Mason Street BBQ Pop Up Launches in Greenwich

Now that’s a wet brisket.

On certain days on or in the vicinity of Greenwich Avenue, take a whiff of the air and the woods you smell are in fact oak and hickory. Get a little closer to Mason Street and you’ll spot blue smoke coming off a Lang and that smell won’t just be logs, it’ll be…meaty.

What you’ve stumbled upon is Mason Street BBQ, slinging smoked meats out of the bones of an old auto body shop and parts department—barely noticeable if not for the scents picked up by your nose and when you set your eyes on the dual smokers in the parking lot.

Caspi’s hobby only grew when he got his hands on this smoker, now joined by a Lang, and soon their own custom built smoker.

Mason Street seemingly appeared out of the blue on Instagram in mid-October of 2023, posting teasers and test runs, telling people to swing by for free ribs, chicken, brisket and more, then following that up with smokes that catered to bigger crowds.

And that’s when I noticed a familiar face on their feed in Ryan Cuber, formerly of Mason Dixon Smokehouse in Stamford, his own food truck and catering business, Savory Smoke BBQ, and most recently a manager at Donut Crazy in Westport.

“Mason Street BBQ is Texas BBQ through and through,” Cuber says. “We use Allen Brothers beef and Vande Rose Farms for ribs. It’s not Duroc, but it’s super good quality.”

Beef ribs, when available, clock in at about one to one-and-a-half pounds each and are smoked for about nine hours.

Cuber: “Weather conditions determine the smoke or the technique. We try to go without a wrap of our brisket and pork shoulder. The goal is always no wrap, 15 hours, give or take. No cutting corners. Properly trimmed briskets, because an improper trim won’t cook right. Right now, we’re getting about a 40 percent yield from our briskets.”

Cuber, who knows his way around many a brisket, was officially on board at Mason Street’s pitmaster, but this pop up wasn’t his idea, it actually randomly found him.

“My wife (Andrea) has a friend, Roxy, who sent her a picture of a card on a desk with a picture of a fire on it, without a phone number or email, just with the words ‘Mason Street BBQ hiring a pitmaster,’” he says.

Pre ordering doesn’t necessarily mean you have to take it to-go! Seats at a few community tables may be available, so they’ll smack it on a platter for you, and you’re welcome to do BYOB! Good chance you’ll see a few hungry folks parallel parked on Mason Street ripping at a rib in their driver’s seat.

Pete Sommers, Ken Phillips, Didier Elena, and Ryan Cuber handling orders at the counter.

Turns out, Cuber’s wife’s friend is the housekeeper for Joshua Caspi of Caspi Development, a residential and commercial firm that has developed areas of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Connecticut, including Fouquet’s, an expansion of White Plains Hospital, and plenty of apartment buildings all around.

Like most of us during the shutdowns, Caspi found a new hobby. His ended up being smoking meats, so he bought a smoker. The result of being bit by the BBQ bug is Mason Street BBQ along with business partners Pete Sommers and 25+ year industry veteran and Michelin-star chef Didier Elena, who’s opened several restaurants with Alain Ducasse.

Cuber said that he and another chef, Ken Phillips, had a “job interview” that was basically running a smoke, making a bunch of BBQ friendly sides, and serving at one of Caspi’s parties.

At the start of 2024, Mason Street’s Instagram teased us even more with test run videos of juicy brisket being slices, stacked sandwiches, and beef ribs being unwrapped, with promises that they were close and that a menu drop was on its way.

After a friends and family run that took preorders on January 23 for pickup on the 28th, Mason Street BBQ was officially a go serving just over 50 meals of smoked meats and sides like mac and cheese, broccoli slaw, cornbread, and potato salad, just to name a few.

Not long thereafter, Mason Street began selling to the public with weekly menu drops on Hotplate that usually go live in the early part of each week, for Saturday and Sunday pickups. Signing up for text notifications is a great way to not miss placing a preorder.

Typically, what Mason Street BBQ is offering, in the spirit of Texas style BBQ, has been brisket, turkey, baby back ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and occasionally smoked salmon and one-to-one-and-a-half-pound Angus beef ribs. More than a few times, homemade jalapeño-cheddar sausage by Tyler Hodge of Hoodoo Brown BBQ has been offered as well.

And as with anything BBQ, evolution is paramount. Cuber told us they’ve already revamped a few things like making some changes to the brisket rub and having the ability to take more orders, including some walk ins (but pre ordering is your best bet and the smart way to go about guaranteeing your meat and sides), and what’s that about expansion?!

“We’ve been able to take some walk ins, like even in the pouring rain one day we took about 15,” he says. “We just got another smoker, the Lang that I reached out to my old employer, Mason Dixon for, and we’re getting a 1000-gallon smoker built in Texas.”

They’re also scouting spaces, as the auto shop they’re smoking and slicing out of is slated for redevelopment in the very near future.

“It’s not a permanent home, but we’re a full-fledged BBQ restaurant and we’d like to remain on Mason Street,” Cuber says.

275 Mason Street, Greenwich
For orders + drops: Mason Street BBQ on Hotplate
@masonstreetbbq