Hollywood invaded Alexandria Sept. 25 when the Travel Channel descended on Del Ray’s Pork Barrel BBQ Restaurant to tape an episode of its food show BBQ Crawl.

“We’re always looking for an interesting story and some great barbeque,” said Danielle Dimovski, the show’s host who is better known as Diva Q. “I’ve eaten here before and am excited to finally have a chance to showcase the restaurant’s BBQ on my show.”

Diva Q, one of North America’s highest ranked competitive BBQ’ers, spent several hours taping the show and learning about the cooking process used at the restaurant. She was joined by the show’s producer, Emily Glenn, and a camera crew.

“I explained the different kinds of woods we use in our cooking process,” said Heath Hall, co-founder of Pork Barrel BBQ. “It’s a pretty involved process, from the spices and seasonings used, to the temperature we cook the meat at and the cuts of meat we use.”

Diva Q was especially impressed with the restaurant’s “burnt ends,” a traditional Kansas City BBQ dish considered by many as a delicacy in barbeque cooking circles.

“It’s a special process that we use with pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket,” Hall said. “I’m pretty sure my recipe for burnt ends is the only reason my wife married me.”

The BBQ Crawl episode featuring Pork Barrel BBQ will air on the Travel Channel sometime next summer.