ha..ha... great post, fun trip.

In-a-Tub was probably one of my favorite bites of the weekend in KC.

dont knock em' til ya try em':


If In-a-tub was local Id be a regular on Friday and Sat nights..

Just a few notes on DaBeef’s post. That covers an amazing range of places and genres; I don’t know how you did it.

There is a branch of In-a-Tub a few hundred feet from LC’s Hamburgers in the Platte Woods area. If you make burger tour of KC, you can hit both.

If you order the same meal to eat in at Stroud’s, sides are unlimited.

I had much better luck at LC’s BBQ last time I was there. The burnt ends were almost perfect. Their service is not known for its speed or even consistency.

For about six months I shared a house with the sous chef from the Farmhouse. He used to bring home the most wonderful pork Osso Buco.

jimswside wrote:ha..ha... great post, fun trip.

In-a-Tub was probably one of my favorite bites of the weekend in KC.

dont knock em' til ya try em':


If In-a-tub was local Id be a regular on Friday and Sat nights..

Boys, next time, get a tamale chaser!

Ah, a good excuse to dust off this old draft. KC is one of those places I get to about once a year, but always take for granted since I'm there so much and inevitably procrastinate posting about.

BBQ

Now, I've never been to Texas hill country and my time in the Carolinas back in the day was haunted by a vegetarian ex. So out of town, KC is the only place I've had considerable experiences eating BBQ. And like my boys' posts from earlier today, I've never been absolutely stunned by any of the que I've tried down there. Definitely some good to great morsels here and there, but the focus does seem to be on the sauce rather than woodsmoke-kissed meats. I know its part of their meatpacking heritage, but you've got to wonder if these joints can really successfully pull off the crazy range of offerings that seem to be available joint to joint: ribs, brisket, burnt ends, sliced shoulder, ham, poultry, lunch meat logs, you name it.

Its too bad Woodyard didn't pan out for you guys since I have some buddies who recreationally participate in KCBS smoke offs, who esteem Woodyard highest amongst the competition. The gods have not given me a crack at them yet for some reason or other (roadwork, irregular hours)

Da Beef wrote:I've heard nothing but praise for this place and I'll be the first to preach to someone you cant judge a BBQ spot based off one visit but what a letdown. It's not like we were taking this tour on a Tuesday afternoon, most of these spots were doing big business which I assume is the case on most Saturday's. That said LC's wasn't ready. I loved the looks of the place and the fact you could see the smoke in the air while dining inside but it was as if they'd never been busy before. Folks ahead of us were complaining about how they'd been waiting going on a half hour after making their order and we would wind up doing the same. Remembering I wasn't a fan of burnt ends when served wetter than a whales anus I promptly asked the lady taking our order to make sure the sauce was on the side. I walked back to Jim and set the odds of that happening at slim to none and sure enough I was on like Vegas. How was the meat? Chewy. I'm pretty sure they rushed it out because they had no other choice but most of it went into the garbage. Now the four or five pieces that were edible were outstanding and maybe those were a peak into what real burnt ends are all about but at this point I was done with them. All this said, I wont hesitate to go back here because I've heard enough good things.

LC's

Like Beef, I love the over-worked look of the pits in KC and love when the action is right there:



Burnt ends it was:



My experience was considerably better than Beef & Jim's. While they were definitely drowned in sauce, the meat, itself, was pretty damn good, smoky and quite tender. Unfortunately LC's sauce didn't do much for me, it tasted pretty industrial with HFCS and perhaps even some liquid sm*ke in there. Next time, I'll be firm about ordering sauce on the side.

I wish I'd ordered their thick hand-cut fries, but opted for novelty with "Spicy Fried Green Beans"


Obviously out of a frozen bag, the trashy effect had me reaching for a few more than reasonable judgement would have dictated, but again, I wished I had ordered the fries.

Arthur Bryant's



Spader's been eating here since the 80's, has to be good, right?

This place is an institution and my favorite aspect of the place is how everyone in town seems to love the place. Bryant's has a pretty overwhelming variety of meats to choose from. When you hit a line as long as we did on my last trip at about 8 pm on a Saturday, it gives you plenty of time to deliberate and covet platters emerging from behind the smoke stained glass. They even had rib tips on this particular trip and they looked pretty damned good. Fortunately they offer combo plates, so since of course I had to try to the burnt ends, I could also try another offering, which for me that night would be sliced BBQ pork, it seemed novel receiving my BBQ off a meat slicer.



Starting with the burnt ends, these had been held in sauce resulting in a mushy, crock-pot-style pulled pork effect and not desirable at all. Unfortunately the sliced pork did not hold up so well either, quite dry, with a visible smoke ring only obvious around the edges from the large hunk of shoulder it was sliced from. The fries, as common in KC BBQ houses, were quite good, at least, and gave me an opportunity to try their range of pretty good sauces. I wouldn't rule out Bryant's, though. On this trip I probably I ordered wrong. I've definitely enjoyed ribs from them in the early afternoon. Such is the timing factor with BBQ.

Oklahoma Joe's

Its too bad you guys didn't get a shot at this wildly popular spot. I was skeptical myself and did not want to like this place, the clear tourist favorite. Sure, the inside-the-gas-station thing has a quaint folksiness about it, but this is more like your interstate truck stop-brand of gas station replete with souvenir aisles. The line snaked around quite deep and the looks of the clientele skewed almost entirely of the Caucasian persuasion. We split a half-rack of ribs and a platter of burnt ends:




I liked the ribs okay. I'm not sure what kind of smoker they use, but these guys had a real even effect that, to me, lacked a little bit of soul. Don't get me wrong, they were succulent and had the perfect resistant tug off the bone. The smoke was light and the rub was pronounced, which is perhaps what I did not prefer about them. Still, quite good.
The burnt ends, on the other hand, were by far the best I've had– notice unsauced– tender bits balanced out with charred chewy bark. Neither of the items really needed too much sauce, though Joe's has a plethora of pretty nice options. Again, great fries, probably the best, I think the KC style is to finish with a sprinkle of Lawry's.

So, yup, OK Joe's has been my favorite commercially produced Kansas City BBQ, however much I wanted to resist the hype and judge its perceived authenticity (the latter, a habit I need to cut out). Note: these three entries are just the ones I spent time documenting, paying attention to what I was shoving in my face. I've had some pretty good stuff at Gates' too, though wasn't in the frame of mind to take notes.

Tacos

I've frequented this spot mostly out of convenience, since I find myself most often on the west side of town:

Ricos Tacos "Lupe"



I love the vibe of this place, the interior just as colorful as its street presence.



Frankly, I cannot recall what we're looking at here. Definitely some lengua and tripe on the lower left. I see the telltale adobo of pastor on the upper right. These tacos are fine, not bad at all considering some can be on special at $1. I'm sure that pastor did not get carved off a trompo. Unlike…

El Camino Real




Put this on the must-try list for next time. These guys are masters of el trompo. This style is all quite similar to Los Barrilitos here in town– a big honking trompo, propane powered (you can see the yellow propane line in the bottom left of the above pic) cooked to a crisp doneness on the spit, sliced thin. Unlike Barrilitos, the tromp here is crowned with pineapple and the trompador (did I make that up?) has that skill I've seen at play in the streets of LA and el DF, where with the flick of a wrist he slivers a piece of pineapple which he then proceeds to catch with the taco.

Served commando, to be dressed at the table:



The first time I had these I was enamored, the thin, crispy style I remembered eating in the DF. The subsequent times, the pleasure was clouded in the academic haze of too much time spent thinking about what an authentic al pastor taco should look and taste like. I have a hunch many of my friends here on the board would love these, though.

Here's a plate of assorted tacos from another visit:



Al pastor to the left, lengua on top, pescado on the bottom right. Great lengua cut in thick batons. Note the interesting, and to me preferable, style of fish taco– broiled and flaked meat. Kinda plain, but I've just never been a fan of crispy batter on my taco.

Town Topic



I don't know what took me until my fourth trip down to get here. I love old school burgers!



And this is one of the best, griddled crisp in a big ol' mess o' onions!

New School

The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange

Full disclosure: I've become pretty chummy with staff here. My very good friends run a micro-granting organization called Bread KC! that contributes the income from pop up meal events that they host to local artists and other small scale cultural projects. The Bread crew works frequently with the Rieger and I've been a guest chef in their kitchen, fun stuff. What I love most about the Reiger is the vibe. The folks that run this place have great attitudes and clearly love what they do. Watching the line here on a busy weekend night and you'd be amazed at the congenial, downright civil atmosphere of the kitchen presided over by the affable Chef Howard Hanna. Situate these great vibes in a wonderfully restored hotel dating back to, I believe, the teens and you've got the kind of place where you're gonna want to kick back and stay awhile. Their cocktails are great as is the food. They do fantastic things with charcuterie and creative seafood dishes. Brunch and lunch are also highly recommended, but watch yourselves with the drinks early in the day! Here's a pic of an amazing soft-shell crab sandwich special from their lunch menu a few years ago:



The Local Pig

The Local Pig is a cute as a button old butcheshop with super tidy cases teeming with old school offerings and creative concoctions alike:



They also have a sandwich trailer out back called Pigwich. We tried a couple of sandwiches there on my one trip and the results were 50/50. I loved the pork meatball banh mi which was redolent of lemograss and quite juicy. In fact, I've done my best to replicate this sandwich at home. A porchetta sandwich was unfortunately, mostly a failure on that particular outing– all unrendered fat and under washed greens.

I should also shout out to Farm to Market Bread, who my buddy works for. They do fairly large scale, artisanal production that lands in many of the finer restaurants and retail establishments. I'm amazed by the quality they retain at the volume they're working at, I'd say its leagues better than any of our much smaller operations here in Chi. In fact, when I cater I often have them ship me up their product.

Kansas City has a really cool culinary scene, its very generous and welcoming and I'm always inspired by how willing even the busiest chefs are to collaborate with DIY art events.

LC's Bar-B-Q
5800 Blue Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64129
(816) 923-4484

Arthur Bryant's Barbecue
1727 Brooklyn Ave, Kansas City, MO 64127
(816) 231-1123

Oklahoma Joe's Bar-B-Que
3002 W 47th St, Kansas City, KS 66103
(913) 722-3366

Ricos Tacos "Lupe"
802 SW Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 472-0738

El Camino Real
903 N 7th Street Trafficway, Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 342-4333

The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange
1924 Main St, Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 471-2177

The Local Pig
2618 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120
(816) 200-1639

Farm to Market Bread Company
100 E 20th St, Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 363-3198

Jefe wrote:
The Local Pig
2618 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120
(816) 200-1639

nice additions.

Had Local Pig/Pigwich on the list, ran out of time - hunger possibly.

We were however right across the street to snap a pic of this Old firehouse. Heim Brewery Firehouse # 20.

This area is where K.C's 1st Electric Park was located back in the day(late 1890's - early 1900's) - approx @ Chestnut Street and Guinotte Ave.. This is also where the Heim Brewery was - They had beer lines running from the brewery to the beer garden at Electric Park.

Heim Brewing Co. Firehouse # 20

wesuilmo wrote:Just a few notes on DaBeef’s post. That covers an amazing range of places and genres; I don’t know how you did it.

There is a branch of In-a-Tub a few hundred feet from LC’s Hamburgers in the Platte Woods area. If you make burger tour of KC, you can hit both.

If you order the same meal to eat in at Stroud’s, sides are unlimited.

I had much better luck at LC’s BBQ last time I was there. The burnt ends were almost perfect. Their service is not known for its speed or even consistency.

For about six months I shared a house with the sous chef from the Farmhouse. He used to bring home the most wonderful pork Osso Buco.

Glad a local approves! Thanks for reading it, I dont think some of the people on here quite comprehend how much time goes into these long posts. It'd be easy to post a link with a sentence or two and call it a day but I'm trying to get some discussion going so its nice when someone acknowledges them. I look forward to a return dance with hamburgers.

Jefe wrote:Now, I've never been to Texas hill country and my time in the Carolinas back in the day was haunted by a vegetarian ex. So out of town, KC is the only place I've had considerable experiences eating BBQ. And like my boys' posts from earlier today, I've never been absolutely stunned by any of the que I've tried down there. Definitely some good to great morsels here and there, but the focus does seem to be on the sauce rather than woodsmoke-kissed meats. I know its part of their meatpacking heritage, but you've got to wonder if these joints can really successfully pull off the crazy range of offerings that seem to be available joint to joint: ribs, brisket, burnt ends, sliced shoulder, ham, poultry, lunch meat logs, you name it.

Its too bad Woodyard didn't pan out for you guys since I have some buddies who recreationally participate in KCBS smoke offs, who esteem Woodyard highest amongst the competition. The gods have not given me a crack at them yet for some reason or other (roadwork, irregular hours)

Woodyard was good, three out of the five stops were, hopefully I didnt come off as too hard to please. It just wasn't good enough to make me plan a detour when passing thru or anything like that. But if I lived in KC I'd of been back by now. I think part of the problem for KC BBQ is the fact some of these spots serve ten types of meats. I've seen pics of the brisket at Arthur Bryant's and it makes me wonder. I haven't been so I wont comment past that but it looks nothing like these spots. Good looks on the follow-up post, those pastor tacos look like the real deal.

Da Beef's comment about "ten types of meat" made me think of something. Arthur Bryant's used to server mutton and it was pretty darn good. I can't find anyplace in KC that still serves it.

Gates serves Mutton as an entree, but not on a sandwich. I've heard good things, but haven't yet tried it myself.

Buddy

Thanks Buddy, I haven't eaten in at gates in years. I'll have to check the mutton out. My KC office is just down the street from a Gate's and many of our business meeting lunches are catered by them. Usually beef, ham and turkey with loaves of white bread.

As a local KC friend likes to say, "Bread so white you can smell the bleach."

Buddy

That's weird, I used to get the mutton sand all the time. Wonderfully greasy, gamey, with excellent smoke. But I just looked at their menu and no mutton sand. Might could be that they'd make you one if you asked.

Geo
PS. I liked Gates' mutton better than that at the Moonlight in Owensboro.

Wow, that's saying a lot! Although I like lamb and mutton, I've always been a fan of Gates' Beef-And-A-Half Sandwich, so that's been my go to order. I'll need to make a point of trying the mutton next time we're in town.

Buddy

I just found out about Judy Jones' death. I'm so sorry, Kansas City. She was a one-of-a-kind gal, brooked no nonsense and suffered no fools, but generous beyond words once she knew you. What a terrible loss.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansas ... =174614215

Read this article today. Makes me want to eat here.

The North End
910 E. 5th St.
Kansas City, MO

St. Louis' FEAST magazine (a food-centric freebie) has expanded its coverage to mid-Missouri and KC. Here is a link to a search for "Kansas City." But beware as you click around the page. FEAST may be a freebie, but the linked adverts made it clear I need to clean out my cached of cookies.

http://www.feastmagazine.com/search/?l= ... a=eedition

They do some longer articles of interest, such as the recent coverage of chef Peter Wang of Iron Horse Restaurant in Olathe, who makes Xi'an style hand-pulled noodles. Silly, though, that they included a recipe, after noting that it took Wang himself 3 years to master the ancient art.

http://www.feastmagazine.com/dine/featu ... 16187.html

Headed to KC this week for work and looking forward to making some rounds.

Anyone have any intel on excellent espresso / coffee?

Right now the only BBQ place lined up is Q39. Anyone been down lately and have any tips?

Da Beef wrote:_____________________________


McGonigle's Market

McGonigle's has been supplying the people of KC Metro with quality butchered meats for over a half a century and on the weekends they sell BBQ to go. It's made in a smoker that sits there in the parking lot tempting you with sweet smells as you both drive by or walk inside to shop for dinner.


Inside McGonigle's

Very cool spot, as you may or may not know I'm a fan of old school butchers and they've got a world class operation they're running here. After taking a peak at their homemade Italian sausage in the case inside and then seeing the links of them sitting in the smoker outside I decided that was what I needed to try. Props to me for the order. I think this might of been my favorite bite of the trip. Their Italian sausage is fattier than most I've come across but I assume that's because they smoke it. This was done so perfectly and when paired with their spicy pepper driven bbq sauce and some sliced red onions it was a pennant winner. Throw some giardineria on there next time around and you could have a World Series champion.


Smoked Italian Sausage Sandwich

McGonigle's Market
1307 W 79 St
Kansas City, MO 64114
(816) 444-4720

The smoked Italian Sausage Sandwich was indeed one of the finest bites of food I've had this year. Sausage is simply incredible, coarse grind, good spice/flavor, awesome !!!