Virgil's Real Barbecue
Back in the early 90s, Artie Cutler had already made waves with his Italian restaurants when he decided to chase a different culinary dream. A passion for authentic barbecue pulled him toward Times Square, where he claimed a corner spot at 152 West 44th Street as his new frontier. To get the concept right, Artie and his crew hit the roads through Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Missouri, and Texas—the real heartland of smoke and slow-cooked meat. They weren't interested in shortcuts; every recipe, every technique, every ingredient had to measure up to their standards while keeping prices honest. That same philosophy that built his Italian restaurants from the ground up became the backbone here. Winter crowds hustle past on the streets outside, but stepping through the door means trading the cold for warmth and serious, no-nonsense barbecue done the way it should be.