Virgil’s Real Barbecue

Virgils is absolutely delicious! Per a recommendation — I selected a half order of hush puppies ($ 5.95), a side of cole slaw and collard greens, $ 6.95 respectively. I was hungry and chose to eat a la carte but I wasn’t quite ready for a big piece of meat — chicken or otherwise. Next time I will get a half rack of baby back ribs. My total was $ 21.61. I also ordered a ginger beer and dined at the bar. This location is casual and loud but quite tasty.

We were meeting relatives here and we didn’t pick the place or the selection of appetizers. The relatives had already arrived and ordered some appetizers even before our on-​time arrival. They ordered the beer battered onion rings and the stuffed jalapeño pepper poppers. The onions rings were okay, nothing special. The poppers were pretty good. I enjoyed these. For my main meal I ordered the Pulled BBQ chicken sandwich. This was not good at all. The chicken was dry bordering on burned. The worst though was the BBQ sauce. I am a lover of BBQ sauce. In fact when I have a BBQ sandwich, it more like — would you like some sandwich with that sauce. I like to smother both the meat and the bread in the sauce. Two problems here, the sauce tasted bad (not the sweet kind, not the spicy kind, not the smokey kind, I like them all) and the meat was so dry no amount of sauce could make it better.
We get to NYC so infrequently and NYC has so many outstanding food options that I feel sad that we wasted one of our meals here.

This is not even close to real bbq. This is the Applebee’s of bbq. The ribs were tough and the rest was just ok. Service was fine. If you’re looking for real bbq, please go somewhere else.

NYC and BBQ typically don’t mix. It’s not the first thing you think of when you think of the city’s amazing food scene.
So what am I doing a BBQ joint… in touristy Times Square?
Well, I love me some ‘cue, no matter where it is. After all, I live in LA, so we’re not much better at BBQ than NYC is.
Virgil’s was recommended me by a friend who currently lives in NYC, but like me, used to live in the South. So he definitely knows a few things about barbecue, and I can (hopefully) trust his recommendation.
When you walk into Virgil’s, you definitely see a museum of barbecue. There’s menus and flyers from other, more famous, BBQ spots down south. I sat under a poster from one of my personal faves, Corky’s in Memphis. The placemat is map of the South and Midwest showing all the BBQ spots that were their inspiration. That’s nice but I’m kind of receiving the message that «we love these spots… but don’t expect ours to be anywhere near as good as this». So I’m already getting a little suspect.
The two meat platter I receive is huge. In a porky mood, I get the Pulled Pork and the Ribs. Both are served dry, no sauce. Memphis style with a rub. The ribs are very tender, but not baby backs. They’re more like traditional spare ribs but unlike the ones I had a Maple Block Meat Co in LA a couple of weeks earlier, they’re not chewy. The pulled pork? Not one of their better offerings. Serving it dry was a mistake as it really needed sauce. Fortunately, they offer both a regular and spicy sauce, as well as a hot sauce, under their own bottles. Yea, they do bottle and sell their sauces. The spicy was a bit too much and I like spicy! Stick with the mild.
The sides? Had the beans which was very good with pieces of pork in the beans. The Mac and Cheese had that nice stringy cheese I like in a restaurant quality M&C, but it also felt like It had been sitting around for awhile on a heat lamp. Wasn’t that hit either. Cornbread muffin was a nice touch but on the dry side. Didn’t even finish it.
Nice touch from the bar, while not really a beer bar, they do have about a dozen taps and they do offer a beer flight of three choices. Great for someone who wanted to try as any regional choices as possible, but could still walk back to the hotel.
For New York City, this is four star ‘cue. If this was placed in Memphis or KC, it would be more middle of the road three star. Still, if you live or work in Manhattan and crave ‘cue, you can’t go too wrong at Virgil’s.

I’ve visited New York City many times but it always feels like the first time. One thing that I adore of New York is the vibrant vibes of the city where tourist and locals collides. The city itself gives me chills and excitement but one thing that makes me more excited is finding a new place to eat. Its always a joy when find an expected place that blows your mind.
I was in town for holiday with my partner and we are always up to searching for a delightful place. I love formal fine dining and gourmet type seating but I enjoyed more a family restaurant. I just love the idea of home cooked meal. Frankly speaking, its almost impossible to find a sumptous barbeque in the main area of the city. Barbeque is probably one of my favourite food specially when its well properly done.
My partner and I, was looking for a barbeque restaurant. I read so much about Virgil’s and its pretty much inviting. I’m no expert but I exactly know what’s taste good. I was excited and in fact we invited one of our friend to join with us for dinner. I’ve set my mind not to expect anything but to enjoy the night. Coming in to the restaurant, we we’re greeted with one of the staff. I thought it was a good start. Luckily, we don’t have to wait for the table so we directly seated. The entire restaurant looks amazing. I super like the family seating; its a two storey restaurant but everything organized. The picture in the wall are creatively well done. The small bar located at right side entrance of the restaurant was definitely a great feature of the entire place.
Let’s talk about the food, I thought the barbeque itself was incredibly delicious. The ribs were perfectly cooked, it pulled off the bones. The pulled pork was tender and juicy. Overall, the barbeque was totally a Rockstar.
I hate to say as much as I enjoyed the food I was extremely disappointed with the customer service. I think the only person who greeted us was front desk. The server was horrible. I will say it again. HORRIBLE!!!
THIS REVIEW IS GOES TO BARBEQUE ALONE*

Got pulled into this tourist trap via a work related lunch after a meeting in midtown. The cheese grits were soupy, and the greens were too vinegary. The brisket is NOT real Texan brisket, but it will suffice when you’re fiending for the real thing and can’t get on a plane to Austin. I became ill 20 minutes later. I know it was the greens and the «grits».

In a city that never sleeps and has people from all over the world, a restaurant has to be on their game if they want to succeed. A place live Virgil’s wouldn’t be packed they way they are if they didn’t know what they’re doing. Especially considering that they serve superb southern BBQ in New York City.
My friend and I came across Virgil’s on our way out for a fun evening in downtown. Being from Norfolk, we are always on the lookout for quality BBQ and decided to give this spot a shot. Virgil’s did not disappoint. They were turning tables quickly and the service was excellent.
I decided in the three meat combo with ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. All three could have come out of a classic southern BBQ joint instead of a restaurant in New York City. The ribs fell off the bone, the brisket was smoky and tender, and the pulled pork was juicy. I also enjoyed the house sauce. It was vinegar based and had a good spice.
Our server was right on the mark and kept everything moving. I’d come back to Virgil’s in a heartbeat if I’m back in NYC.

My boyfriend and I wanted to get dinner after a Broadway play, as we’re not often in Tome Square (too touristy and CROWDED). Went to Carmine’s but they were booked up and suggested we come here Bc there weren’t waits for parties of 2.
Well we did wait, but only for 5 min. They put us upstairs and we both got the BBQ pulled chicken sandwich, as well as they corn bread. Corn bread was OK– just didn’t taste as good as other BBQ places we’ve been to like Blue Smoke. The sand which… TERRIBLE. Flavorless, and I actually only had a few bites Bc it just wasn’t worth the calories. Imagine taking normal BBQ sauce and watering it down… That’s what it tastes like. My boyfriend completely agreed with me.
It’s hard to get this wrong guys, c’mom.

Very good service portions were good. I had the bbq chicken wings and the 3 platter meal. The platter had pulled pork, beef brisket, and ribs.
The wings were surprisingly spicy but it didn’t bother me.
The pork over all was tender and an abundance of bbq sauce was on it, but the brisket was quite the opposite. My opinion is quite neutral on the ribs, they were neither exceptional nor vile more average.
⁸⁄₁₀ would eat here again.

The food here is sooo good!!! My fiancé and I shared the Pick Three. The portions are HUGE! There’s no way I could have finished an entrée by myself. The mac and cheese was so delicious!!!
I would have given Virgil’s 5 stars, but two things didn’t go well.
1. If you are showing up in the last 1 – 2 hours before closing, do not go. We showed up about an hour before closing, and we could tell that our food wasn’t fresh. Our food came out extremely fast, and the mac and cheese was lukewarm. The food was still really good but if you want the best experience, pick a better time.
2. The service was less than mediocre. Our server only spoke to us once between taking our order and giving us our check (which we had to ask for). Our cups ran empty most of the time, and other servers were filling them up. He was nice, just not attentive.
Other than those two things, the place was great! I wouldn’t mind going back for a big plate of mac and cheese! Mmmmm!!!

The corn bread here is off the charts amazing. I always specifically order a side order because it is just that delicious. I’ve been here twice so far, and will definitely return.
Simply put, the food is incredible, reasonably priced (especially for the amount of food you get), there are decent happy hour specials, and the service is on point. They even give you warm towels at the end of the meal to wash your hands and face with, which you definitely need!
Both the bbq chicken and bbq pulled pork were cooked to perfection. The pulled pork was definitely slow cooked and packed with flavor. This also comes with french fries which were great as well! Not too fried and not too mushy, a perfect combo.
The second time I went was on a busy Friday night and we had to wait about 45 minutes to get a table, but the hostess gave us an accurate estimation and seated us when it was our turn. The place gets very crowded at dinnertime on a weekend so try to make reservations if you know you’ll be in the area!

Virgil’s is great. I came here with my parents the other night on our way to see the Christmas tree and engage in some city Christmas festivities. It’s in a great area (tourist heavy, so if you’re not into that, stay away). The portions are big, the service is great, and for the food that you get, the prices are not that bad for the area. All the main dinner entrees come with cornbread and two sides. Their mac and cheese and cornbread are incredible. They’ve got a great menu — and their cobbler of the night (apple blueberry) was amazing.

The food was excellent, my friends and I split the «Pick Three» BBQ Combo, picking the Pork spare ribs, the trash ribs, and the Carolina pulled pork with sides of Mac and Cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. While our food was scrumptious, our service was lacking. Our server was on her phone constantly, she ignored our table once we received our food, never even checking up on us. Our friend that joined us after we got our food never got to order, despite our best efforts to get her attention to come over. It was very disappointing that other tables had such attentive servers while ours could not be bothered to look up from Social Media apps long enough to notice we had no water and one of us had no food.

Ok so I come from Texas where we are big on BBQ so I won’t be comparing.
I ordered a 3 meat combo. Chicken, ribs, and brisket with sides of Mac and cheese and baked beans.
Chicken– was pretty good but could’ve been more tender.
Ribs– no TASTE at all. I couldn’t even taste the rub BUT it was tender.
Brisket– I ordered moist brisket and they brought out lean. In my opinion lean brisket is the same everywhere. The taste is in the fat.
The sides were awesome.
We also ordered a smoked turkey club which was really good (according to my girlfriend).
The smoked turkey was cold which she prefers so the veggies won’t get soggy. Can really taste the smoke.
Service was really great.

*** Large portions, Extremely filling, Great service ***
Make a reservation for this place because it was packed when my friend and I arrived! The food is very delicious and the portions are HUGE. You definitely get your money’s worth and I was left with a filled and happy stomach. I would recommend this place if you’re in the area and craving some Southern delight!

A note to my friend who told me Virgil’s was a «must do» in NYC: I am forever in your debt. My fully belly, BBQ covered fingers, and satisfied being thank you.
My guilty pleasure: BBQ and french fries. I was told the «Trainwreck fries» were top notch. And everything about them — from the crunchy fries themselves, to the crispy bacon and hot-​smokin’ jalapenos and the melted cheese to the ranch dressing made for the perfect concoction. Note: this dish is not for the faint of heart, all diet considerations must not be discarded to fully appreciate this dish.
I followed this dish with the pulled pork — topped with house made BBQ and a sesame bun.
And no indoor (or backyard) BBQ is complete without fresh tea (sweet or unsweet).

I went Virgil’s right before a Broadway play. At the time i went, around lunch, it had a good amount of people. As soon as the hostess saw us were quickly seated and our server quickly took our order. In addition to food we did place several drink orders that in my opinion took a little too long to come out. When our food came out, everything looked great. The BBQ and the other dishes were very good. Being that is is the theater district i was expecting the food to be ok and the prices to be high. Virgil’s Real Barbecue surprised me with good food and very generous portion sizes with reasonable prices. One great thing about Virgil’s is that they give you a towel as a napkin which I think is a brilliant idea for a BBQ restaurant. I would definitely recommend Virgil’s Real Barbecue to anyone in the area.
I would rate Virgil’s Real Barbecue as follows: Food (BBQ only) is 4 stars, Atmosphere is 4 stars, Price is 5 stars, and the Service is 3 stars
The views expressed are of my own and are my true personal experience at this establishment. My personal experience may not reflect this actual establishment, their quality or someone else’s experience at the establishment.

It’s a damn shame.
All in all the food has been okay. Somtimes they are inspired and can whip out a fairly tasty brisket. Other times they can offer you a rack of ribs that are bone dry. One thing that’s been fairly consistent has been their INCONSISTENT delivery service.
Sometimes the food is fairly slow when you are dining in. But the delivery service for me has been occasionally quick but for the most part — slow as shit. There has several times when the food has taken 90 minutes or more to get to my place. On three instances they totally screwed up my order and I had to wait a long time for them to send the right order in. Most of the time the folks on the phone are not helpful, even when they are responsible for a mistake, or have delivery guys who take forever and drop off cold food to my door.
I’ve eaten/​ordered here for years, but after their latest inept effort to get food out in a timely manner, I am done. It’s too bad my patience for this inconsistent place is ultimately never rewarded.
Good job fucking up a long time customer, but you always have tourists to make up the difference.

Yes this place last night deserved 5 stars because their main concern was customer satisfaction. I watched the manager and all the wait staff constantly ask the tables around us and engaging in conversation with everyone. Friday around 6:00 the place was busy but table for 2 they got us in very quickly. We sat in the upstairs dinning room area. Within a couple minutes our server Mitchell was at our table. I was so happy they have a gluten free menu and Mitchell was knowledgeable about it, as that is always a good sign. We put our drink orders in and Mine was a Tito’s dirty martini. Mitchell returned and said because they had just switched the olives they were using they were waiting for a supply and he apologized they didn’t have any right this minute. It wasn’t a big deal to me as that is my drink so I just ordered a diet coke. About 15 minutes later Mitchell showed with a dirty martini on the house! The manager sent someone to Carmine’s their sister restaurant down the street to get olives for my dirty… I was blown away! Plus on the house, which wasn’t necessary at all. The manager even came over to make sure the martini was a good one. It was made so perfect and I have to say was the best, it wasn’t just the martini it was the kindness shown by everyone at Virgil’s. Wow over and beyond!
So onto the food… good prices, HUGE portions so make sure you are hungry. The rack of ribs (gluten free BBQ sauce) is bigger than the average restaurant. Perfectly made and so amazingly tender. My friend and I split the ribs and a large house salad. Came with two sides so we each picked one. The dirty rice (gluten free) is a perfect compliment to the ribs, thank you Mitchell for the recommendation. My friend had the fries. We were too filled to try the dessert so next time for that.
Job well done to all the managers and staff at Virgil’s.

I had their pulled chicken sandwich, pretty big sized. It didn’t have enough BBQ sauce in my
Opinion so if you’re ordering out be sure to ask for extra sauce on the side. The honey mild sauce they keep on tables matches much better in my opinion. I would go here again, matter of fact, I already did :)

Muy rico mi sandwich de brisket. El servicio no tan bueno. Pero la comida buena. Recuerdo hace unos cuantos años que vine por primera vez en invierno en medio de una nevada.

Très sympa la viande est fumé et très tendre le service au top et la note n est pas sale du tout

Vraiment excellent! Les meilleures ailes de poulet que j’ai mangé de ma vie! Nous allions ensuite voir une pièce sur Broadway alors l’emplacement dans times squares était parfait. Service rapide sans nous presser. Nous avons pris une entrée d’ailes de poulet avec une assiette combo de 3 viandes. Nous en avons eu amplement pour 2. Nous avons préférer les ailes et la cuisse de poulet. J’ai bien aimé les ribs qui ont une marinade sèche mais mon conjoint moins. Il a préférée le brisket de boeuf que moi j’ai moins aimé. Prochain voyage à New York, j’y retourne c’est sur!

Bön BBQ mais la viande est trop «molle» et la marinade des ribbs un peu légère. Sinon, la grillade de bœuf est fumée et c’est une expérience sympa. A faire !

Totalmente recomendable. El típico BBQ estilo sureño en Nueva York. Todo el menú se te antoja y lo que decidas comer es riquísimo. Tengan cuidado con las porciones pues son bastas. De los sides recomiendo el puré de papá, probé la ensalada de col pero no me gustó tanto.
En general es una opción buena para cuando tienes mucha hambre, de lo contrario abstenerse de entrar. Antes de que se me olvide no dejen de probar los nachos, no son los típicos nachos mexicanos con guacamole ¡No Señor! Pruébenlos, no se arrepentirán.

Nous sommes venu parceque nous avions vu quelques jours plus tot, lors d’une fête de la times square alliance (une fête quartier) virgils etbles gens se regaler de leurs ribs
Nous y allons commandant 2 specialite: ribs classique rt bibs sauce barbecue. Les accompagnemts sont a choisir qdans une longue liste et vous avez d’office un cornbread
En gout c pas mal, bien cuit et fondant. En quantité c énorme une assiette pour 2 suffit.
Ct sympa 1 fois. C a faire.

À quelques mètres seulement de Times Square (on est touriste ou on l’est pas… j’avoue avoir cédé à la facilité de dîner systématiquement dans un périmètre réduit autour de mon hôtel et du quartier des théâtres), un restaurant de barbecue attend les gros appétits.
La spécialité de Virgil’s Real Barbecue: le style «Memphis», l’une des quatre grandes tendances de la viande cuisinée au barbecue aux USA, définie comme un ensemble de préparations mettant à l’honneur les sandwichs de viande de porc hachée et les côtes de porc.
Mais sur la carte, il y en a pour tous (poitrine de bœuf à la texane, pulled pork à la carolinienne, poulet barbecue…), proposé dans des portions gargantuesques: les «combos» vous proposent de choisir deux ou trois plats de viandes, et les accompagner des deux préparations de votre choix (attention, que du lourd: biscuits au babeurre, pain de maïs, purée de pommes de terre et sauce, Mac & cheese, haricots en sauce, salade de pomme de terre, chou vert au jarret, coleslaw, betteraves marinées ou riz à la noix de pécan).
Il faudra s’armer de courage pour venir à bout d’une de ces assiettes démesurées. Le couvert dressé sur la table donne d’ailleurs une indication quant à la tâche qui nous attend: couteaux et fourchettes né sont pas accompagnés d’une serviette de table mais… d’une serviette éponge ! On mange donc principalement avec les mains, le festin a tout du repas de cro-​magnon.
Malgré l’absence totale de raffinement, c’est bon (voire très bon — mais encore une fois, il doit exister ailleurs dans Manhattan des restaus plus modestes et moins destinés au touriste qui propose la même cuisine avec plus d’authenticité et de qualité). On en a en outré clairement pour son argent.
Le style «Memphis» né m’aura pour autant pas totalement convaincu: la viande, marbrée suite à ses 4 fumages successifs au bois de caryer (Hickory en anglais), prend une saveur particulière à laquelle je préfère les barbecues non-​fumés.

Le sud au cœur de Manhattan! Nous pensions que les plats étaient assez chers et finalement le serveur nous a bien conseillé en nous disant qu’avec un plat on pouvait manger à deux dessus! Véridique car nous n’avons même pas pu tout finir, c’était délicieux, ça donne envié d’aller en Louisiane! Les gigantesques salades sont également très bonnes.

Ein super klassisches Steakhouse — must have hier sind Burger und natürlich Spareribs.
Es ist besser, vorher zu reservieren — hier ist es immer voll.
Nach dem Essen sollte man sich eine Flasche mit Virgils Barbecue-​Souce mitnehmen, damit schmeckt auch Wochen danach noch daheim das Fleisch wie im Virgils Babecue!

YYYYIIIII HAAAAHHH!!! Parcourez l’ouest américain et son esprit western en plein coeur de New York. Le restaurant est plongé dans une ambiance tamisée où il fait bon partager entre amis un petit repas digne de la conquête de l’ouest. En effet, Virgil’s barbecue vous propose de nombreux plats qui rappelle beaucoup plus l’Arizona ou le Texas que la vie citadine des New Yorkais. La viande est excellente et j’avouerais que j’ai un petit faible pour leur hamburger: Chili cheddar burger ! Bref, vous vous en tirerez avec une note tout à fait correcte en ayant beaucoup mangé et bu (et oui la boisson est servie à volonté !)