Mable's Smokehouse and Banquet Hall

Mable's Smokehouse is a slightly campy but genuinely accomplished Oklahoma-style smokehouse in Williamsburg, and if you can't appreciate its clear homage to a certain type of roadside joint, you're probably a sourpuss. It's a fun departure, a little portal to a Country Bears version of the heartland where people genuinely aren't creepy when they call you sugah or darlin'. The place was a labor of Love (literally): owners Jeff Lutonsky and Meghan Love were two white-collar-ish former New York City professionals before any of this began. Lutonsky, recalling recipes from his Oklahoma youth, started hosting backyard barbecues that grew bigger and rowdier over time, generating enough excitement among friends that the couple eventually decided to take the whole thing full-time. The rest, as they say, is history, and more than a decade later Mable's is still slinging it out near the Brooklyn Brewery.

Oklahoma barbecue sits somewhere between Texas and Kansas City style, and Mable's plays that middle ground well. The meats are smoked over oak, the sauces tend less sweet, and the brisket in particular is a standout, with a sturdy, dark bark and a nice smoke ring. It's also great to see kielbasa on the menu; Oklahoma joints traditionally offer fried bologna, but swapping in a sturdier sausage is a smart, welcome upgrade that shows Mabel’s understands its audience.

Don’t leave without eating a Frito Pie. If you've never had the pleasure, this is a ridiculous, wonderful dish in which a bag of Fritos corn chips gets sliced open and invested with chili. It's crunchy, spicy, savory, salty. You're going to eat it, then you're going to crave it for weeks afterward.

Mabel's will disarm you with charm before it impresses you with quality. The dogs are a little goofball, but that's part of the fun. If you want serious, flavorful barbecue that's not drowning in sugary sauce, this is a great choice.