Third Wave BBQ

Third Wave's Officer venue, on Siding Avenue, gives Melbourne's south-east the full low-and-slow treatment. Brisket is smoked over hickory for twelve to sixteen hours, Texas-style, until it slumps under its own weight — no rushing, no shortcuts.

The menu carries the rest of the American songbook: pork ribs in a dry Southern rub, pulled pork, and the kitchen's signature flavor-forward house rubs in the Kansas City vein, with maple and applewood behind the beef.

The Thor's Hammer is the centerpiece — an enormous smoked beef shank on the bone, equal parts meal and spectacle. Bring an appetite and a little patience; this is cooking measured in hours, not minutes.