Billy Bones BBQ at Niagara Distillery

A barbecue pit and a working still do not usually share an address. On Clifton Hill, a few minutes from the Falls, they share Niagara Distillery: Billy Bones BBQ runs the kitchen, the distillery runs the bar, and the two halves are meant to be ordered together. The barbecue is the competition kind — Billy Bones sauces, dry rubs, and low-smoked meat carried indoors and set on a menu. The spirits are the literal kind, distilled on site and poured beside the smoke. Most tables come for the ribs and stay for the second round.

The meal builds around smoke. Billy Bones Award Winning Ribs are the anchor: low-and-slow smoked pork ribs, dry-rubbed and caramelized with Billy Bones Classic BBQ Sauce. Texas Smoke Brisket runs the second lane, beef smoked ten-plus hours and served as natural bark or under that same Classic sauce. Between the two, a table has its centre before anyone looks at a side. The brisket also turns up in lighter form — a sandwich with pickle slices and onions — for anyone who wants the smoke without the full plate.