Dallas BBQ (sometimes locally referred as "BBQ's") is a restaurant dining chain in New York City, founded in 1978 by the Wetanson family. The restaurant serves Texas-style

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

ribs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

, chicken and steaks. the chain had ten restaurants around the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

History

In 1936, Carl and Grace Wetanson began a family-run restaurant business ''"Grace’s Luncheonette"'' on 42nd Street,

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

(currently the same address as the Dallas BBQ's 42nd-street flagship restaurant in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

). In the 1960s Carl's son Herbert, later developed

Wetson's Wetson's was an American fast food hamburger chain that existed from 1959 to 1975. At its peak, Wetson's had approximately 70 locations in the greater New York metropolitan area. Wetson's was known for its signature burger, the "Big W", as well a ...

, which became a hamburger chain in New York City in the 1970s serving over 70 restaurants. The family then opened a new restaurant on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

section of Manhattan naming it ''Dallas BBQ'' in 1978. The chain is owned by three generations of Wetansons: Herbert, Greg, and Stuart Wetanson. The restaurant chain offered southern dining in New York City with a location in the East Village section of Manhattan since the 1980s. However this branch closed on New Years Day, 2023, due to the lease agreement not being renewed by the landlord. The closure followed that of their first location on the Upper West Side, on 72nd street between Columbus and Central Park West, which closed after 36 years of operation on December 31, 2014. The dining chain has operated twelve restaurants since 1978, with eleven remaining as of 2024 following the closing of the East Village location, and the opening of a new location in

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; ...

, Brooklyn in February 2024. In 2015, a couple was assaulted in the 23rd street restaurant. In 2017, one diner attacked another. The Dallas BBQ Times Square location was used in the

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

reality television show ''

Impractical Jokers ''Impractical Jokers'' is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, ''Impractical Jokers'' premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderlo ...

'' (season 10, episode 9), where the pranksters led

Sal Vulcano Salvatore Edward Anthony Vulcano (born November 6, 1976) is an American improvisational and stand-up comedian, actor, and producer from the New York City borough of Staten Island. He is a member of The Tenderloins, a comedy troupe consisting of ...

to act as a clumsy

waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...

at the restaurant responding to their relay of directions to be fulfilled in efforts prank the patrons. The East Village location was also a subject of a 2014 comedy spoof ''"Dallas BBQ Club"'' directed by Ben Rimalower, as a parody to the 2013 film ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in ...

''. The mock trailer follows a man who creates his own 'club' as a protest of former New York City Mayors

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

and

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

push to ban large sugary drinks at retail establishments. He illegally sells mock meals of the franchise to the street locals Notable clientele of the restaurant include

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

, Nia Kay,

Melvin Ingram Melvin Ingram III (born April 26, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, earning All-American honors in 2011. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first r ...

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. S ...

, and New York City mayor

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

Wetanson generations

* Carl Wetanson (born 1912 – died 1995) – Founder of Grace's Luncheonette & Dallas BBQ * Grace Wetanson (b.1915 – d.2007) – Founder of Grace's Luncheonette & Dallas BBQ * Hebert Wetanson (b. 1937) – Co-founder of

& current co-owner of Dallas BBQ * Errol Wetanson (b.1940 – d.2019) – Co-owner Wetson's * Liza Wetanson (b.1961) – Previous co-owner of Dallas BBQ * Greg Wetanson (b. 1968) – Current co-owner of Dallas BBQ & Tony's DiNapoli * Stuart Wetanson (b. 1989) – Current co-owner of Dallas BBQ, Tony's DiNapoli & Bistro LeSteak

Locations

The chain as of 2024 has restaurants in

( Chelsea,

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

, Washington Heights);

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

(

Co-op City Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...

Fordham Road Fordham Road is a major thoroughfare in the Bronx, New York City, that runs west-east from the Harlem River to Bronx Park. Fordham Road houses the borough's largest and most diverse shopping district. It geographically separates the geopoli ...

);

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

(

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Rego Park Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include Queen ...

), and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

(

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third-largest central business district in New York City (after Midtown Manhattan, Midtown and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighb ...

, Nostrand Ave/ Flatbush Junction and

/ Gateway Center Mall). Previous restaurants were located on the

(1978–2014) and East Village (1980s – 2022).{{Cite web , last=Sider , first=West , date=2014-12-22 , title=DALLAS BBQ TO CLOSE AFTER 36 YEARS ON 72ND STREET , url=https://www.westsiderag.com/2014/12/22/dallas-bbq-to-close-after-36-years-on-72nd-street , access-date=2023-09-25 , website=West Side Rag , language=en-US

References

External links

Dallas BBQ official website
Regional restaurant chains in the United States Barbecue restaurants in the United States Restaurant chains in the United States Family-owned companies of the United States Steakhouses in New York City Times Square buildings Times Square

History

Menu

Wetanson generations

Locations

References

External links