Plenty of geographic regions lay claim to the finest in smoked or sauced meats. D.C. cannot do that natively. But there’s a clear virtue in not having a homegrown barbecue scene: A collection of eateries that offer the best of many styles of barbecue. The Washington area’s best barbecue spots waft out of the Carolinas, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., and South Korea. But people hailing from those locales need not diss the District; the restaurants listed here will do you plenty proud.

STANDARD: If the packed tables are any indicator, barbecue just might taste better when eaten outdoors. Despite the almost complete lack of an indoor space, Standard manages to serve up a moist, juicy brisket sandwich, best washed down with one of its giant steins of German beers. Aside from the standard sandwich fare, be on the lookout for specials, including a whole smoked pig’s head. Eating pig face is not for the faint of heart, but I can’t imagine a better way to eat ears, jowls, and snout than with some barbecue sauce. —Alicia Mazzara

Standard is located at 1801 14th Street NW.

MR. P’S RIBS AND FISH: In this brave new world of tweeting, traveling food trucks, it’s important to take a minute to remember one of D.C.’s original mobile dining options: Mr. P’s Ribs and Seafood. Mr. P’s is a three-unit operation serving barbecued pork, beef, and fried fish out of a converted school bus in a strip mall parking lot. A smoker and a generator round out this traveling carnival of barbecue, which is to say, it’s serious. While you can get all manner of things at Mr. P’s, the ribs are the house (bus?) speciality—smokey and fall-off-the-bone tender with a tomato-based western North Carolina-style sauce. —Alicia Mazzara

Mr. P’s parks at 514 Rhode Island Avenue NE.

KENNY’S BBQ SMOKEHOUSE: Located just four blocks from the hustle and bustle of the H Street NE corridor is Kenny’s BBQ Smokehouse. The Capitol Hill joint, owned by a man named Kwang, not Kenny, is rather simple, with hot ribs and sandwiches, tasty sides, and cornbread served in Styrofoam containers. Kenny’s sauce is thin and sweet, like a smokier mumbo sauce. Its no-frills interior features a curio cabinet full of pig figurines that visitors can gaze upon as they enjoy their chopped pork sandwich. There’s also a large outdoor area to enjoy on a summer afternoon. While Kenny’s may be a humble eatery, it’s been visited by both President Obama and the first lady. Even politicians can appreciate delicious, inexpensive barbecue. —Sarah Anne Hughes

Kenny’s is located at 732 Maryland Ave NE.

SMOKE AND BARREL: Oh, sure. DCist has praised this beer, bourbon, and barbecue-filled bar at the mouth of Adams Morgan plenty of times before, and it deserves another round of plaudits here. Every night, chef Logan McGear’s kitchen turns out trays of brisket, pork, chicken, and ribs, all available dry rubbed, sauced, or “muddy” (a combination of sauce and rub, i.e., the way to go). Smoke also serves up pork wings—pig shanks mounted on lollipop skewers—and vegan wings, which even the most carnivorous diner should order up every now and then. And then there are the sauces, from mild but hardly simple barbecue to fresh concoctions such as maple habañero. —Benjamin R. Freed

Smoke and Barrel is located at 2471 18th Street NW.

HILL COUNTRY BARBECUE: While it’s based in New York City (like that non-Pace picante sauce) Hill Country Barbeque serves up authentic and delicious Texas-style barbecue. There are ten different meat options, and while the brisket is great, the sausage, actually shipped in from Texas, is killer. (As in a delicious heart attack.) Hill Country also serves stuff you don’t see much outside the state, like sort-of strawberry flavored Big Red soda and more varieties of Shiner beer on draught than the ordinary bock. The pay-by-the-pound sales can get a little pricey, but it’s worth it. Good sides, too. —Andrew Wiseman

Hill Country Barbecue is located at 410 Seventh Street NW.

KANGAROO BOXING CLUB: Come for the pulled pork, stay for the maple butter johnny cakes and addictive falafel balls. This tiny beer-and-barbecue spot from the brains behind the PORC food truck smokes its pork for 16 hours over hickory and applewood for a deep flavor and melting texture. KBC also makes a solid brisket and its own pastrami, available on its own, in a reuben, or ground into a burger named for Seinfeld character George Constanza. Despite all of this, the restaurant also has a number of delicious vegetarian options, including crisp smoked falafel and the Veg and Egg, a mash-up of roasted and sauteed vegetable, quinoa, and barbecue sauce so satisfying that you might almost forget there’s no meat in it. Don’t worry though, there’s always the option to add pulled pork. And be on the lookout for drop-ins by NBC4’s Tom Sherwood, whose son, Peyton, runs the place —Alicia Mazzara

Kangaroo Boxing Club is located at 3410 11th Street NW

HONEY PIG: Haters are gonna hate, and D.C. has plenty of detractors that will claim that there’s no good barbecue in this town. But let’s not forget about the barbecue of the east: Honey Pig, the premier Korean barbecue spot with locations in Annandale, Centerville, and Ellicott City. The 24-hour temples of meaty deliciousness are consistently packed, the waits made all the more trying by endless loops of K-pop and pervasive scents of caramelizing beef, pork, and onions. Sweet, sesame-oil laced beef bulgogi, thick slabs of pork belly, and fat, marbled slices of galbi (beef ribs) are all mouthwatering. Pair each tasty morsel with a chopstick-ful of sticky rice, or wrap it in a leaf of Romaine lettuce for Korean-style taco. —Alicia Mazzara

Honey Pig is located at 7220 Columbia Pike in Annandale, Va.; 13818-B Braddock Road in Centerville, Va.; and 10045 Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City., Md.

ROCKLANDS BARBEQUE AND GRILLING COMPANY: This small chain, with only four locations, is spread out across D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. I always order the pork ribs (they also have beef ribs), but I hear good things about the brisket and pulled pork too. The sides—baked beans, corn pudding, macaroni and cheese, fried okra—are also tasty. And your dog will love it too. Rocklands’ Arlington location will gladly give out leftover bones for you to take home to your furry friend. And the Alexandria location is only a few blocks from Port City Brewing Company, setting up an easy summertime beer-and-barbecue jaunt. —Elisabeth Grant

Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company is located at 2418 Wisconsin Avenue NW; 3471 Washington Avenue, Arlington; 25 S. Quaker Lane, Alexandria; and 891A Rockville Pike, Rockville.

CURLEY’S Q TRUCK: This suburb-roaming truck is pretty amazing. Some of the better barbecue I’ve had—and sandwiches—are what’s up. My favorite is the Glo-venia: Smoked sausage piled with pulled pork and a liberal shovel of sweet peppers. But the ribs are banging, too, and the wood flavors really come out. The kick on the dry rub lasts a long time, and Curley’s sauce takes the heat to 11. When Curley does drop into the District, he frequents 3 Stars Brewing Company, where the beers go nicely with the trucked-in meats. —John Fleury

Follow Curley’s Q Truck on Twitter at @CurleysQ.