Three years ago, almost to the day, I reviewed Blue Smoke, Danny Meyer’s barbecue emporium. At the time, I lamented that New York’s stringent air-quality laws, which made it impossible to operate a commercial wood smoker without fabulously expensive exhaust equipment, had left us with a barbecue scene that was badly dysfunctional at best, nearly moribund at worst.

My, how things have changed. Today there are more than a dozen barbecue venues in the city, including at least six that have opened in 2005.

How has this happened? For one thing, there’s a new generation of exhaust and ventilation equipment, which makes it easier for small operators to comply with the air quality regulations. Also, some of the new places are cheating: Instead of using smokers, they’re using electric cookers with smoker-box attachments that create smoke by burning wood chips.

There’s nothing wrong with this cooking method per se – it’s how Sichuan restaurants make that delicious tea-smoked duck – but it’s not true barbecue. If only New York were as enlightened as South Carolina, which in 1986 enacted the Truth in Barbecue Law mandating that all Palmetto State barbecue emporia explicitly disclose whether they’re cooking with wood.

In lieu of such progressive legislation, it falls to the rest of us to police the situation. So in an attempt to sort out the quality from the quantity, the contenders from the pretenders, I recently surveyed seven of the city’s newest ‘cueries. The good news is that all except one are using real wood smokers (the exception is noted below); the bad news is that some of them still have a long way to go. Overall, though, I’m encouraged by the results. Here’s the rundown, from first to worst:

The Ranger Texas Barbecue (inside Legends Sports Bar, 7104 35th Ave., Jackson Heights, Queens, 718-779-6948): Canobio Canalizo apprenticed for years with Robert Pearson (who runs Pearson’s Texas Barbecue on the Upper East Side), and now he’s turning out his own barbecued fare at the same Queens sports bar where Mr. Pearson held forth for several years. Mr. Canalizo appears to have learned well: His pork ribs ($14.50 a pound), beef ribs ($14.50 a pound), and pulled pork ($13 a pound) are all magnificently smoky and tender, and he’s borrowed Mr. Pearson’s idea of serving his sandwiches ($7-$8.50) on high-quality Portuguese rolls. If you don’t mind the sometimes boisterous crowd watching ball games on the bar’s several TVs, this is definitely worth the trip.

R.U.B. (208 W. 23rd St., 212-524-4300): R.U.B. – an acronym for something so silly that I won’t dignify it by spelling it out – is run by longtime Kansas City barbecue maven Paul Kirk. He’s done his hometown proud by bringing us a true K.C. specialty: burnt ends, which are twice cooked nuggets from the fatty end of the brisket ($20) and are absolutely not to be missed. The rest of the menu is inconsistent: The smoked pastrami sandwich ($9.75) is juicy and sharp, but the brisket ($9.75) is bone-dry; spareribs ($12.75) are a smoky delight, but deep-fried ribs ($11.75) are a bizarre idea that turns out to be inedible. But oh, those burnt ends – get there early, before they sell out of the day’s allotment.

Bone Lick Park (75 Greenwich Ave., 212-647-9600): Bone Lick owner Nick Accardi also owns Cola’s (an Italian place in Chelsea) and several pizzerias – not exactly an ideal barbecue pedigree. But despite this dubious background, and a restaurant name that’s impossible to say with a straight face, he turns out some surprisingly good pork ribs ($15) – juicy, smoky, and just spicy enough. And his beef ribs ($15) are beautifully tender. The weak link: his utterly characterless Carolina chopped pork ($12), which tastes like, well, a pizza man’s idea of barbecue.

Pig’n Out (60 Henry St., Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, 718-522-5547): You’ve got to wonder about a barbecue place where the chalkboard special is a $22 grilled steak. But Pig’n Out holds its own, thanks largely to some impressive Carolina-style pulled pork ($11.50), which features an agreeably lip-smacking vinegar tang. And while I don’t usually get too excited about side dishes, the pork-studded collard greens are bracingly crisp and fresh – a revelation compared to the over stewed mush that passes for collards throughout most of New York. Unfortunately, pork ribs ($11.75) and beef ribs ($13.75) have great texture but not nearly enough smokiness.

Spanky’s BBQ (127 W. 43rd St., 212-575-5848, www.spankysnyc.com): Like so many Times Square eateries these days, this one appears to be geared primarily for tourists. It smells great when you walk in, and it’s cool to see the meat cooking away inside the glass-walled smoker, but it’s mostly downhill from there. Brisket ($12) is dry, pulled pork ($10.50) is drowning in a sweet, gloppy sauce, and the interior design is straight out of the Houlihan’s handbook. The closest thing to good barbecue is the fine spareribs ($15), which are exactly – I mean exactly – like the ones at your corner Chinese takeout place. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but it certainly isn’t enough to justify a trip here.

Smoked (103 Second Ave., 212-388-0388, www.smokednyc.com): When you go to the Smoked Web site, you’re immediately greeted by strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “That Smell.” Apparently nobody at Smoked is aware that the song refers to the smell of death, which is appropriate, because this place isn’t going to live very long. Chef Kenneth Collins (formerly of the neo-Southern restaurant Ida Mae’s Kitchen & Lounge) is a talent, but he’s out of his element here. Pork ribs ($12) are gorgeously burnished but taste utterly smoke-free, and the menu’s most interesting idea – smoked duck confit ($17) – comes off like dried-out chicken. Entree prices don’t include any sides, the badly over designed interior will have you muttering “distressed metal” in your sleep, and the hard-rock soundtrack is so loud that you have to shout to be heard.

Bar BQ (689 Sixth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-499-4872): The owner of Bar BQ showed off this establishment’s electric faux smoker and proudly explained, with no apparent irony, that it’s “just like the ones they use at Chili’s and Applebee’s.” To be fair, everyone here is very eager to please, but they¹re in over their heads – the food has no life, no zing. Sort of like the food at, y’know, Chili’s or Applebee’s.

One other item of note: With the exception of Spanky’s, these newcomers have avoided the design trap of decking themselves out like down-home theme parks – a heartening sign that New York is starting to treat barbecue as real food, instead of as a lifestyle accessory.