Fort Reno Closed: Will Reopen as a Taqueria

dinosaur barbecue is across the street in the backgroundThe city is a funny place. Nowhere else in the world can a handful of restaurants with similar menus remain open within a one or two mile (even few block) radius of one another. Barbecue exploded in New York over the past year and a half to the point that we felt pizza was threatened as New York's food. In the past two years, Brooklyn welcomed Briskettown, Fletcher's, Morgan's, Hometown, Fort Reno, and Dinosaur Barbecue. The last two operated a stone's throw from each other: Fort Reno on the north side of Union between 4th and 5th and Dinosaur on the south side of Union between 3rd and 4th. Quality and price aside, we wondered how long Fort Reno could survive in the shadow of the juggernaut that is Dinosaur Barbecue.

Here's Park Slope revealed over the weekend that Fort Reno's time has come to an end. The restaurant closed for the holidays and will not be reopening. The owners (who also own Palo Santo on Union Street closer to 5th Ave) are keeping the space and turning it into a tortilleria/taqueria, where they'll be making their own masa and $3 tacos. The new project is slated to open by mid-February. We're excited, given the smart, forward-thinking food that's been served at Palo Santo since the restaurant openedin 2006. But it's a funny thing, because Rachel's, Jalapeno, Oaxaca Taqueria, Mezcal's, and Lobo all sell tacos and they're all very close by.

St. Patrick's Day at Fletcher's Barbecue

Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue was recently on the receiving end of some high praise from Times critic Pete Wells. After eating at three of the city's newest barbecue restaurants (Mighty Quinn's, BrisketTown, and Fletcher's), Wells wrote, "The sides made the strongest case for Fletcher’s." Yesterday, in celebrating St. Patrick's Day, one of those was butter braised cabbage. It was part of an $8 special that included corned beef and Irish soda bread, which owners Bill Fletcher and Matt Fisher sourced from nextdoor neighbors Four and Twenty Blackbirds. For $14, you could wash it all down with a bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's Dry Irish Stout.

Matt Fisher had brisket curing for the better part of the month. After nearly two weeks covered in all spice and bay, they were steamed and then sliced to order. The meat was tender and juicy, with a fatcap that was eager to melt in your mouth. Grainy mustard spiced things up, and the hearty chunk of soda bread turned out to be an excellent sponge for the cabbage's butter broth. It's the perfect meal to fortify your stomach at the start of a day that requires drinking Guinness for the majority of it.

Mighty Mighty Quinn's Barbecue

hugh mangum [daniel krieger for the times]New York City got a slew of new barbecue restaurants at the end of last year. Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue setup shop on Third Ave in Gowanus, BrisketTown opened on Bedford in South Williamsburg, and Hugh Mangum brought Texalina Barbecue to Second Ave in Manhattan via Mighty Quinn's. Mangum's barbecue is a hybrid of sorts, inspired by the traditions of Texas and the Carolinas, and in today's Times, Pete Wells awards his efforts two stars.

Wells weighs in on each of the three newcomers in his review. He likes the sides at Fletcher's, "like the beans that lap up wood smoke as they bake in the pit next to the meats; the crisp house-made refrigerator pickles, put up in a jar; and the macaroni and cheese when it is topped with the great burnt-end chili." He's also a big fan of the brisket at BrisketTown, where Daniel Delaney "rubs the brisket generously with salt and cracked peppercorns and smokes it for many, many hours, until it is very, very tender." But it's the barbecue at Quinn's that has his heart. To make it easy for you, here's a list of the restaurant's barbecue with their prices and what Wells has to say about each:

Brisket ($8.50 single serving/$22 by the pound) - "The brisket is cooked patiently to render much of the fat from the top cap, moistening even the leaner lower muscle until it gleams."

Pulled Pork ($7.25 ss/$18.75 btp) - "The pulled pork is the only one in town that doesn’t make you embarrassed for New York. It is staggeringly good."

Smoked Sausage ($7 ss/$12 btp) - "While there is nothing wrong with a smoked hot sausage, the one here isn’t quite strong enough to build a meal around."

Spare Ribs ($8 ss/$23 per rack) - "Spare ribs are exceptional, too, meaty and juicy, with a smoky outer ring the color of cherry soda."

Brontosaurus Rib - ($23 ss) - "The beef rib is an instant conversation stopper, a long block of impressively tender meat clinging to a Jurassic curve of bone."

Half Chicken - ($8.50 ss) - "The only disappointment is the chicken, no better or worse than what a skilled weekend cook can produce with a kettle grill." [NYTimes]