Virgil’s Real BBQ

As befits its Times Square location, perennially crowded Virgil’s is the Epcot Center of barbecue: Paper placemats present a map of the country’s barbecue-producing regions and their specialties, from Texas beef brisket to Memphis pork ribs to vinegary Carolina pulled pork—all of which are on the menu, along with oddities like Oklahoma State Fair corndogs, served with a jalapeño “mustard.” The dessert selection is a schizophrenic sugar rush, with peanut butter pie sharing a dessert sampler plate with key lime pie and fluffy banana pudding, among others. The Memphis pork ribs—dry-rubbed and slow-smoked, like the rest of Virgil’s meats, with a mix of hickory, oak and fruit woods—are a but a hair’s-breadth from being too tender.