Boston-Area Barbecue by the Numbers

Bostonians can really pack away the barbecue. In honor of Barbecue Week, Eater checked in with four popular restaurants about their meat (and more) statistics. From 1,400 pounds of pulled pork per week at B.T.'s Smokehouse to 1,500 pounds of mac and cheese at Sweet Cheeks, here's a snapshot of a week in the barbecue life.

B.T.'s Smokehouse, on average per week:
Pounds of ribs: 1,200 (spare ribs and St. Louis)
Pounds of brisket: 1,600
Gallons of barbecue sauce: 60-80
Pounds of mac and cheese: 100-140 pounds of pasta, 45 gallons of cheese sauce (a marginal amount of cheese goes into B.T.'s cheesy balls)
Gallons of batter for hush puppies: 12
Fuel for the smoker: 2-3 quarts of wood per month
Pounds of pulled pork: 1,400
Pounds of pulled chicken/wings: 1,000

Owner Brian Treitman says that summer months are usually 20 percent busier than winter, with fall and spring falling about 10 percent lower than mid-summer. He does a lot of graduations (between 12-18 catering orders in the last few weeks) and weddings in the summer. About 63 percent of guests dine in; there are 38 seats.

Sweet Cheeks by the week (but numbers vary in relation to events, Red Sox games, etc.):
Number of pork ribs: 8,000
Pounds of brisket: 1,650
Pounds of pulled pork: 2,200-2,500
Gallons of barbecue sauce: 60 (Sweet Cheeks puts sauce in bottles on the tables in the restaurant.)
Pounds of mac and cheese: 1,500
Number of biscuits: 8,000
Number of farm salads sold per week: 2,500 (including 600 pounds of Brussels sprouts alone for this salad per week)
Butter used: 1,000 pounds

Blue Ribbon by the week (for both locations and catering):
Pounds of ribs: 1,600
Pounds of brisket: 5,000 (they do brisket two ways)
Gallons of barbecue sauce: 350
Pounds of mac and cheese: 1,300
Pans of cornbread: Between 250-400
Pounds of pulled pork: 4,200

Blackstrap BBQ by the week:
Pounds of pulled chicken: 150
Pounds of brisket: 300
Pounds of pork butt: 300
Pounds of wings: 120
Number of ribs: 96 racks, or 1,152 bones
Pieces of cornbread: 650