The Cornwall Local and The News of the Highlands continue their monthly series on food and beverage establishments in the area.
Name of establishment:
Brothers Barbecue
Date opened:
Our first restaurant, that was March 25, 2008. We had a fire in Aug. 2010, so we re-opened on Sept. 27, 2012.
Owner:
Gavin, Jamie, and Chris Farella
Why did you get into the restaurant business?
Me (Chris) and my brothers have always had a passion for food. We’re from Cornwall and we always used to go down south, to North Carolina, and eat all this great barbecue and southern food – sweet tea, cornbread. We would come back to New York and we could never find that stuff. That was probably the main motivation for us.
How did you get your start?
My two older brothers they were the ones who wanted to go forward and open a small restaurant. I was in college at the time. They took the initial steps of opening the first Brothers Barbecue which was basically a shack compared to what we have now. I was in Atlanta, Georgia and decided to take off a semester to come home and help them through that process. Now we have 40 employees, full time and part time. Back then it was just us three. We washed dishes, we prepped, we served customers, we cleaned up. My help was definitely needed. I came home and I never went back to school. We’ve always worked in food. My brothers worked for local catering companies and a few franchise restaurants – serving and doing some prep – but none of us have had any formal training. When we opened up, it was like shooting in the dark a little bit. We grew with the process. We saw what people liked. We knew what we liked. Things came together.
Do you own any other restaurants?
We’re opening another restaurant in Ramsey, New Jersey which will be opening April 1.
How did the restaurant get its name?
Very simply, there are three brothers running it and we wanted to do barbecue. The name stuck – Brothers Barbecue. That was probably the easiest decision out of all the decisions we had to make.
What type of food do you serve?
Barbecue, southern cuisine. We have southern specials like fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and fried shrimp. A lot of our sides are soul food based – macaroni and cheese, candied yams. We do barbecue with soul food mixed in.
What are popular items on your menu?
Our pulled pork is probably the most popular item we have. The most ordered dish is a two-meat combo. They usually get pulled pork and ribs or pulled pork and brisket. The most popular side, hands down, is the mac and cheese. The candied yams is a hidden gem. People go crazy over the candied yams.
What is your signature?
Our chopped barbecue. That’s really what we grew up eating in North Carolina. It’s not for everybody. It’s pulled pork chopped up with Eastern Carolina spicy vinegar sauce. A lot of people prefer pulled pork because it’s sweeter and better for everybody’s palate.
Why should visitors to the Hudson Valley stop at your restaurant?
We’re a family business. We do everything fresh. You come into the Hudson Valley, there’s this renaissance of food that’s happening right now. We were one of the ones at the forefront of it. We’ve been doing fresh food for years. We’ve been constantly growing because we have this authenticity about us where it’s always been about the food since day one. This is our home. Come to our house, you’re going to eat good.
Location:
2402 Route 32, New Windsor
Hours:
11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Tuesday through Thursday); 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Friday and Saturday); noon to 8 p.m. (Sunday).
Phone number:
845-534-4227
