New Jersey’s Secret Backyard BBQ

Pitmaster Hery Acosta loves smoking meats. So much so, he serves 50-60 people his famous BBQ every Sunday — and it’s all done on a first-come, first-serve basis from his parent’s backyard. During the weekdays, Acosta works as a school custodian. Instead of relaxing on his weekends off, he’s pulling all-nighters cooking to share his labor of love with his community. We trailed Acosta, owner of “Tio Rozay’s BBQ,“ for a weekend in North Bergen, NJ, to see why crowds are flocking to get a taste of his pulled pork, ribs, sausage, chicken wings, and delicious sides. His customers vary, from consistent, weekly patrons to new faces that were told to go there by friends or friends-of-friends — Acosta doesn’t advertise. Confused first-time customers used to circle Acosta’s parents’ block a few times to check if they’d somehow passed a restaurant after the address they put into their GPS brought them to a residential area. Now, his father sits out front to flag new patrons and tell them they’ve come to the right place. Watch as Acosta prep, talk about his story, and explain how he got his love for BBQ. Subscribe to MUNCHIES here: All MUNCHIES videos release a full week early on our site: Hungry? Sign up here for the MUNCHIES Recipes newsletter. Check out for more! Follow MUNCHIES here: TikTok: @munchies Facebook: Instagram: Twitter: Pinterest: More videos from the VICE network: