Fans of barbecue all know the classic places to go for an authentic experience. Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, Carolina, and Wayne, NJ.
Wait – Wayne?
Yes, Wayne.
Gary & Meg’s Chicken & Ribs has the potential to make NJ the next big barbecue hotspot.
I’m not kidding.
What started as a backyard test quickly moved into a storefront. After Gary Falzarano left his job building roads, he turned his attention to something he loved. “I told Meg that I wanted to go into business selling chicken and ribs,” Gary says.
“I told him he was crazy,” Meg admits.
“I wanted to make sure that there was a call for it, because there was nothing like this being done in the area.” They already had a backyard equipped with a custom grill (the same one that creates the magic in his shop), so it was where kismet joined opportunity. They began cooking in the yard and offering a delivery service.
“There are a lot of apartment and condo complexes in the area, and they don’t have grills,” explains Meg.
“We had a really short menu. There was chicken, ribs, Mac & Cheese, and Meg’s own homemade corn concoction. I’d never done this before – I had visions of people lining up for our food, but I didn’t really know how to cook that fast at the time. So I went in with what I thought I could manage.”
But it was when they decided to post it on Facebook that it all changed. “We knew right then we had to open a restaurant.”
“We opened up and people started writing reviews. I was shocked. Listen, my family always told me it was good. You never know if you’re really good or not if you just listen to your family. But people seemed to really be loving it, even with our limited menu.”
“Then people started asking for things. ‘You’ve gotta have collard greens,’ they’d say. I didn’t know anything about collard greens, so I figured it out. Now people come in and swear we must be from the South because it reminds them so much of what they’d had at Grandma’s when they were young. Brisket too. I didn’t know how to make brisket. I did R&D on my own and made my own recipe – it’s sweet like candy. And it’s been a hit. I take a lot of my inspiration for what I add to the menu from my customers.” Gary believes in listening to his customers and serving them customers well.
“Since then, we’ve added chili, which actually won awards. We’ve added a cheesesteak which I’m calling a Jersey Cheesesteak. We do things our own way. But we really focus on the barbecue.”
“We even have people who come in and say ‘I don’t eat meat. But I come in here for your ribs.’ I’ve had people call me a genius for my coleslaw and how I get the flavor into the ribs. It’s kind of unbelievable. It’s very humbling to me.”
“This is a different kind of barbecue that we have here. We don’t do sauces. It’s all on a rotisserie, so it’s healthier – not fried, not smoked. It’s all over charcoal. We call it comfort food for your soul.” It’s Jersey barbecue.
One of their latest menu additions was an exception. Meg suggested a chicken sandwich with a white sauce. “Believe it or not, it came to me in a dream.” It’s like Thanksgiving in a sandwich. And it’s gotten a bit of a cult following. As have the home-inspired sides. The surprising banana pudding is so good, it almost deserves a third “n”.
Their son Brian and his girlfriend Deanna work there as well, so the family really is all-in. “They do so much for us here, they’re really part of our success story,” says Meg.
If you didn’t know that Jersey could make its own way in the barbeque pantheon, you owe yourself a ride over to Gary & Meg’s. It’s spectacular. Skeptics of Jersey barbecue, begone.
With Gary & Meg’s so close, who needs a cross-country road trip to discover what insanely good barbecue is all about?
Gary & Meg’s Chicken & Ribs is at 10 Erie Avenue in the Mountainview section of Wayne. (You’ll know it by Todd, the giant skeleton in the parking lot.) They’re open every day but Monday. For a full menu or to order online, go to their website at garyandmegs.com.
