LIFE
FOLLOW YOUR NOSE
Terrell McLean, the co-owner and chef at Bubby's BBQ, sprays down racks of ribs on his giant smoker, "Goliath." Inset, the Fly Bird sandwich. PHOTOS BY JACOB WALSH
SMOKESHOW ON SOUTH AVENUE A brick-and-mortar Bubby’s BBQ is open for business in The Wedge BY CHRIS THOMPSON
@CHRONSOFNON
BUBBY’S BBQ
489 SOUTH AVE. THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, NOON TO 5 P.M. OR WHEN SOLD OUT 585-363-5453; BUBBYBBQROC.COM INSTAGRAM: @BUBBYBBQ
T
here’s a hulking new fixture in the South Wedge that you’ll smell before you see, whose aroma of wood fire and seasoned, slow-cooking meats will have barbecue lovers floating Looney Tunes-style to its source in a 40 CITY FEBRUARY 2021
courtyard near the corner of South and Alexander. That would be “Goliath,” an imposing, custom-built smoker whose 500-gallon drum and charcoal black smokestack is the star attraction of Bubby’s BBQ, which opened in December in the storefront that had been John’s Tex Mex. Bubby’s is a venture of co-owner and chef Terrell McLean, who moved to Rochester from Queens in 2017 with his wife Leslie in search of a more
laid-back lifestyle and to be closer to family in western New York. “If it wasn’t for Rochester, I wouldn’t have this,” McLean said as he sprayed down and flipped a rack of ribs smoking on “Goliath.” “You know what I’m saying? This is my home right now.” The bright and cheerful space has a limited weekly menu at the moment, due to the pandemic affecting some availability of supplies, and indoor seating was not available
during my visits. But a full menu drawn up on a chalkboard-painted wall teases what is to come when the health crisis winds down. In the
