Dining Guide

East Side Tavern

This is apparently what the young and hip are looking for in a city barbecue joint: a rustic-industrial space with both craft cocktails and a serious pit. With meat prices that equal and exceed those of Franklin and La Barbecue, is it worth it? On the Top Dog (a.k.a. the three-meat plate), the brisket qualified: extremely tender, deeply charred on the edges, with well-rendered fat. Ditto the coarse-textured house pork sausage, with a little poblano pepper mixed in. Not so the skimpy, way undercooked pork rib. And the barbecue sauce was little more than unadorned ketchup.