Townline BBQ — Restaurant in Town of Southampton

I wish we had the chance to try the food but right out of the gate, our FIRST TIME visit was uninviting & very unwelcoming. Our family was vacationing in Montauk for the week & after a rainy Sunday afternoon, my family & I decided to head out to Riverhead outlets to make use of the rainy day. Between Riverhead & Montauk, they are DOZENS of places we could have stopped to eat but we decided on eating at Townline BBQ. Our family was so looking forward to enjoying a nice meal out (for once). As a family of 5, we have a 12 year old, a 6 year old & a 4 year old. We get there around 7:30 & sure enough my 4 year old falls asleep on the car ride there. I go inside first just to make sure the place could accommodate us. I walk in & only 2 people were sitting in the dining area & I was relieved my family could finally sit down to eat. I approach the counter with my mask on & like anyone with a cloth mask on, the sound is muffled, so to sound more clearly I pull the mask out (not down) as to make my question more clearly heard. Just as I’m asking my question, the girl w/ the purple hair interrupts and says “Your nose needs to be covered!” I abide but found it very strange she demanded very rudely and abruptly. I ignored it the first time because my entire family was sitting in the car starving so I went outside to grab them. Now we all walk in & currently the only people in the dine-in area was the same couple & now 2 gentlemen were ordering in front of us. We all walk in & sit in the dining area. Our 4 year old is asleep in my husbands arms. I’m standing looking at the menu from the dining area & I ask my husband what he wants. He stands up (still carrying our sleeping 4 year old) & looks at the menu with me in the dining area. After 5 months of social distancing we are aware what 6 feet from anyone around us looks like. We are then rudely told by the girl w/ the purple hair that we could not stand there & that we had to stand in the hall over the “social distancing” sticker. We move over towards the hall but at that point we could no longer see the entire menu & she insisted that we keep moving over until we were over the placement sticker. Frankly, slightly annoyed at this point we wait to get up to the counter to read the menu. Just as we get to the counter to order, my husband’s mask slightly falls because he’s carrying our 30+ pound 4 year old & he can’t adjust his mask right away & the girl with the purple hair rudely says again “you need to cover your nose!” I look over at my husband & his mask is covering his mouth & nose but because there was a slight gap where she could see the tip of his nose (not even his nostrils) she was rudely demanding his mask needed to be completely up to the brim of his nose or else she would not take our order. At that point we had enough of being dictated to & called out to our 12 & 6 year old that were still sitting in the dining area. We did not make a scene and just calmly left. Now mind you, between the dining area & the ordering counter there are less than 10ft. Eating inside without a mask is OK but ordering with a mask on is dangerous (counter also had plexiglass barriers)? Also, the social distance stickers that are placed on the floor upon entry are directly adjacent to a row of dine in eating booths (with wide open air gaps cut in the walls). The distance between the cutouts in the walls and seating booths is far less than 6 feet (about 2 feet by my estimation). You would think that this would be a concern for someone that takes safety so seriously. The reality is our experience had nothing to do with Covid or safety. From the outset this female employee did not want to serve our family. Could it be that she has a bias against families with children? Her behavior was extraordinarily rude and unprofessional (not a great fit for the restaurant industry). I would advise anyone with a family to steer clear of this establishment. There are plenty of other restaurants in this area that are happy to accommodate families. Choose wisely & spend your money at these...

Today we took my daughter's friend and the rest of the family out to Montauk just to walk around. We do this a couple of times a year.

Montauk was having their music festival which was kind of awesome but unfortunately they had the giant rock wall closed so you couldn't walk around the lighthouse and get to that little secluded beach. On the way home obviously everybody was hungry so we have been wanting to go to town line barbecue forever.

The last time we went in there my son was about six or seven years old. He cried because they didn't have chicken tenders so we didn't get to stay and I've hated the boy ever since just kidding.

They have a full bar which was run by the greatest bartender. He takes pride in the drinks he makes and it was definitely evident in the margarita my wife had. I had a founders watermelon beer. I assure you this is not my typical type of beer but it was a hot day and I just wanted something lighter.

Now he eats like a man so I'm kind of happy.

We ordered the family meal which consists of a full rack of St Louis ribs a ton of smoke chicken and I swear a full cornbread.

Exactly how I like a little bit of a bite to them without falling off the bone. They are not soft but have a dry rub on them which is a little spicy but nothing even remotely over the top. There is barbecue sauce on the table but I enjoyed them the way they were. It did come with a side of beans that I think were the best beans I've ever eaten.

I didn't try the chicken because I was enjoying the ribs but the rest of the family said it was great.

We added a quarter of a pound of brisket and I love that they ask you if you want it dry wet or mixed. Dry means no fat wet means lots of fat. We got it wet because there's something about the fat that just adds so much flavor. My daughter's friend did not like it but I was proud of her for trying it lol.

We also added roasted cauliflower. I love the cauliflower but no one else really did.

As a surprise my daughter bought me banana pudding because she knows it's my absolute favorite. With huge chunks of banana and Course nilla wafers it had a great flavor.

On the way out Jillian even offered to show me the smoker. This thing is a monster smoker that rotates and is cooler than what I expected a smoker today. She was a delight to talk to and definitely somebody I will be looking for next time I go.

Everybody in the world knows this place but if you don't check them out next time you're coming back it's right on 27 and townline road in like...

I've passed Townline BBQ many times on my way out to Montauk and finally decided to stop there for lunch today with my husband. This restaurant is not table service. No servers. Order your food at the counter and the cashier gives you a buzzer to let you know when you're food is ready. Totally ok with us. The cashier was friendly and answered any questions we had about the menu. We both ordered the 2 meat 2 sides combo plate for $16.99. I ordered the 1/4 chicken and sliced brisket with fried mac and cheese and collard greens. You can have the brisket moist or lean. I went with moist. Hubby ordered pulled chicken and sliced moist brisket with baked beans and fries. While waiting for our food, we went to the bar and ordered two draft beers. Bartender (owner?) gave a sample of a couple different beers and beer was ICE COLD! I haven't had draft beer that cold in a long time. It was perfect. We were given a basket of popcorn seasoned with Old Bay. Amazing!! We couldn't finish it but brought it home. We were NOT going to throw it out. Food was ready pretty quick. Everything was absolutely delicious. The brisket was super flavorful and definitely moist. Collard greens had the perfect amount of vinegar. Fried mac and cheese was fried well done which I prefer and the mac and cheese was cheesy, not dry. My husband is a very picky eater and almost never finishes his food no matter what it is. He ate everything on his plate! And the portions were generous. So much food. I couldn't finish my chicken so I brought it home and my son ate it. Staff was super friendly. Atmosphere laid back and not pretentious like you'd encounter in most places in the Hamptons. We will definitely...