This might be the prettiest barbecue in the state, with its flower-filled pots on a Westchester street that slopes down to the Hudson River. The St. Louis ribs are nicely charred (compare them to Blue Smoke’s), the brisket smoke-ringed, and the pork sausage cross-hatched and made in-house. Vegetarian salads on display are particularly colorful, an oddity in good barbecue.

Founded in Syracuse in 1988 and still boasting upstate flourishes, John Stage's Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is one of the more established barbecues in NYC. Rather than settling on a single style, it offers a menu that evokes several different places around the state and country. Go for the pork ribs, baked beans, and, best of all, Syracuse salt potatoes. Located on the edge of Columbia University’s new north campus, Dinosaur is a great spot for dining with kids. There are other locations in Park Slope and upstate New York.

This Mott Haven restaurant from pitmaster Robin Hudson does a spectacular job on fundamentals, including a solid brisket sandwich and a 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 smash burger, chorizo, and jerk chicken. Beef ribs and pastrami are available on Saturdays.

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 seven years after its original location in Crown Heights.

Virgil's Real BBQ in Times Square makes real hardwood barbecue more accessible to tourists than any other place in town, with the possible exception of the Mighty Quinn’s chain, and it’s owned by the same hospitality company as the Italian restaurant Carmine’s. The barbecue is surprisingly good despite the corporate feel, with decent brisket, pulled pork, and barbecue beans bobbing with little tidbits of meat. Another branch can be found on the Upper West Side.

Describing itself as Kansas City-style, John Brown BBQ moved into the old location of Mothership Meat Company in Long Island City. The menu is more eclectic than the Kansas City designation suggests, featuring brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, and house-cured pastrami. There’s also a beguiling array of invented sandwiches, such as the John Brown Reuben, which deploys pastrami along with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. The fenced and decorated backyard is another lure.

Hill Country turns out a faithful version of Central Texas barbecue, inspired by Kreuz Market in Lockhart. Founded by Texas native Marc Glosserman, the brisket is available fatty or lean, in addition to “clod” (beef shoulder). The beef sausages are imported from Kreuz, but the small chain (there’s another location in Washington, D.C.) recently started making its own hot links, and they’re damn good. As at basically all great Texas barbecues, the sides are just so-so. The selection of meat is served on butcher paper with a choice of white bread or soda crackers.

Don’t you love a quirky barbecue, where the level of the output sometimes rises to exemplary, while other things are mediocre? This new pit right on Hoboken’s main drag is run by Myron Mixon, a veteran of the competitive barbecue circuit who’s also a food TV celebrity. Pulled pork is a highlight, especially when doused with the vinegar sauce; the beef and pork sausages are nicely dense and smoky; and as over-the-top as it sounds, a sandwich of brisket topped with mac and cheese is probably the best thing on the menu.

Mighty Quinn's serves up what pitmaster Hugh Mangum describes as “Texalina style,” a fusion of the barbecue traditions found in Texas and the Carolinas. But what really emerges is a uniquely New York iteration: Maldon salt is sprinkled atop the meat as it’s served, and some dishes, like the smoked chicken wings, make use of a deep fryer. The gargantuan beef rib, smoked for 12 hours, is a defining menu item.

Mable's is unique among the city’s barbecue joints, a real Oklahoma-style honky tonk with long benches and tables fit for brew-swilling crowds. Try the brisket, St. Louis-style ribs, and locally sourced kielbasa that stands in for hot links sausage. The platters with three meats and sides 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 top-notch 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 — smoked jackfruit, is solid. Some regional sandwiches are also showcased, including po’ boys and Nashville-style hot chicken sandwiches.

Early on, this 15-year-old barbecue spot tucked in a Williamsburg alleyway established itself as a maverick operation with a broader range of barbecue options than usual. In the early days, the chalkboard menu at Fette Sau (“fat pig”) often ran to pork belly, beef tongue, pork chops, and pig tails, in addition to the usual ribs and brisket. The quality has always been high, with a much more aggressive drink program than most barbecue spots, including shots of premium whiskies in addition to beer.

For those who couldn’t keep up with this lauded Queens barbecue pop-up from Ruben Santana, there’s now a permanent location on the spacious fifth floor of Time Out Market. For perhaps the first time, great barbecue offers Dominican side dishes and a few favorite meats, such as chicharron and pernil. Only as much barbecue as can be sold in one day is smoked, meaning the selection of meats varies and the product is as fresh as can be.

When Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue burned down two years ago, my feeling was that it was already slipping in the quality of its smoked meat. But now it’s back with a bang. The substantial, black-pepper-rubbed pork ribs are better than before, the footlong jalapeno sausage is spicy and grainy enough for anyone’s taste, and the brisket is tasty — even though it’s sliced contrary to the usual practice. The roadhouse ambiance feels just right.

Hometown is pitmaster Billy Durney's vision of local 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’s Ryan Sutton, and many aficionados agree. The move is to order a little bit of everything on the menu, especially the short rib, brisket, Jamaican jerk ribs, and spare ribs. A new branch in Sunset Park’s Industry City may be more accessible and offers specialties all its own, including smash burgers and cheese fries.