Dallas BBQ, Times Square: Big Drinks, Bigger Ribs, and a Surprising Origin Story

Hi, I'm Ino.

I came out of The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre into Times Square at night, which is its own kind of sensory event. The neon, the crowd, the noise. I needed to eat something substantial. The Dallas BBQ sign — red flames around blue letters, glowing through the window of a building on 42nd Street — was the first thing that properly caught my eye. I'd seen this place on a Korean travel series set in New York and had filed it away. This seemed like the right moment.

Dallas BBQ on 42nd Street — red flame neon, blue lettering, and a Zagat "NY's Most Popular BBQ Restaurant" sticker on the door.

Not Actually From Dallas

The name suggests Texas. The logo suggests Texas. The longhorn skull mounted above the stone fireplace inside definitely suggests Texas. But Dallas BBQ is a New York institution with no connection to Texas whatsoever. The chain was founded in 1978 by Herbert Wetanson, whose family had previously operated Wetson's — a hamburger chain with over 70 locations across New York City. When that venture wound down, Wetanson opened a barbecue restaurant on the Upper West Side at 72nd Street, named it Dallas BBQ, and built something that now has more than ten locations across Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and New Jersey.

The concept is essentially New York's idea of Texas: enormous portions, loud interiors, Western-themed decor, and drinks served in vessels that seem designed to impress rather than be carried comfortably. It's a fantasy of Texas that New Yorkers invented and New Yorkers have been enthusiastically eating at for nearly fifty years. Zagat named it New York's Most Popular BBQ Restaurant, which is the relevant claim — not that it's the most authentic Texas barbecue, but that it's the most popular BBQ restaurant in one of the most competitive restaurant cities on earth.

Dallas BBQ gained wider recognition among Korean visitors after being featured on a Korean travel series set in New York — the same series that introduced many viewers to Carnegie Diner a few blocks away. The Times Square location draws a consistent mix of Korean tourists alongside the Broadway and Times Square crowd.

The Scale of the Place

The ground floor entrance opens into a lobby with an escalator that takes you up to the main dining level. This is not a standard restaurant layout. The escalator rides past stone walls and a longhorn skull mounted above the arch, and deposits you into a room that takes a moment to fully register. It's very large.

The escalator up to the main dining level — stone walls, longhorn skull, and the Texas theme fully committed.

I arrived in the early evening and found the room about half full, which meant being seated immediately without a wait. The tables are packed in with Manhattan efficiency — the room is Texas-sized but the spacing between seats is New York-sized, which is to say compact. The windows look out over Times Square, and the combination of neon from outside and the warm interior lighting gives the place a particular glow that photographs well and eats well in.

The main dining room — large, Times Square neon through the windows, tables packed in with Manhattan efficiency.

The Buffalo on the Wall

The most striking interior element is on the wall of an inner dining section: a large-scale mural of an American prairie, with a three-dimensional buffalo sculpture protruding from the wall mid-charge. The animal appears to be breaking through the painted landscape. It's an outsized gesture that fits the restaurant's overall approach to everything — if you're going to have Western decor, go fully committed rather than merely suggestive.

A three-dimensional buffalo sculpture breaking through a prairie mural — Dallas BBQ's approach to decor, fully committed.

The Drinks Are Part of the Experience

Dallas BBQ is known for its Texas-Size drinks — oversized goblet glasses containing frozen cocktails or soft drinks in quantities that function more as a statement than a beverage. The Frozen Margarita arrives in a large rounded glass filled to the brim with slushy yellow ice, garnished with a lime wedge. The glass is heavy enough that picking it up with one hand requires some commitment. The drink itself is sweet and cold with a tart citrus edge — not a sophisticated cocktail, but not intended to be. It's the kind of drink that belongs in a room this size.

The Texas-Size Frozen Margarita — slushy, cold, sweet, and served in a glass heavy enough to require two hands.

The regular cola arrives in the same format — the identical oversized goblet, packed with ice, condensation running down the outside. A single serving contains more than most people would drink over an entire meal. Refills at Dallas BBQ are a theoretical concept.

The same goblet format for regular cola — one glass contains more than most people drink over an entire meal.

Dallas BBQ vs Real Texas BBQ — What to Expect

Before the food arrives, it's worth setting expectations correctly. Traditional Texas barbecue — the kind from Austin, Lockhart, or Luling — is built around long, slow smoking over oak or pecan wood for twelve to eighteen hours. The seasoning is minimal: salt, pepper, sometimes a dry rub. The smoke does the work. The result is a deeply flavored, darkly crusted piece of meat that tastes primarily of itself.

Dallas BBQ is not that. The cooking method here is different, and the flavor profile centers on sweet, sticky barbecue sauce applied generously to the surface of the meat. This isn't a criticism — it's a description. For visitors who arrive expecting the spare, smoke-forward style of Texas pit barbecue, the gap will be noticeable. For visitors who want large, satisfying, saucy American ribs in a loud room in the middle of Times Square, Dallas BBQ delivers exactly what it promises.

The Beef Ribs

The Texas Size Beef Ribs arrive on a large oval plate — a half portion, which is the correct order for one or two people. The rib bones are substantial, the size of an adult forearm, coated in a thick layer of dark brown BBQ sauce. The plate is completed by a foil-wrapped baked potato, a square of cornbread, and a small container of sour cream.

Cornbread, for those unfamiliar: it's a dense, slightly sweet bread made from cornmeal, a staple of American Southern cooking. The texture is drier and more crumbly than wheat bread, and it absorbs sauce well, which makes it a practical pairing with ribs.

The beef pulls apart along the grain when you cut it — tender enough that the knife doesn't meet much resistance. The dominant flavor is the sauce: sweet, with a mild smokiness that comes from the sauce itself rather than from the cooking process. The fat content is high, and the overall effect is rich and filling in the way that requires you to stop eating before you want to.

Texas Size Beef Ribs — half portion, thick sauce, baked potato, cornbread. Sauced rather than smoked, rich rather than subtle.

The Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs are pork, cut from where the rib meets the spine — shorter, leaner, and more tender than beef ribs. They're the more forgiving choice for people who find beef ribs too heavy, and they arrive here under a mountain of french fries that covers roughly half the plate before you locate the actual meat underneath.

The pork separates from the bone cleanly, which is the standard test for properly cooked baby backs. The fries are thin-cut, well-crisped, and considerable in quantity. Combined with the ribs and the BBQ sauce, this is a meal that can genuinely feed two adults sharing — the "half rack" designation notwithstanding.

Baby Back Ribs — the fries cover most of the plate before you find the ribs underneath. Half rack, easily enough for two people sharing.

Tip: Always order the Half Rack — the full rack is genuinely enormous and creates serious problems for people who feel compelled to finish what's in front of them. For the beef ribs, look for "Texas Size Beef Ribs" on the menu specifically — it's listed separately from prime rib and other beef items. The Frozen Margarita is available as a Virgin (non-alcoholic) version if you want the scale without the alcohol. The menu is extensive; if you're visiting for the first time, focus on one type of rib rather than trying both.

Practical Tips

Location
Dallas BBQ Times Square is at 241 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. It's one block from the Minskoff Theatre and within easy walking distance of most Times Square hotels and attractions. Subway: Times Square–42nd Street (1/2/3, A/C/E, N/Q/R/W, 7 lines).

Hours
Open daily from 11am to midnight, Friday and Saturday until 1am. No reservations required for most visits — the room is large and walk-ins are typically seated quickly outside of peak weekend dinner hours.

Menu navigation
The menu is large and covers more than just barbecue — burgers, chicken, salads, pasta, and more. For a first visit focused on the BBQ experience, the ribs are the right call. Beef Ribs and Baby Back Ribs are the two main options; both come as Half Rack or Full Rack. Half Rack is the correct choice for one person, or two people who have already had a large lunch.

What it is and isn't
Dallas BBQ is not a destination for people seeking authentic Texas pit barbecue. It is a destination for people who want a large, lively, affordable meal in a convenient location in Times Square, with the kind of portions that confirm every expectation about American restaurant food. On those terms, it performs reliably.