Site analysis and site reading are dominant practices in design studio pedagogy, but often offer little in the way of structure for both community engagement and community data analysis. In undertheorizing engagement and its analytical practice from the start, these methods default to extractivism with, unsurprisingly, poor results for communities. In this article, an alternative framework for studio pedagogy premised upon social critique is adapted from contemporary modes of community engagement in planning practice. This new framework is articulated through an experimental studio operating at the University of California Berkeley over three years. From lessons learned in/through the studio over the years, a three-part studio framework was developed centering social critique. In addition to the studio framework, three critical lessons are discussed for future community-engaged studios.