Washington, DC, is a city of transplants, and it shows in our barbecue. We don't have a great handle on any of the classic traditions: Kansas City, Memphis, Carolina, Texas. But we've got a handful of places and folks who do pretty well catering to a broad range of tastes.

We're also starting to see some places that are really putting their all into turning out competition-quality 'cue. On Wednesday night, we're proud to be working with the guys from Pork Barrel Barbecue (you may have seen them on ABC's Shark Tank) for a special Meat Week-only event at Mango Mike's in Alexandria. We'll be sampling the kind of barbecue they'll be bringing to their new restaurant in Del Ray when it opens later this year.

For the inaugural DC Meat Week, we're going to hit some of the old standbys as well as a few of the newcomers, and we're going to try to make it as Metro-accessible as possible for everyone. We'll be in Rockville twice, both times a short cab ride or a long walk from a Red Line stop. We'll be in Courthouse on the Orange Line once, and downtown at Gallery Place, too. We're even going to hit up Mr. P's in the Safeway parking lot on Rhode Island Avenue, which isn't too far from the Rhode Island Ave./Brentwood stop on the Red Line. The most car-necessary events are going to be Monday and Wednesday nights, but you'll want to come out for both anyway.

For our inaugural Meat Week, we didn't want to burden you with an 8th day of programming on Super Bowl Sunday, so we're just encouraging you to get out there and enjoy some of your favorite 'cue at whatever Super Bowl party you end up at. We'll be doing our Honors and Best Ofs on Saturday at Mr. P's, so we hope to see you there!