Founded in Syracuse in 1988 and still boasting upstate flourishes, John Stage's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is one of the more established barbecue restaurants in NYC. Rather than concentrating on a single style, Dinosaur offers a pan-regional menu in different city styles. Go for the ribs, baked beans, and standout Syracuse salt potatoes. Located in the midst of the ever-expanding Columbia University campus, Dinosaur is a great spot for dining with kids, with a very crowd-pleasing mac and cheese. Other locations are in Park Slope and downtown Newark.

This Mott Haven newcomer via pitmaster Robin Hudson does a spectacular job on fundamentals, including a solid brisket sandwich and passel of smoky pork ribs, matched with a local beer selection and a comfortable dining hall. Hell, this place might as well be in Texas. Lots of quirks keep the menu interesting, including pork belly, a smashed burger, chorizo, and jerk chicken. Beef ribs and pastrami are available on Saturdays only.

Recognizing the fundamental compatibility between Texas-style barbecue and kosher dietary laws, Izzy’s showcases luscious beef brisket with no lack of fat and humongous beef ribs, supplemented with a smoked and fried chicken sandwich and various sausages, tacos, and egg rolls. Helmed by Sruli Eidelman, this Upper West Side branch opened recently (causing great excitement in the neighborhood) after five years at the original location in Crown Heights.

Now describing itself as Kansas-City style, John Brown BBQ recently moved into the Long Island City location of Mothership Meat Company, another Josh Bowen establishment. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, house-cured pastrami, and a beguiling array of invented sandwiches such as the John Brown Reuben, which deploys pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The glorious fenced and decorated backyard is one of this place’s greatest lures.

Hill Country turns out an almost completely faithful version of Central Texas barbecue, largely inspired by Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Founded by Texas native Marc Glosseman, the barbecue uses post oak imported from the Lone Star State, and the brisket is available fatty or lean, in addition to “clod” (beef shoulder). So are beef sausages with or without cheddar inside that are bought from Kreuz. Prime rib is another good choice, but the sides, as at all great Texas barbecues, are just so-so. The selection of meat is served on butcher paper by weight with a choice of white bread or soda crackers.

Mable's is unique among the city’s barbecues, a real Oklahoma-style honky tonk, with long benches and tables fit for brew-swilling crowds. Try the brisket, St. Louis-style ribs, and, standing in for hot links sausage, locally sourced kielbasa. The three-meat and three-sides platters are a good deal for a crowd, but the individual diner or couple could easily be seduced by some of the side offerings, including a Frito pie with very flavorful chili, barbecue tacos featuring your choice of meat, and peanut butter pie. Just skip the so-called pulled chicken.

If a down-home barbecue were recast as a cocktail lounge, this Forest Hills establishment is what it would look like. Indeed, the menu strays into normal bar food like pretzel bites, fried chicken and waffles, and wings in a dizzying number of permutations. But the barbecue, running to chicken, ribs, brisket, and — not neglecting vegans — smoke jackfruit, is solid. Some international barbecue stylings are also showcased, from chicken tikka to a barbecue banh mi.

While the original branch of barbecue pioneer Blue Smoke closed recently — along with its associated jazz club — the Battery Park City outpost motors on under chef Bret Lunsford. This branch has always been known for its ribs in the Memphis style smoked over cherry wood. The Texas-style brisket sandwich, piled high, is good too, and so is the Kansas City chicken, smoked and then grilled. From there the menu wanders off to items like fried chicken and chili con queso.

Representing North and South Carolina whole-hog cooking, pitmaster Tyson Ho’s restaurant serves up textbook versions of chopped pork barbecue with a vinegar-based sauce and mustard-glazed spare ribs. Usually, there’s no brisket to be found. But the best thing on the menu just might be Ho's unique interpretation of Lexington-style “outside brown,” or chopped pork butt, with a healthy amount of caramelized bits tossed into the mix. Don’t miss the unusual side dish of sweet potato waffles.

The founders at Pig Beach are Balthazar alum Shane McBride and Del Posto veteran Matt Abdoo. The barbecue turned out is eclectic (often including tri-tip steak, hot sausage, and a perfect cheeseburger), bringing together numerous culinary influences. But the result is well regarded, a fact reinforced by several victories at the Memphis in May barbecue competition. On the banks of the Gowanus, the backyard is a delightful place to hang with some ribs and pulled pork, and kids and pets are welcome.

Hometown is pitmaster Billy Durney's vision of NYC barbecue. While it leans toward Texas-style, it is at its heart and soul a New York restaurant. It was previously declared the best barbecue in the city by Eater critic Ryan Sutton, and many aficionados agree. The move here is to order everything on the menu — but especially the short rib, brisket, Jamaican jerk ribs, and spare ribs. A new branch in Industry City may be more accessible and offers specialties all its own, including an epic, extra smoky pastrami sandwich.