Green Brook BBQ Restaurant Offers Year-Round Discounts and Free Meals to Military Veterans

Red White & Que Smokehouse in Green Brook hands out a 20% discount to veterans and a 10% discount to first responders each day. The Route 22 spot also runs a "Buy a Vet a Meal" program that covers free food for those who served three times per year.

Owner Dan Misuraca served four years as a Marine. He spent time in Kuwait during the Gulf War. He will host a Veterans Day party on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Veterans who show ID cards will get a free quarter-pound of meat, a small side and drink. Marines? They'll snag a free half-pound of meat, a small side and drink.

About 200 veterans are expected to show up. The party will have raffles and giveaways from noon to 4 p.m., including a one-week trip for two to Puerto Rico.

Free food will also go to veterans on Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

"Vets get to see other vets and just hang out all day," Misuraca said to My Central Jersey. "We get the Vietnam vets, Korean War vets — their grandkids bring them and they get to just have camaraderie. You don't get to do that a lot."

The 100-seat barbeque spot has three veterans on staff, including Misuraca. Two recent workers just finished boot camp. Their graduation photos hang next to his on the wall.

"That's what I'm really proud of," Misuraca said. "We have their graduation photos up next to mine, like a little Marine Corps family tree."

Customers can chip in to the "Buy a Vet a Meal" program in-store or online. The money supports the three annual parties and covers free food to the Lyons VA Medical Center in Bernards, the Alfred J. Thomas Home for Veterans in Garfield, and other groups that help veterans throughout the year.

Food and Wine Magazine and Thrillist named the spot as having the best barbeque in the state. In 2022, operations shifted to its current Green Brook location on one of the busiest highways in the state.

Red White & Que Smokehouse sits at 150 Route 22 in Green Brook. Donations can be made at bit.ly/4homOWB.