Hiding in Plain Sight: Some of the Best BBQ in the ADK
LAKE PLACID - You can be forgiven if you thought West Shore BBQ on Saranac Avenue in Lake Placid closed years ago. Most days the parking lot is empty, the smokers are cold, and the windows are dark.
But locals know the secret of this gem hidden in plain sight: For a few midday hours every Thursday and Friday it roars to life serving up some of the best barbecue in Lake Placid and beyond. And if you’re visiting the area, it’s worth arranging your schedule in order to get some.
To be clear: This is not a fancy restaurant. It’s tiny and mostly takeout. You order and pick up your food at a counter. And if you’re staying to eat, you can sit outside at picnic tables on the covered front porch or by the massive steel smokers to the side of the building.
The friendly couple behind the counter–he’s slicing the meat, she’s dishing out sides–are actually the owners: Jonathan and Meghan Gravatt. Their teenage daughter, the aptly named Sunshine, is usually on the register.
The pair, who are both originally from Florida but met in the Adirondacks, opened West Shore BBQ four years ago. But it’s not their only gig, hence the scant hours.
Prp Tip: Get the Brisket
The brisket, Certified Angus Beef and usually prime, is smoked Texas-style, flavored with just salt and pepper. Tender, not overly smoky, and dripping juices, it had us swooning. The brisket plate ($25) features slices of both the lean flat and more unctuous point and comes with two sides of your choice plus cornbread.
The pulled pork sandwich comes with house-made mustard sauce, but you can get it with BBQ sauce instead. The finely chopped Southern-style slaw is crisp and refreshing.
The pulled pork sandwich ($12), also super tender, comes South-Carolina style with a house-made mustard sauce as well as onions and pickles. You can also get it with with Jonathan’s barbecue sauce (also house-made), which I will do next time. The bold mustard sauce itself is delicious, but I wanted to taste more of the meat. The pickle on it is a keeper.
Other main-course options include ribs ($39 for a full rack; $23 for half) and half a chicken for $15. The relative bargain prices are thanks to the low overhead. The takeout space, though attractive and clean, is small and sparse, and the staff is almost all named Gravatt. (For comparison, the brisket plate at the popular, full-serve, lake-front Smoke Signals in the village is $42.)
When you see that OPEN flag flying stop in for some of the best babecue around.
Don’t skimp on the sides
Though the smoked meats take center stage, the sides shine as well. On that first visit, we went with a few classics: Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw, and Collard Greens. The mac was creamy and cheesy, and the finely chopped slaw was refreshing, but the collard greens were the standout. Silky but with some chew, they have a smoky, savory flavor without the usual addition of bacon. Instead, the “meaty” flavor of this vegetarian dish comes from the addition of tomatoes that Jonathan smokes for 10 hours before adding them to the stewed greens.
Tomatoes smoked for 10 hours are the secret ingredient to the standout collards.
A classically trained chef and a pitmaster
When I stopped by on a Wednesday to get to know more about West Shore BBQ, the counter was closed, but the smokers outside were cranking and had been for most of the night. They were filled with dozens of whole briskets, pork butts, racks of ribs, and huge baking pans, some filled with tomatoes and others baked baked beans. (The chicken will go on later as it does not take as long to cook.)
Cords of wood, seasoned for three years, are stacked and ready to add to the huge Moberg smokers.
To be ready to serve at lunch on Thursday, the brisket hits the smoker at 2:30 in the morning on Wednesday and cooks for 12 to 14 hours. During that time, Jonathan or Meghan check the smokers every 8 minutes, adding sustainably harvested Adirondack hardwood as needed. It’s a ritual that continues through the day.
Jonathan and Meghan smoke dozens of whole briskets at one time. During the cook, they check the smoker every 8 minutes and add more wood as needed.
Inside, Jonathan was preparing the week’s sides in his immaculate kitchen with Meghan acting as sous chef. Along with staples like potato salad, he regularly experiments with seasonal ingredients and unexpected flavors like an Asian-inspired noodle salad.
As he works, Jonathan keeps to a small, tidy space on the countertop while a huge pot of his barbecue sauce simmers nearby. Every piece of equipment–pans, pots, strainers, ladles–is neatly stacked on metal shelving and literally shining. The floor is spotless.
Jonathan credits his kitchen rigor to being classically trained by a Swiss chef. He spent three years under the tutelage of Heinz Hautlat at the Word of Life Inn and Conference Center when it existed in Schroon Lake. He went on to become the executive chef at the Lake Placid Lodge, a Relais & Chateaux property, and then became a private chef, often cooking for the rich and famous.
So how did this fancy chef wind up cooking barbecue in what is basically a parking lot? “I’ve always been smoking,” says Jonathan. He grew up cooking food over live fire down south and never stopped. In the spring of 2020, he and Meghan decided to pursue barbecue.
Jonathan smiles as he slices brisket to order. West Shore, he says, helps to sell his other venture: Solitude Catering.
To prepare for opening West Shore, they toured Texas barbecue joints, including the legendary Snow’s BBQ. They decided to have their smokers custom built by Moberg Smokers, the same company Snow’s uses. Due to COVID-generated supply issues, it took a while to get “the twins,” their two huge barrel-style steel smokers, delivered to the space they were renovating on Sararnac Ave., and they opened their doors in the fall of 2022.
So why just two days a week?
West Shore’s limited hours are due to the Gravatts’ other venture: Solitude Catering. Their catering business, often for the well-to-do who vacation along the shores of Lake Placid, is the bulk of their business. “The restaurant is to help sell the catering,” explains Jonathan. And while they are cooking for West Shore, they’re also prepping for whatever event they have scheduled on the weekend.
So who are some of his most famous clients? Though Jonathan loves to gab–something evident to anyone who has ever stepped foot in West Shore–he’s tight lipped about that. His reputation, he says, depends on his discretion.
And, one imagines, on his brisket.
GOOD TO KNOW
Open only on Thursdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in summer and fall.
Beer, soda, and other beverages are available in a self-serve cooler.
For catering information, visit Solitude Catering.