Brooklyn Spots That'll Make You Forget You're Not in Austin

Bill Durney's James Beard–nominated Red Hook smokehouse turning out post-oak Central-Texas brisket, lamb belly banh mi, and live country music on weekends — the closest thing NYC has to a Lockhart pilgrimage.

Dry-rubbed, sold-by-the-pound smoked meats served on metal trays in a former auto-body garage with a 50-tap whiskey list — picnic-table communal seating that feels lifted out of Lockhart.

An outdoor backyard-style BBQ joint with Astroturf, picnic tables, and pit-smoked everything — the closest a Brooklyn warehouse parking lot gets to a Texas county-fair tailgate.

Williamsburg's full-tilt honky-tonk — sawdust on the floor, Willie Nelson on the wall, frozen Willie's-Way coffee cocktail in your hand, and live country bands every night with no cover.

A 130-year-old longshoremen's saloon a block from the Red Hook waterfront with Saturday-night bluegrass jams and a back room older than most of Manhattan — pure Gulf-coast-meets-cobblestones magic.

A 23,000-sq-ft bowling-alley-meets-music-venue with Blue Ribbon Southern fried chicken, weekly bluegrass and country bookings, and the same beer-bucket-and-boots energy as a Sixth Street venue in Austin.

Texas-Carolina hybrid pit BBQ from former Smorgasburg pop-up — oak-smoked brisket, brontosaurus rib, and burnt-end stuffed jalapeños in a casual order-at-the-counter setup.