Community Q BBQ

The large, permanent menu posted on the wall next to the counter reads like a typical barbecue bill of fare: pulled pork, beef brisket, ribs, potato salad, Brunswick stew. But the specials, scrawled on butcher-block paper next to the regular menu, reveal what distinguishes Community Q. Co-owner David Roberts worked at Seeger’s and other local fine-dining restaurants, and he slips in unorthodox sides (perhaps smoked sweet potatoes with kale or wedges of intensely perfumed Charentais melons) and desserts like blueberry bread pudding with ginger and pecans. They’re cheffy but not out of place. The Kitchen Sink salad—which changes all the time but recently included lettuce, green beans, radish, cucumber, pickled beets, and boiled egg—takes the guilt out of ripping into a half-rack of smoky pork ribs, the restaurant’s most celestial meat option.