BarBersQ is not some sloppy, red-check plastic tablecloth barbecue joint, the kind you find all across America.

No. It’s a new Napa Valley-style barbecue joint, which means very cool and sophisticated, with pricing to match.

BarBersQ is located at the north end of Bel Aire Plaza, occupying part of the former Saketini space. Business by business, the center’s new managers are transforming Bel Aire into Napa’s happening shopping center. BarBersQ fits right in.

Walking through open double doors, we were dazzled by a back wall covered with slotted wine bottles. The decor is crisply modern, with white walls, a concrete floor, black tabletops, dark banquettes. A profusion of wine country photographs — black and white, naturally — cover two walls.

A restaurant this stylish, with a commitment to high-end wine, could easily fit Upvalley. But here it is, at Bel Aire Plaza, offering the casual elegance that has come to define Napa Valley style.

The menu is as down home as they come, with Memphis-style pulled pork sandwiches, barbecued ribs and chicken, baby back ribs, porterhouse pork chops, collard greens, baked beans and corn bread.

Almost every ingredi­ent comes with a label, identifying the artisanal source. The hand-crafted grilled sausages come from Fra’Mani in Berkeley, the pork from the Vande Rose Farm, home of premium Duroc pigs in Oskaloosa, Iowa. The buns come courtesy of Alexis Baking Company, Napa.

We were seated at a rear banquette, under a photo of a smiling Dan Duckhorn. A ribbon of beveled mirrors added luster to our dining zone. Tables were close, but we arrived before the evening crowd.

Our waitress, decked out all in white, was friendly and informative. She could elaborate on each ingredient’s genealogy. When she said the baked beans were made with Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, an heirloom variety hailing from New England, any chance we would have skipped the beans flew out the window.

We’d heard critical reports about the ribs. Several dinners had complained they were too dry, lacking the lip-smacking wetness that defined their rib-eating expectations.

The ribs begin with a dry marinade, our waitress explained, then are smoked a good eight or more hours in a cherrywood smoker. They come lightly sauced. For those who want more, each table has house-made mild and hot sauces. The hot sauce had just been reformulated. “We kicked it up a bit,” she said.

We ordered a half rack of baby back ribs, which came with cole slaw, for $14.75, and a pulled pork sandwich, with a Riverdog Farm butter lettuce salad, for $9.95. Our sides: baked beans and fries, each $5.75.

Glasses of premium wine ran from $8 to $15, bottles from $29 to $110. Bottled beers were $3.95 and $4.95.

The food came quickly, attractively displayed on white plates. The fries came in a metal cone, erupting like a spud Vesuvius.

For my $14.75, I got seven ribs. Not exactly a banquet’s worth, but they were spectacularly good. I couldn’t fathom what the critics had been talking about. They were spicy, meaty and fatty in perfect proportions, and wet enough for me.

I splashed on some of the hot sauce which amped things a bit, but to my taste buds the extra garnish wasn’t needed. My companion agreed. Superb ribs, she said.

Everything else before us was wonderful. The slaw was cold, balanced between sweet and sour. It made ordinary slaw taste like slop.

Those heirloom beans with New England roots were plump white nuggets of beanness steeped in molasses, brown sugar and bacon. It was as if we were tasting baked beans for the first time.

The fries were thin, crisp, non-oily and extremely hot. There were enough for two or three people to share.

The Memphis pulled pork sandwich was a bargain.

It was loaded with meat and topped with a crown of cole slaw. It was a meal onto itself.

Even ordering moderately, without drinks, we’d rung up a $40 tab. We left some tantalizing menu items untasted, such as the Benton’s country ham, cheddar and scallion biscuits ($8.25), the Fulton Farms roasted vinegar chicken ($28.95) and a spectacular list of desserts.

Our waitress touted the $7.50 fried apple pie that came with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

I had eyes for Model Bakery’s chocolate ganache cake, $8.75. A friend reported that the $6.95 hot fudge sundae, with candied pecans, toasted almonds and brandied cherries, was suitably decadent.

BarBersQ will be offering outdoor seating. It is open seven days for lunch and dinner at the north end of Bel Air Plaza at the junction of Highway 29 and Trancas Street.

Readers with tips about interesting places to eat should e-mail diningout-@napanews.com