buy tickets here.
November 7, 2020: The Forest Hills Wings Fest, perfect for anyone who loves chicken wings and beer, is scheduled for November at Cobblestones Pub & Biergarten in Forest Hills, Queens. Lots of wings will be available to try and more. Buy tickets here.
NOTE: Due to COVID-19, information concerning events in NYC is subject to change and events may be rescheduled. Click the button below to see the latest up-to-date information. CHECK OUT THE FULL EVENTS CALENDAR HERE
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