Barbecue at Butcher Bar, Astoria (Food Memories of 2011, No. 20)

Every day in December, I'm writing a short post about some food memory from 2011, mostly to be more thankful for all the great food and drink I've been lucky enough to have this year.


Boyfriend and I are pretty good about having a weekly date. Sometimes it's a nice dinner out. Sometimes it's a night on the town. Occasionally, we aim high but end up doing something on the scrappy side, but it's comfortable.

Dinner at Butcher Bar, a new barbecue restaurant in Astoria on 30th Ave., was one of the slightly scrappier nights early this month. I like it, though. We shared a sampler of meats: pork belly (which turned out to be American bacon, and not even slab-cut), pulled pork, and brisket. We also had a side of baked beans, which were sweet and sticky, some green beans, coleslaw, and corn muffins.

The restaurant didn't yet have its beer and wine license when we visited, but microbrews are apparently on the way.