Ferry Street Barbecue — Restaurant in Newark

This place is a hidden gym in Newark. I just started working in the area and was very disappointed with the lunch options in the Gateway Center. It took me a few months to discover Ferry Street. As I strolled down Ferry Street, it was only natural that I started smelling the sweet aromas coming out of Ferry Street Barbecue. It is a little bit chaotic and overwhelming when you first enter, especially if you are there during the lunch rush. There is usually a line of people to the door waiting for their to go orders and waitresses running around serving the customers that are staying. I usually just walk to the back and just ask if I can sit at an open table. You may be standing around for a while if you wait to be seated. This will be the first sign that the service is slow. Now that you have been seated, it is always a good idea lol flag down a waitress to let her know that you are ready, so they can bring a menu. The menu consists of full meals and lunch specials (which are huge). Since I was there for lunch, I was only concerned with the launch specials, you have a choice of beef ribs, pork ribs, chicken and fish, each comes with a bed of yellow rice and a side of French fries all for less than 10 bucks. So far I have tried the beef and pork ribs and the chicken. For taste, my favorite was the beef ribs, they were absolutely delicious. I had the beef the first time I was there and thought it was a enormous value, but that was until I tried the pork rinse which was as equally tasting but the portion size was huge. I had to give two ribs to my coworker because they were huge, so for value, pork ribs are the way to go. My coworker had the chicken and it was decent flame broiled chicken, so that is a good option as well. All lunch specials come with rice and fries which are pretty good, the fries are especially tasty but I soon realized that is way too many carbs to be putting down in one meal so I have started asking for salad instead of the rice. I forgot to mention, they also give you a bowl of bread when you sit down, so carb overload for sure. Once you are done with your meal, or maybe right before you finish, it would be be a good idea to start flagging down with waitress for the check or you may never get it. Once she brings it to you, you can take it to the register and start trying to flag someone down to charge you. Ferry Street Barbecue may have some flaws but the food is not one of them, it is a must try if you are in Newark...

I only came here because a co-worker recommended and said how good is place was so I placed my order over the phone and decided to go on one of the hottest days after 3 p.m. When I walked in there was a long line. I started to turn around and leave but since the people were willing to stand and wait I figured this place must be good. A short older chubby balding guy was at the front counter and I asked him do I have to wait since I called in my order? He acted like he didn't really want to be bothered and just pointed to the line. I said but I called my order in and it should be ready by now. He puts his hands up in the air like whatever so right then and there was disgusted. I should have left right away but since other people were willing to wait I figured I'd give it a chance. While waiting I noticed this guy seem to be very incompetent. He needed to be told what to do spilling oil out of the deep fryer just making a mess and just standing around like he had no idea what to do. It looked like he was just in the way of the other employees working. About a half hour inline me and another customer started talkin and this short balding chubby guy thought I was complaining about him and started saying stuff and I said to him I'm not even talkin about you... you don't even know what's going on in here but your concern about what I'm talkin about? The other employees were smirking about the situation instead of telling him to be quiet and when I got to the the register my food was ready the whole time while I waited on that long line. At this time no one's taking my money I should have just walked out then so after waiting about 45 mins in this place I said is anyone going to take my money or you guys just gonna listen to me and this guy go back and forth? After all that the food wasn't even all that great for what I went thru to get it. I've been to far better Bbq establishments like the Adega Grill down the street and Burnet Bbq in Union NJ. As far as ferry street bbq goes... never...

Update 4/23/23: Ordered chicken and pork ribs in the restaurant and the chicken wasn't as horribly dry as the very first time I tried it here. It was a busy night, so it was likely recently cooked this time. $22 for a huge portion of pork + half chicken, mountains of rice and fries. $4 for a decent sized soup, and $4 for the 1.5L water (this seemed a bit pricy, especially when compared to the price of food, but it's alright since I mostly do takeout).

Update 11/10/22: Only got 2 ribs this time, but not sure if they were bigger and that's why it was 2 instead of 2. Or else, it's shrink-flation. Anyway, still enjoyed the meal a lot. Got a $4 small side salad (lettuce, some tomato, and a lot of onion), which comes with some vinegar. Not bad, but not great. The meat and fries are to die for though!

Ordered beef ribs 1/2 plate to go and it was more than enough for 2 people for $15. I did make some salad at home on top of the meal, to add variety.

The 3 beef ribs were well cooked, smoky and flavorful, could be a bit hard if you don't like biting on meat. The fries were good too. The spicy sauce and the ketchup were good to complete the fries.

Overall giving 5 stars because it's good value for the money and the server was nice and super fast. I had tried the chicken in the past and found that a bit dry for my taste, but it was a long time ago, and I might give it...