Glen Cove’s Laura’s BBQ to be on television

If you’ve been to Shore Road, chances are you’re smelled authentic Texas-style barbeque wafting through the air. The delightful sensation comes from Laura’s BBQ, a waterfront smokehouse nestled between Glen Cove Creek, and Shore Thing Rentals.

Now, Laura’s BBQ, which advertises itself as “the only real Texas barbeque on Long Island,” will be featured on America’s Best Restaurants, a national media and marketing company featured on the Food Network, hosted by Alton Brown. The show focuses on bringing attention to local, independently owned restaurants. The episode will be aired extensively on the network and social media channels at a yet to be determined date. 

Laura and Lloyd Adams have been operating Laura’s BBQ Shack since 2003, once catering their business from a mobile trailer. They moved to a brick-and mortar restaurant in March of 2020, hoping to expand their presence in Glen Cove.

The family-operated restaurant serves authentic Texas style barbeque, ranging from brisket, ribs, pulled pork, barbeque chicken, turkey and salmon plus plenty of delicious sides. Laura cooks in the kitchen. Their son Lane and daughter Courtney help with other operations of the restaurant. 

Lloyd is the “smoke master” overseeing the huge smoker which uses a combination of hickory, maple, and cherry wood pellets to smoke all of their meats that take up to 12 hours to prepare. He’s had a passion for cooking since he was five, and grew up on a dairy farm in Stephenville, Texas near Fort Worth. He was originally scheduled to stay in New York for only a few days. But then he met Laura after his assignment overseeing oil rig operations in Manhattan was extended by a month. He had been frequenting Matty T’s Roadhouse in Deer Park, which is where he met Laura, who would become his future wife. 

When the couple married in 1995, Adams knew he would have to move to N.Y. since he traveled extensively for work across the country and overseas. He wanted Laura to remain close to her family, who lived in Westbury, while he was gone. 

Not long after they married, the couple came across a commercial trailer which they began to serve their Texas-style barbecue out of and found their niche catering private parties including a birthday party for Vinny Testaverde, a former professional football player. 

“We tried doing fairs and carnivals, but that wasn’t working out because it takes too long to produce the meat you’re selling and so you’re at the mercy of the weather,” Adams explained. “If people don’t show up or it gets canceled, what do you do with all the food that you cooked?”

When they established their restaurant at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, they didn’t qualify for government-issued assistance programs for small businesses. But they persevered to fulfill their dream of owning a restaurant. 

“Everything that we had in savings is put into this restaurant, and that’s why we don’t have excess signage, lights and stuff like that,” Adams said. “We got to have money to operate and have a liquor license. It’s been a struggle, but we’re still here.”

Since opening, the restaurant made a cameo appearance on the “Real Housewives of New York” during the show’s eighth season. The establishment has also caught the attention of comedian Jimmy Fallon, who visits after his commute home from Manhattan.

Although the restaurant has had such exposures, the Adams find that operating a restaurant at the marina is a challenge since their location is obscured. Lloyd said he was even forced to take the restaurant’s only roadside sign down for two weeks after a complaint to the city’s building department. When he approached City Hall about the issue, he had an outpouring of support from officials like Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck.  Since then, the restaurant has given back to the community by supporting organizations like the Glen Cove Kiwanis club and by providing packages at discounted rates. 

Adams said he’s grateful for the community support, but he hopes the exposure from “America’s Best Restaurants” will generate more exposure. 

“People have really been supportive of us, but there’s a lot of people here in Glen Cove that still don’t know that we’re here,” Adams said. “We try to do things. We’ve made donations for outings and different things and doing what we can. I tell people ‘Do you want me to spend money on signs and advertising and then you get here and then there’s no food, or would you rather have some food when you get here?’”