Mott Haven home to lone smokehouse in the Bronx
BY JASON COHEN
Craving smoked brisket
or pulled pork? Well,
Bronxites no longer need to
travel far, as Mott Haven is
now home to the only smokehouse
in the borough.
Hudson Smokehouse, located
at 37 Bruckner Blvd.,
opened its doors March 7,
2020, about a week or so before
the pandemic wreaked
havoc on NYC. Owner Kenneth
McPartlan, who has
been in the restaurant industry
for nearly 30 years,
did not shutter the business,
but instead strapped on his
boots and got to work.
Closing was not an option.
According to McPartlan,
things were not easy, but
they persevered and have
since made their mark on
the South Bronx.
“We’ve only been up a
year and a half,” he told
the Bronx Times. “We’re already
one of the best smokehouse
brisket places in the
city.”
McPartlan, 48, of Long Island,
has been in the industry
his entire life. His great
grandfather, Alford Kluin,
opened Glenroy Lunch &
Tavern near Yankee
Stadium in
1932, which was
later passed down
to his grandfather,
father and then
him.
Since the age of
7, the bar has been
his second home.
He spent many
weekends there
washing dishes
and watching his
dad, John McPartlan,
work. But in
1991, his father got
sick and Kenneth
McPartlan knew
he would soon be
in charge.
“I had three
or four years to get under
my belt,” he said. “I’d make
mistakes and go home and
he’d say this is what you
did wrong. I learned a lot in
those years.”
His dad passed away in
1995 and since then McPartlan
has worked his tail off every
day.
“If you don’t want to put
the time, effort and energy in
you’re not going to succeed,”
he said.
The initial concept for
the smokehouse began in
2015 when a chef friend of
his who frequents the bar,
approached him with the
idea. Knowing there were no
smokehouses in the Bronx,
McPartlan was on board.
McPartlan said Third Avenue
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 18 OV. 26-DEC. 2,2021 BTR
and Bruckner Boulevard
was the perfect spot, as the
area was being redeveloped
with high rises and other restaurants.
“We wanted to get in before
it was too late and too
expensive,” he said.
“We just didn’t want
to go to Brooklyn
where everybody
is.”
The agreement
was McPartlan
would operate the
business and his
friend would cook.
However, the partnership
eventually
fell apart.
But McPartlan
didn’t get frustrated.
In 2018, he
took over an old
bar at 37 Bruckner
Blvd., and after construction,
opened at
the worst possible
time in March 2020.
Hudson Smokehouse closed
its kitchen for two weeks, but
afterwards remained open
and offered takeout and delivery
using Postmates and
Grubhub. What really kept
him in business was a partnership
formed with World
Central Kitchen, which is
what?. The nonprofi t asked
him if he would be willing to
donate food to the hospitals
and fi rst responders. McPartlan
said yes, but only if his
bar — Glenroy Lunch & Tavern
— could participate as
well. They obliged.
That allowed McPartlan
to keep his employees and
both businesses afl oat. So,
from April 2020 to Halloween
of 2020 he broke even by
making 350 meals a day, six
days a week at each of his locations.
McPartlan saw how
the pandemic ravaged restaurants
in the Bronx, but
knew he would not let that
happen to the smokehouse.
However, some nights kept
him on edge when Mott Haven
looked more like a ghost
town than anything.
“You never quit,” he
said. “I knew we would get
through it.”
And they did; they survived
and are now thriving.
Hudson is even part of
the Open Streets program,
where every weekend the
street is closed off and people
can eat outside and enjoy live
music.
Today, the word has
spread about the smokehouse
and its delicious meats. Ironically,
McPartlan said the
turkey has become almost as
popular as the brisket. “The
brisket and the ribs are second
to none,” he said.
Kenneth McPartlan, the owner of Hudson Smokehouse,
the lone smokehouse in the Bronx. Photo Jason Cohen
James E. MaQuade, Owner
Family Owned & Operated for over 60 years
3535 East Tremont Avenue
Bronx, New York
718-792-0270
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