(Photo: Katie Burton)
If you thought Donald Trump would only win if hell froze over, you’re probably putting on a North Face jacket right about now and thinking, “So much for eating outdoors ever again!” Okay, that was an awkward segway from election talk, but come on, we gotta focus on the positive. And here’s a welcome development: the folks who operated summertime barbecue spot Pig Beach in Gowanus are soldiering on through the winter with a new pop-up, Pig Beach Burger. They’ve moved into a 1,900-square-foot indoor space adjacent their sprawling patio and are now turning out some enticing sandwiches in addition to the cheeseburgers they were serving during finer weather.
(Photo: Katie Burton)
If you’re not familiar with Pig Beach, it’s operated by some restaurant-world big-ups, including Shane McBride (a Keith McNally longtimer who became one of the city’s premier burgermeisters when he came up with the famed Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern), Ed McFarland (the lobster roll savant behind Ed’s Lobster Bar), and Matt Abdoo (a veteran of Mario Batali’s Del Posto). In addition to their kitchen skillz, these guys also have experience on the competitive barbecue circuit, and they put it to good use when they opened Pig Beach last year.
While Pig Beach Burger will still be serving up ribs, its menu, below, looks a bit more sandwich-heavy, thanks to new items like a Texas-Thailand-inspired pork-beef sausage. Daily specials are literally all over the map: There’s a New Orleans-inspired muffuletta (oh, hell yes), an Italian-style meatball hero, and a good ol’ pastrami on rye.
(Photo: Katie Burton)
Drinks include tap wine, local beer, and cold-weather cocktails like a Hot Toddy and the Ryan Gosling (Gosling’s rum, hot chocolate and Amaretto whipped cream).
Pig Beach Burger Pop Up Menu 2016 by Daniel Maurer on Scribd
Pig Beach, at 460 Union St., Gowanus, is open daily (Monday and Thursday from 3pm-midnight, Friday from 3pm-1am, Saturday from noon-1:00am, and Sunday from noon-11:00pm); 718-737-7181.