What is the Best BBQ in Kansas City?

My pleasure, Sandy.

There used to be fun trollys running that route, but now we have to settle for a regular bus.

Keith

Tomorrow night it will be a Jack Stack BBQ dinner in KC. My tenderloin pursuit at lunch is also set. That I will hold till later and another thread.

Used to eat LC's about once a week because I worked close to it. The food quality was nearly always good, but some days suffered by comparison. The best I ever had was when a vendor supplied us an in-office lunch with about 8 lbs of each kind of LC's meat, plus all the extras. Pure heaven. The LC's shack is a hoot at lunch. Blue collars in their Carhart coveralls in line next to Lexus-piloting yuppies in suits trying to do business on their Crackberry with grease-covered fingers.

I like the Jack's Stack out in Martin City (KC suburb to the south) better than the one downtown. You have to try the cheesy-corn, and the ambience is BBQ heaven.

Gates has lots of different sauces, but I just can't take the screaming at you and traffic jam at the ordering line unless I'm in the right mood. Rather have customer service.

I used to love Sneads in the 80s, but grew out of favor when it became Nichol's, then moved to Belton, then Sneads reopened the old place. It was always great at Christmas; the way it was decorated was so quaint -- totally down-home and country, like a family roadsider spot in rural Kentucky or something.

Summit Pit BBQ in Lee's Summit has some pretty good meat, and the best tasting beans to me of any place in KC.

BBQ is such a subjective food -- you could eat at 25 different BBQ places in KC and not get the same taste.

I didn't see anybody mention Famous Dave's out at the Legends (KS Speedway area). I've never tried it -- is it as homogenized as it sounds? I hear they're going to locate one in the new downtown Power & Light District entertainment complex. I figured they can't be that great if I haven't heard of them before they opened in KC, but I could be uneducated.

Famous Dave's is a chain. Its OK, but I don't think it is worth a special visit.

For some reason, their locations in Tulsa do a better job than the one in KCK.

Keith

Famous Dave's is out of Minnesota and indeed is a chain. Bottom line is if I was visiting Kansas City I would not go to Famous Dave's. There seems to be just too many local places to try before going to a chain not native to KC. Besides I have a Famous Dave's near my home in the Lake Minnetonka, MN area.

I did thoroughly enjoy Jack Stack at the Plaza in Kansas City. I had the burnt ends beef and pork and shared a stack of onion rings. I was with a party of about 20 people so saw most of the menu laid out. It all looked very good and my order went well with Boulevard Pale Ale.

Davydd, how was the service?

Keith

quote:

Originally posted by Sfreader

Davydd, how was the service?

Keith

Service was excellent. We had a group of about 20 people and all seemed well.

Jack Stack's burnt ends are pretty good, I haven't had anything better than LC's yet though!.

ON our way through KC a buddy of mine took us to Oklahoman Joes for some ribs and all. First off Saturday night this is one crowded place. I'm guessing about $10-12,000 worth of que goes out that door. On to the food. The ribs...great. Rubbed, smoked, and sauced. Just about perfect. Pink and smokey, enough fat left to feed that need and meat, lots of meat. I dug the spicy sauce, although spicy it wasn't. Just good. The pulled pork really didn't do it for me. Cooked well, tender, but kind of tasteless. Hmmm, maybe that sauce was spicier than I thought. The brisket was really good. Very tender with just the right chew to it, beefy and smokey. The turkey, well I was too full to try the turkey but I heard some appreciative sounds coming from that end of the table. As for the beans, okay nothing great, and the beans and rice, well the okay beans in some rice...nothing special there. The fries on the other hand were great. Still crispy and hot after a ride home, and spiced up well. My friend says they're worth the drive from Denver. I'm not sure about that but they definetly had their place on the plate next to the ribs. This was my only BBQ stop on the trip through KC this time. The lines out the door for a good reason, but I wonder how everything would be on a slow night?

quote:

Originally posted by biker jim

The lines out the door for a good reason, but I wonder how everything would be on a slow night?

There are no slow nights at Oklahoma Joe's

I had an amazing experience at the big Olathe Oklahoma Joe's, yesterday.

I arrived about 1PM, so there was no line. I order the French fries without the ton of season salt, so there is often a slight wait. When the fries were ready, I overheard them say it had been a minute forty seconds.

But the kitchen hadn't heard them call my sandwich order, so it was perhaps another 45 seconds for the sandwich. A total under 3 minutes.

While I was eating, the manager came to my table, apologized for the delay and said that he had credited my charge card for the meal.


Last week I tried the new Log Cabin BBQ that opened last month. They are a small chain with locations in Georgia and Iowa. The interior felt very fast food, but the people were nice and I was optimistic.

I ordered a sausage sandwich, 3 ribs, fries, and beans. The best thing about the meal was the hush puppies. The beans were not quite as good as Bush's Best from the can. The ribs were about like you get precooked and cryovaced from a supermarket. The sausage sandwich was a good value, but there wasn't much meat in the big bun.

When I left, I looked around the back of the building, and sure enough - there was no smokestack and no pile of wood.

Too bad. They are nice people.


Keith

quote:

Originally posted by Sfreader


Last week I tried the new Log Cabin BBQ that opened last month. They are a small chain with locations in Georgia and Iowa.
Keith

I am very leery of regional chains that are not confined to a specific region. Iowa and say Missouri for example I can understand, but GEORGIA??? Well, I guess you had to find out for yourself.

The Machine Shed is a perfect example-a regional chain confined to the Midwest- and the stuffed pork chop has never dissapointed me

WJ - That stuffed Poke Chop is heavenly, makes me hungry thinking about it right now.

My husband and I are driving from Colorado to Pennsylvania on I-70 and I have been using Roadfood to search for restaurant choices via my BlackBerry browser. This post lead us to Jack Stack's barbecue restaurant in Overland Park, KS. It was an excellent choice. There was a significant line but we chose to eat at the bar and got right in. The service was friendly and efficient and the food was delicious. The burnt ends and ribs (both baby back and lamb) were yummy and the side dishes won't dissappoint. Try the cheesy cornbake. The slaw was as good as any I have had and better than I make myself. We even bought a bottle of their spicy sauce to take home. Thanks to everyone who put in their 2 cents.

Most of us don't have the luxury of having all these great "Q" places to try! It's funny to read about the heated debates...All of you in KC...Just be thankful!

I've eaten "Q" in lots of supposedly great places in the Southern USA...Bub Sweatman's in Holly Hill, SC, Interstate in Memphis, Bob Gibson's and Dreamland in AL, to name a few. Nothing has even come close to what I experienced at Arthur Bryant's Brooklyn Ave location in KC...I mean nothing! I promised myself I'll be back one day to try this great city's other "Q" offerings so I can join the debate. Need to get to Texas, too!

I don't care for either. My list:
 
Like: Bandanas; Bates; Big T’s; Boardroom; Brodie’s Backyard B.B.Q. 532 - 9273; Fillin’ Station; Jack Stack; L.C.’s; Long Horn; Mama Jo’s; Smoke Stack; Smokebox; Smokin’ Joe’s; Snead’s, Texas Road House; Topeka Steak House
 
Dislike: Big Q BBQ; Gates; Hayward; Holy Smoke (L.S.); K.C. Masterpiece; Mighty Mo’s; Quick’s; Rosedale; Smoke House; Zarda; 135^th St. K.C. Masterpiece and Rosedale are grossly overrated.
 
Knight’s wasn’t considered. Flamethrowers; Nichol’s; Ricky’s
 
Smokebox had excellent steak fries, great potato flavor, not overcooked or over salted.
Smokein’ Joes had a new item, stuffed black olives
Smoke Stack’s sampler was incredible, got 3 meals out of it.
 
Those crossed out have gone out of business.

The last KC Masterpiece location closed a few months ago.

 Keith

try Rosedale Barbecue..they moved to a new locatiob, but when my wife lived in KC, she said they were her favorite...the sauce was to die for!!

Where was Bobby Bell's BBQ when it was in the KC area?

Where was Bobby Bell's BBQ when he was in the KC area?  In Overland Park?  If so where?

I seem to recall it being in KCNorth, but that is just a gut feeling. It seems like I would have eaten there if it was in OP or lower KC.
His sauce was tremendous, I do remember that. And it had beet powder as an ingredient.

I have seen mention of a location in Kansas City, Kansas, but the Bobby Bell's Bar-b-que I visited was north of Vivian Road in KC, MO. I think it was on Antioch. It was on the east side of the street. That was over 20 years ago.