Indulge This Binge!
Some of us binge on chocolate, some on harder stuff, but pigging out on BBQ has become a trendy American obsession. Owners Mark and Alicia Bryson recognized that when they opened Binge BBQ on Memorial Day this year. Once you taste their chopped brisket or pork shoulder sandwiches (with pickles, their own BBQ sauce and coleslaw, on a potato roll), you’ll understand the name, and you may want to eat your way through the menu. That includes hot pastrami, fried chicken and char siu pork belly sandwiches, plus smoked meats, sausage (homemade) and ribs by the pound. The house-cut ruffled potato chips are primo, but it’s the mac ‘n’ cheese croquettes that will make you a die-hard fan.
Binge’s late-night menu (Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 pm—2 am) offers the pork shoulder, fried chicken and chopped brisket sandwiches, along with the croquettes and a “Frito pie”: corn chips topped with short rib chili, cheddar, sour cream and jalapenos.
Native Rhode Islander Mark’s first restaurant experience was at Newport’s Clark Cooke House, and in 2001 he helped open Spark, on Broadway. After stints in Boston, Big Sur and the New York Yacht Club (in Newport), he’s back where he started: in the former Spark space, with rustic tables and walls and a half-dozen bookshelves that hold three-dozen books on all things related to smoked meats and their accompaniments.
Though Mark had no previous BBQ background, he’d always incorporated charcuterie and smoked meats in his menus. For Binge, he purchased a 400-pound capacity wood-fired “Little Red Smokehouse” made in Mesquite, Texas. “I like fire,” Mark says, with a grin. “Fire is where it’s at.”
12 Broadway, Newport. 401.619.3799; BingeBBQRI.com
