Hometown Bar-B-Que

Since September 2013, a former Red Hook warehouse near the end of Van Brunt Street has smelled of oak smoke. Hometown is a counter-service barbecue hall in the Texas manner: you stand in line, order at the counter, and carry your tray to the communal tables inside or the picnic tables outside. On weekend nights there is live music, and the line is part of the evening.

The brisket, seasoned with little more than salt, black pepper and smoke, is the reason to come. Add spare ribs, the jalapeño-cheese sausage, and the Korean-style sticky ribs that show how far the kitchen roams; the giant beef rib appears on weekends. Mac and cheese, cornbread and collards round out the tray, and banana pudding with vanilla wafers is worth leaving room for.