Jase’s BBQ Dishes Up Brisket & More With Caribbean Flare

 Jase’s BBQ Dishes Up Brisket & More  With Caribbean Flare

By Katie McFadden

It may be cold outside, but there’s no better time to warm up with barbecue, especially the kind inspired by flavors from the Caribbean. Jase BBQ has been serving up barbecue dishes since 2017 and has recently made a splash in Rockaway with his mouthwatering brisket, ribs, jerk wings and more at pop-ups at the outdoor Postcard Brewing Company. And this Sunday, January 26, you can catch him inside at 7th Inning Stretch’s Queens Culture Clash.

The videos on Jase BBQ’s Instagram page (@Jasebbq) are enough to get your mouth watering with clips of his tender smoked brisket, zesty jerk baby back ribs and chicken wings and even BBQ pigtails smoked to perfection, topped with his passionfruit barbecue sauce and paired with sides like homemade warm cornbread, creamy mac and cheese, tangy cole slaw and occasionally corn on the cob boiled in coconut milk and well-seasoned. They’re dishes that have kept customers coming back for more since discovering Jase Franklyn serving it all up on weekends at Postcard Brewing Co. on the bay (111-30 Beach Channel Drive).

With the weather being colder and the actual bar being closed for the season, Franklyn is mostly dishing up takeout through his online order form, Doordash, Uber Eats and with walk-in orders, but with flavors inspired by his Caribbean home of Trinidad and Tobago, these dishes are smoking hot and seasoned to perfection all year long. Franklyn says he learned his skills on the grill from his mom back home in Tobago, where they would be the ones the family flocked to for Christmas and New Year’s gatherings. When he moved to the United States in 2003, Franklyn pursued an education in Computer Information Systems, and he went on to run a business repairing electronics such as phones, tablets and computers for about 10 to 12 years. But on the side, while living in Brooklyn, he kept barbecuing for family friends, while perfecting his own recipes, and they started to notice that he had something special. “They kept saying ‘it tastes so good, maybe you should try turning this into a business.’ And here I am,” Franklyn said.

In 2018, Franklyn formed Jase BBQ LLC and started selling barbecue out of his backyard in Brooklyn, before he started participating in food events. Then, in 2019, Franklyn moved to Rockaway, finding it more like home. “When I came here, I thought this feels like I’m kind of back home. It’s the beach life,” Franklyn said. Franklyn eventually took on a full time job as a track and field and soccer coach and teacher, while continuing to barbecue on the weekends, including doing pop ups at Strong Rope Brewery in Red Hook in 2021, and about two years ago, he started serving up dishes as Smorgasburg food events in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but this past year, Franklyn decided to start testing the waters of Rockaway and doing events closer to home.

After Terence McNicholas opened Postcard Brewing in late summer 2023, he started seeking food vendors to serve up bites while he operated his bar, often pairing it with live music events. At the time, McNicholas reached out to Franklyn, but Smorgasburg was keeping him busy. “Last year, while driving to Smorgasburg, I thought, I need to do something in Rockaway, and I remembered Postcard. So, I looked for his information and reached out to him on a Monday and that Wednesday, I did a pop up, and then another one that weekend,” Franklyn said.

The local pop ups became a quick hit. That was paired with an extra boost from video creator Rob Martinez, who did a food review and spotlight on Jase’s food in late July 2024, calling it his “favorite barbecue in New York City.” Franklyn says that video was supposed to spotlight him making his barbecue pigtail tacos in his backyard, but within it was a quick clip of his smoked jerk brisket that really caught people’s eyes. “Rob was holding an event, and the video was supposed to be about the tacos, but everyone was asking about the brisket. Honestly, I never intended on doing brisket. But since that video, I haven’t stopped cooking brisket. That’s what everyone really comes for,” Franklyn said. It led Franklyn to holding more pop-ups at Postcard and doing a Dinner and a Band event at The Rockaway Hotel last summer.

However, as Smorasgburg has wrapped up for the season, Franklyn has some more free time on weekends, so even though summer is over and the bar is closed, he’s still serving up Jase BBQ at Postcard Brewing Co. almost every Saturday and Sunday. While the crowds have gone down, Jase’s quality hasn’t. “I don’t think a lot of people know I’m there. But there was a guy that came one Saturday, and then he came back the Sunday and said, ‘this food is really good.’ He’s been coming every weekend since then. I appreciate it. I try to deliver quality product every time. That’s number one for me. I don’t want to be good today and bad tomorrow,” he said. “We make everything with love. This past weekend, another guy told me, ‘You have a customer for life.’”

For those who may not want to brave the cold to pick up a meal at Postcard, Franklyn will be indoors this Sunday at the Queens Culture Clash event at the Knights of Columbus (333 Beach 90th Street) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. “I’m definitely gonna have brisket,” he said, among other items. That opportunity to be a part of Queens Culture Clash came about when event founder Bob Groff stopped by Jase’s BBQ at Postcard and started talking about the collectors’ event featuring sports cards and memorabilia, Funko Pops and other collectibles, something that happens to be a hobby of Franklyn’s.

Due to the event, Franklyn will take the weekend off from his Postcard Brewing pop-up but will be back barbecuing there in February. Franklyn announces his pop-up events on his Instagram account, so make sure to follow @Jasebbq.

Franklyn hopes that if successful, he can take Jase BBQ on the road, with a dream of owning his own food truck, and it could be a dream turned reality sooner than later. “Hopefully by next year, I’ll have a food truck,” he said. “That’s the goal.”

For now, check out his menu and order at www.Jasebbq.us

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