Mighty Quinn's BBQ closes in Garden City

Two years after it opened on Franklin Avenue, Mighty Quinn’s BBQ has closed. The Garden City restaurant was the first franchise operation for the New York-based smokehouse founded in 2011 by pitmaster Hugh Mangum and was among Long Island's best barbecue restaurants. Mighty Quinn’s operates a number of New York locations as well as stores in New Jersey and Dubai.

Jason Wotman, owner of the Garden City franchise, had been working on the project for well over a year before opening, and the pandemic threw him a curveball that he never managed to hit.

“It was tough opening during the pandemic,” he said. One of the reasons he picked Garden City was that it not only had a strong residential base but was also a vibrant office culture, the lack of which “really hurt us. Every time it looked like we were getting a handle on the business, something else — rising costs, labor issues — knocked us back down.”

Then, too, the newcomer had to compete with an established barbecue eatery, Smōk-hau̇s, which had opened in 2018 just three blocks away.

Nassau customers craving Mighty Quinn’s signature brisket or mac and cheese will still be able to find them during events at UBS Arena in Elmont in section 108.