Reviews

Is Bringle’s Pastrami the Best Smoked Meat in Nashville?

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Name: Bringle’s Smoking Oasis
Date: 5/3/26
Address: 4901 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209
Order: Pastrami, brisket, ribs, Kool-Aid pickles, turnip greens, Mexican street corn (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: Since Speedy moved to Nashville nearly a decade (!!) ago, we’ve tried our fair share of barbecue joints around the city. Most recently, we shared a pretty decent meal at Shotgun Willie’s in January 2025 but Speedy’s favorite has always been Cary Bringle’s second restaurant after Peg Leg Porker (which we’ve visited a few times), Bringle’s Smoking Oasis, which he first visited in 2022. On my most recent trip to Nashville, I finally checked it out with Speedy to see what all the fuss is about.

Bringle’s calls itself a “West Texas Style BBQ Joint” and it is situated in the middle of the growing Nations neighborhood. In addition to the barbecue, they are going for a bit of a neighborhood hangout/outdoor sports bar vibe with a big, enclosed outdoor beer garden with large TVs and outdoor games. Good for families with small kids during the day but I imagine also good for catching a NBA playoff game or World Cup match at night. 

Speedy: And don’t forget dog friendly! In addition to its big outdoor spot, Bringles has some indoor dining, and a cafeteria style line as you walk in, where you order desserts first, then cold sides, hot sides, and finally the meat. Always available are pastrami, brisket, ribs and pulled pork (we ordered all three) as well as turkey and sausage (which we skipped).

I told Monk going in – and also re-confirmed on this visit – the pastrami is my favorite smoked meat in Nashville. Smoked to perfection with great salty flavor, it always delivers. It’s one that I frequently order extra for leftover sammies the next day. On this day, Monk and I cleaned our plates.

Monk: Pastrami is not always a protein you see at a barbecue joint, but Speedy wasn’t lying about it. Great meat executed super well. I was flying out the next day but would have gladly eaten a leftover sammie had we not eaten it all.

The brisket was sliced from whatever was the current brisket on the cutting board, and while we weren’t given the choice of fatty or lean we also didn’t ask. What we got was a good-sized slice of lean that was well-smoked with the nice, peppery rub that you expect from a Texas-style joint.

Speedy: The ribs are done Texas style, with (I believe) just salt and pepper as seasoning. That gives them a widely different flavor than those you get at Peg Leg Porker which I also quite like but are dusted with rub Memphis-style. One day I will do a side by side, but both are great, and no sauce is needed for these dry seasoned ribs.

Monk: The one weak spot at Bringle’s on this visit was the pulled pork, which had dried out considerably sitting under a heat lamp on the cutting board. In addition to the dry texture it lacked a lot of flavor and needed several hits of the mild vinegar barbecue sauce.

The sides of kool-aid pickles, Mexican street corn, and turnip greens were above average across the board. 

Speedy: As usual, Bringles delivered a solid barbecue experience with a great atmosphere. As of this writing, I would still consider this my favorite barbecue spot in Nashville (apologies to Rodney Scott (editor’s note: all Rodney Scott’s locations are closed until further notice as of this post with no reopening announced) – largely on the back of the great atmosphere and the pastrami. However, with Terry Black’s slated to open in Germantown this summer, challengers are a-comin’.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Pastrami – 4.5 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Previously:

Bringle’s Smoking Oasis – Nashville, TN

Lawrence Barbecue is helping make downtown Cary a destination

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Name: Lawrence Barbecue
Date: 4/10/26
Address: 150 E Cedar St, Cary, NC 27511
Order: Sliced brisket, pulled pork, sweet n spicy collards, deviled egg potato salad, red slaw (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: A favorite past time of the Monk family is me forcing them to eat barbecue while on vacation. For Spring Break 2026, we started with Green Street Smoked Meats in Chicago on a Monday before checking out Lawrence Barbecue in Cary on our way to Greenville for a gymnastics meet; they were spared from B’s Barbecue the next morning.

Lawrence Barbecue opened their in Cary location in September 2025, adding to what has become quite the bustling downtown scene. On this Friday night with some beautiful spring weather, after meeting some friends at nearby Bond Brothers Brewing we walked the two blocks to Lawrence Barbecue. Lawrence itself was also quite busy but we managed to to snag a table outside on the patio. Ordering was done via QR code and before not long the food came out.

While I still would have loved to see whole hog on the menu (as was initially the plan for the first location), but Lawrence Barbecue still does a great job with their pork they smoke on the Lang offsets. The pulled pork tasted fresh and flavorful at the dinner hour. The brisket was also another winner in terms of proteins. Next time I’ll try the ribs and the turkey.

Lawrence doesn’t slack on the sides either. The sweet n spicy collards were Mrs. Monk approved and the deviled egg potato salad captured the essence of its namesake. I would take a minor nitpick of the red slaw in that I would have preferred the cabbage to be diced a little more.

On the other hand, I had no nitpicks with the banana pudding, though. It was up there with the best banana puddings I’ve had in recent memory.

Jake Wood and the Lawrence Barbecue gang have consistently knocked it out of the park each time I have checked them out: my original visit to their previous Boxyard RTP location in 2022, the beef fat caramel wings at the Jon G’s Jubilee in 2024, and now my first visit to this downtown Cary location. Highly recommended if you’re looking for legit barbecue in the Triangle.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pulled Pork – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4.5 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Green Street Smoked Meats is Thriving in Chicago’s West Loop Neighborhood

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Name: Green Street Smoked Meats
Date: 4/5/26
Address: 112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607
Order: Pulled pork, sliced brisket, hot link, broccoli salad (link)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: On a Sunday night in Chicago during our spring break trip to the Windy City, after a weekend of Hamilton, museums, and riverboat tours I convinced the family to take an Uber to the West Loop neighborhood to Green Street Smoked Meats. GSSM is a joint I actually went with Mrs. Monk way back in 2016 where we had a decent meal on a cold, rainy day in late April.

This time around with the Monkettes in tow, we ordered just a little more food than we did back in 2016 but stuck to brisket, sausage, and pulled pork. Similar to last time, the brisket and hot link outshone the pulled pork, however just slightly this time around. If I ever make it back I’m going to try and remember to order the pastrami.

The broccoli salad was once again ordered and a hit with the missus and I loved the slightly sweet cornbread.

In 2024, Green Street Smoked Meats was included on Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn’s list of best Texas barbecue outside of Texas. It may have been doing well before but on this Sunday night the place was hopping (particularly the bar), perhaps in small part due to that recognition. It remains a solid destination in the Windy City for those looking for Texas barbecue.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Can a barbecue joint in the middle of New York serve good barbecue?

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Name: Hill Country Barbecue Market
Date: 2/8/26
Address: 30 W 26th St, New York, NY 10010
Order: “Two Meater” platter with brisket (moist), jalapeno cheddar sausage, pork collard greens, and cowboy beans (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: Readers, I was caught a little off guard with my most recent trip to New York for a quick work trip. I didn’t do much research going into the short trip and found myself with an open night for dinner. Hill Country Barbecue Market was a somewhat known quantity by me in name only, having opened in 2007 on the leading edge of the New York barbecue boom, and I had not yet visited yet, instead opting for places like Hometown Bar-B-Que, John Brown’s Smokehouse, and the original Mighty Quinn’s when I had previously visited NYC. In a slight mist, I started my walk from my Midtown hotel down towards 26th.

Entering Hill Country, I was immediately struck by the Texas of it all. To say that it pays homage to the Republic of Texas would be understating it; it really slaps you in the face (positive). Finding a spot at the bar, I couldn’t help but notice the music, the signage, and the general vibe. They really nailed it. I ordered a Shiner and my food and we were off.

Being just me, I opted for the “Two Meater” platter with moist brisket and a jalapeno cheddar sausage. Thankfully, you get a choice of moist or lean, which is usually a good sign. Unfortunately, I may have gotten the less desirable end pieces of the moist part of the brisket with large veins of slightly congealed fat throughout the slices.

The jalapeno cheddar sausages (as well as the other sausages on the menu) are apparently shipped in from the legendary Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas. It had a nice kick and on its own was a solid link that more than made up for the “less than” brisket.

The “Two Meater” comes with two sides as well as cornbread and some pickled veggies. Both the collards and “cowboy beans” were just fine. The cornbread was brushed with honey and was very close to being the best part of the meal.

In response to the original question of this entry, the answer based on Hill Country Barbecue Market is “not really.” I can’t fault them too much for cooking with a gas-assisted smoker in the middle of Manhattan, but the end product especially in terms of the brisket was just subpar on this night. Go to Hill Country for the Texas vibes and maybe a happy hour (the bottom bar was slammed with young professionals), but not necessarily the barbecue.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hogs
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs