Holiday barbecue to rival your own

We love the holiday barbecue as much as the next guy or gal, but we wonder — will your weekend ’cue be able to match up with these dishes that are on menus around town?

A barbecue without hot dogs would be sad, indeed. But a grill with something like what they’ve got on the menu at Varga Bar (941 Spruce St.) would be sublime. The new Washington Square West bar pumps up the humble dog by braising Kobe beef with Sly Fox Helles and topping it with house-made chili.

Burgers demand a spot on the grill, and when your dogs say Kobe, the burger had better step up its game, too. We’re so in love with the dry-aged burger with aged cheddar on Barclay Prime’s (237 S. 18th St.) pub menu that we can’t decide if it’s just the best burger we’ve ever tasted or maybe the best meat dish we’ve ever had.

We dig the grilled taste on seafood, too, and right now the tender tentacles of Johnny Brenda’s (1201 Frankford Ave.) grilled octopus are tops.

It isn’t the Fourth without corn on the cob, and Cantina Dos Segundos (931 N. Second St.) makes a version worth copying. It’s tough to best the classic salt, pepper and butter, but the Northern Liberties Mexican spot does so with this rendition: The grilled cob is topped with mayonnaise, cotija cheese, powdered ancho chile and lime.

Finish up your fantasy barbecue with an “all-American” apple pie from Steven Starr’s comfort foodery, Jones (700 Chestnut St.).  This version has a double crust and is topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. If you’re lucky, the one mom will make this weekend can compete.