St. Louis barbecue bombs in NYC

The location of New York City’s Smokin’ Q was the real problem for this Steven Levy restaurant — it was the unlucky 13th tenant in a cursed restaurant location — but maybe it was the restaurateur’s money-back guarantee too. Levy delighted in telling his customers, this New York Times story reports, “If you don’t like it, give me the money and don’t come back.”

St. Louis-style barbecue didn’t fare so well in the Kansas City metro last year. The one local location of the St. Louis-based Bandana’s Bar-B-Que chain — located in Independence — closed a few months ago.