Okay, here's the quick rundown of my Kansas City, Missouri, experience. More details and photos are at this link.

(1) Arthur Bryant's (Brooklyn Ave.). Nice atmosphere. This was one of the few KC joints where the pits weren't totally hidden from view. I got a sliced beef sandwich, fries, and burnt ends. The beef in the sandwich wasn't bad at all--fairly moist and with good smoke flavor. It wasn't tender and flavorful enough to be enjoyable straight, but in the sandwich format, it was pretty good. Some of the better beef I had in KC. The burnt ends were a flop. Mostly interior meat (i.e., no crust) that had been tossed in their tangy orange sauce which overwhelmed the flavor of the beef. These were the weakest burnt ends of the trip. The fries were okay, but didn't live up to their billing. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good barbecue joint.

(2) Filling Station (Lee's Corner). Kind of quaint in a yuppified sort of way. Ribs were too tender and had a squishy exterior (probably from having been stored a while, possibly overnight). Burnt ends were crusty and smoky, but far too dry to be enjoyable. The soupy beans weren't among the better ones I had in KC, but were still very good. Not a bad place, but not good enough that I'd go back.

(3) Wabash (Excelsior Springs). Train station turned barbecue joint. Beans had a pronounced chemical taste (liquid smoke?). Steak-cut fries were pretty good. I'd heard great things about the ribs, so I ordered a short end. Great smokiness and pork flavor, but comically over-tender. No joke...when I picked up the ribs by the tip of the bones, the meat slid right off in one piece onto the plate. Had the pork not been cooked down to baby food texture, they could have been outstanding.

(4) Snead's (south of Martin City). Cool presentation of the beans in a mini-crock, though they were a little too sweet for my taste. Ordered a "brownie" platter, half beef, half ham. The beef brownies (or burnt ends) were among the better ones I had in KC. A little tough, but good crust and smokiness and not totally dry, as some had been. The ham brownies were just cubed smoked ham--nothing brown about them. Forgot to get the "log sandwich," till it was too late. The place had promise, though. I'd go back.

(5) LC's (Blue Parkway). One of the better vibes of any of the KC places I went to. I always like to see the pit front and center, as it was here. I got there a while before they opened, though, and the pit wasn't working. They didn't fire it up till about 20 minutes before opening time, which meant that the meats I was served weren't at peak freshness. Got a short end of ribs. Meat was firm, but not tough, and very, very smoky. Good flavor, though the texture would have been better had they been fresher. Beans were outstanding--among the best of the trip. Burnt ends (pictured below), for which I'd had high hopes, were a dud. Crusty, but in a very carbony way, tough, and dry. I've seen pictures of burnt ends from LC's before and they looked much, much juicier than what I was served. I must have hit them on an off day. I wanted to go back and try again, but time didn't permit it.

(6) Fiorella's Jack Stack (Martin City). Lamb ribs were moderately smoky and with a slight gaminess; not very meaty, but pretty good. Brisket was of a good sandwich-grade--moist and fairly smoky, but rubbery in texture and lacking intensity of flavor. Burnt ends were the best of the trip--juicy and with a pretty good crust, though the fat hadn't quite reached that point of perfection where it instantly dissolves in your mouth. Cheesy corn was interesting and much better than I expected--silky smooth and very rich. The beans absolutely knocked my socks off; they were the best thing I ate on the entire trip. Spare ribs were very good--smoky, not over-tender (like many had been on this trip), and with a very good pork flavor. The spare ribs here were probably the best meat I had in this trip to KC.

In all, it was a lot of fun. Some of the meats didn't live up to expectations. But a lot of the joints had history and character to burn.

Scott

PS Steve, yeah, I missed your warning. Oh, well. Next time I'll go for the chicken.

Just wanted to add my praise for Jack Stack. First time I went I had the lamb ribs and burnt ends like some of the other posters above. Good stuff but not the cat's meow. The second time I went I had "crown prime ribs." Not exactly sure what they are; but they are far and away the best ribs I've ever had in my life.

Jack Stack is not too bad..dependable, thats for sure. I've been to the JS in Overland Park at 95th and Metcalf many times, as its a favorite of my family down there. Not a big fan of any beef ribs, so I can't opine on those. However, their burnt ends (beef, not pork) are great. Perhaps the best in KC, but at least the best item on JS's menu.

As I've started to read more about bbq in that area, and have felt more confortable getting away during big family reunions and other events, I've ventured out out to other parts of the area. On a recent trip, I made an attempt to follow some of the BBQ trail from the OP. Time permitted only three, so I chose Bryants, Danny Edwards and Woodyard.

Had the brisket sammie from Bryants. It was good, as shown in pics prior, so I decided not to post. Nothing has changed there. So, onto Danny Edwards.

It was closed. My bad timing. Oh well. Onwards and upwards, to Woodyard.

After reading about Woodyard bbq from browsing off of links in this post, I decided to check it out. I ordered baby backs which I ate there, and sliced brisket to take back with me. The ribs nice and smoky, toothsome but not tough. Charred nicely on the outside with a subtle smoke ring.
The sliced brisket cold was ok. I suspect it would have been better fresh, but it wasn't available at the time. It made for good sandwiches with the Bryant sauce I picked up earlier in the day.
(for whatever reason, I can't find the pics of the ribs and brisket -- will edit and post them at another time)

Woodyard from the road:





Pitmaster at work:





Back of the smoker:





A nice sitting area to enjoy your 'que:





My next trip to KC, I plan on driving in order to take home a few bags of these for my own smoking:



Woodyard BBQ
3001 Merriam Ln.
Kansas City, KS
66106
913-236-6666
http://www.woodyardbbq.com/

Thanks, Joel. Always fun to log on just before I'm about to head out for some lunch here in KC and find that exact place posted about just now on LTH. Here's another thread about Woodyard, too:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11814

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/146083.html

[quote] Danny Edwards Famous Kansas City Barbecue is telling downtown he’s taking his own advice: “Eat it and beat it.”

The 18-seat Zagat Survey winner at 1227 Grand Blvd. will move to 2900 Southwest Blvd. in mid-August.

...

Edwards plans to operate on Grand until Danny Edwards Boulevard Barbecue opens in August. The Southwest Boulevard space formerly housed Pandano Brothers restaurant.

But don’t look for the barbecue’s signature peppermint pink trim at the new location. Edwards plans to paint it dark brown with red and yellow trim and red neon.

...[/quote]

Hi,

When I read the first line, my heart stopped because I was expecting to learn he decided to close. Moving is surely a good move (for us!).

Thanks for the information.

Regards,

This past Monday and Wednesday I passed through the Kansas City Airport.

Had I reveiwed Cathy2 and Your Pal Will's epic KC bbq post, I would have hit Eat It and Beat It.

As it was, Monday morning at 10:05 AM (11:05 by my east coast body clock), I left Arthur Bryant's with a hefty go bag of brisket, burnt ends, slaw and beans.

With a 160 mile easy interstate drive before me, alone in my rental car, I shut off my cell phone, unwrapped the brown butcher paper, spread it out on the passenger seat and began to dig into the burnt ends, eating with my fingers as if it were poi or injerra. With my left hand I drove and balanced the cups of slaw and beans.

The burnt ends were basically potted meat slathered in sauce. It was a huge portion (and I am a huge guy). A couple of bites were crunchy and good, the rest was sauce overload.

Then I finally got to the brisket. After bathing, literally, in the sauced burnt ends, eating the brisket with my fingers was pretty pleasant. The brisket was cut from my favorite part--not too lean, not too fatty. It had little smoke flavor, was very moist.

The slaw was very good--not sweet, just chunky cabbageness. The beans were meaty and rich. Would definitely reorder both.

On the way out the door, there were already several patrons eating, and the ribs looked darn good.

My flight wed evening was 7:00 PM. After long consultations with LTH's KC correspondent Aaron Deacon, I decided to make one more stab at Bryant's.

This time brisket, ribs, slaw and beans. I settled into the airport bar two hours before flight time. A glass of beer rented me a table and I spread out my haul in the light of day. This time I had a napkin in my lap and a fork and a knife.

The ribs were quite respectable, cut from the small end as requested. Were they championship quality? No. But they were certainly good enough to reorder.

The brisket this time was cut from the leaner end. It had a nice smoke flavor and even though somewhat lean and with some chew, was moist. Overall very good. Would reorder based on this second time through.

The slaw and the beans are keepers. I got both meats dry, unsauced, and grabbed some spicy sauce on the way out. It had an unpleasant flavor component, so much so that I immediately capped it and tossed it into the bag. I didn't even try to identify it.

Next time, its Lil Jake's Eat It and Beat It, which as far as I can tell opens at 10:30 AM, and runs til about 2:00 PM.

All that said, Bryant's is fast as long as there is not too much of a line. And when on airport time, that's a serious positive.

Just an update on Danny Edwards' and the Woodyard.

Living near KC (and even when I didn't) I'd hit KC for BBQ periodically. Danny Edwards did not move of his own accord. He was an culinary institution in a downtown that had long been dead when it came to dining. However, massive redevelopment in the neighborhood put him on the chopping block. I made a few last trips in right before the move (I need to post some pictures on the web). Unfortunately, the new entertainment district going up that forced him out will not have a KC BBQ located within. Instead, a chain (Famous Daves - out of Iowa I believe) will be there. True sacrilege IMO.

As to the Woodyard, an interesting place. It wins an all atmosphere award. The sausage may be the best thing they have. It is on my list of future places to revisit when I can fit it in to my schedule.

If anyone is looking for more information on KC BBQ, I recommend the GAS (Gastronomic Appreciation Society) website at http://gasbbq.net/ - I don't agree with a lot of their reviews, but it does give interesting insight to some of the BBQ of the KC region.

Also, if one ever gets the chance, a visit to the American Royal contest is a pretty interesting experience. There is some good background at http://www.americanroyal.com/Default.aspx?tabid=65 I'd recommend going in the Friday evening party. The pros are done competing and are ready to blow off some steam, and the amateurs are getting ready to go. Thus, you have 1-200,000 BBQ lovers loose in a small area having a good time. I, myself, go to get some free BBQ from some of the cooks (some do this, some do not - it just depends).

Later,
Sam S.

Big Sam wrote:Also, if one ever gets the chance, a visit to the American Royal contest is a pretty interesting experience. There is some good background at http://www.americanroyal.com/Default.aspx?tabid=65 I'd recommend going in the Friday evening party. The pros are done competing and are ready to blow off some steam, and the amateurs are getting ready to go. Thus, you have 1-200,000 BBQ lovers loose in a small area having a good time. I, myself, go to get some free BBQ from some of the cooks (some do this, some do not - it just depends).

Later,
Sam S.

A little side note here; I will be at the American Royal as a co-chairman of the Barbecue Sauce Store and Contest. The Sauce Store is comprised of donations made by the hundreds of entrants into the Sauce Contest. The store provides a rare opportunity to see, sample, and purchase sauces, marinades, and rubs from all over the country, brought together under one roof. All proceeds go to local charities including The Heart of America Humane Society, The American Royal Scholarship Fund; promoting agricultural education, and The Barbecue Hall of Fame.

We entered Roadhouse Bar-B-Que Sauces in the contest every year between 1992 and 2003. We didn't always win first prize, but we always won something every year we entered. In 2004 I became a co-chair at the Sauce Store and stopped entering, not wanting to invite any perception of a conflict of interest.

We continue to donate sauce to the store despite our departure from the contest.

Hope to see some of LTH's KC participants while we're in town, October 5th & 6th.

Buddy

Danny Edwards' place has reopened.

Aaron Deacon wrote:Danny Edwards' place has reopened.

Yeah!

Though out of the way, I have to add at least one more stop to the KC trip.

Located 15 miles south of Olathe on US-169 is the Hillsdale Bank BBQ (just take the Hillsdale/Hillsdale Lake exit and head west about a mile).

Top notch food in an old bank building (built in 1904). The burnt ends are the best I've had (use pork and not beef as per the norm), and are alone worth the trip.

Visiting window is limited. Only open Friday-Sunday from 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Also, closed from Christmas to End of February (in part due to not in any real city - Hillsdale is probably a pop of 200 people - and the weather makes road tripping iffy).

Good atmosphere, good food, all family run.

Five miles further south on US-169 is Paola and the BBQ Shack (was on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." Enjoyed the pork and brisket (pork among best I've found in a BBQ joint). Burnt ends weren't real burnt ends. Beans iffy. Didn't try the ribs so can't speak to them.

Right now my ideal trip in the KC area would include:

Woodyard (can't miss it)

Hillsdale Bank BBQ (can't miss it)

LCs (oldest location-can't miss it)

Oklahoma Joe's (oldest location - Mission Road)

Arthur Bryant's (oldest location, just east of Downtown)

Danny Edwards (if the new location is as good as old - haven't been yet - I do know the use mostly gas with only a little wood in the smokers, and though cheaper/more efficient, in the past when places have made the switch you can tell the flavor difference).


On the side trip possibilities:

BBQ Shack (Paola)
Smokin's Joes (Olathe)

Later,
Sam S.

Sam,

Thank you for an update on your preferences. I hope someday to check them all out.

If you have suggestions on other food in your area, then please consider posting on it, too.

Regards,

Big Sam wrote:Danny Edwards (if the new location is as good as old - haven't been yet - I do know the use mostly gas with only a little wood in the smokers, and though cheaper/more efficient, in the past when places have made the switch you can tell the flavor difference).

If they have switched to a Southern Pride or some other such apparatus, that would be sad news indeed. How do you know that this is true? You have already said that you have not yet visited. Personally, I'd be very surprised (and extremely disappointed) if such a venerable KC institution took such a step.

stevez wrote:If they have switched to a Southern Pride or some other such apparatus, that would be sad news indeed. How do you know that this is true? You have already said that you have not yet visited. Personally, I'd be very surprised (and extremely disappointed) if such a venerable KC institution took such a step.

Well, unfortunately, that was in an article on the move I read in a KC paper or a news forum (don't remember which, has been a little while ago). It was direct from the mouth of Mr. Edwards.

Sort of sad. When visiting the old location I Grand I sneak around back and check out the smokers (even took pictures of them). They were commercial smokers, but there utilized pure wood.

Sometimes change can be good. In the case of a smoker switch to more gas, it is usually not the case.

Later,
Sam S.

Sam,

Would you be so inclined to share with us the photos of their old smokers? It would be interesting to see what they did use.

Thank you again for keeping us up to date.

Regards,

went to KC a few weeks ago...

with relation to BBQ...

we were told Arthur Bryant's was the place to go... so go we did.

It was a big let down. This place is the definition of a tourist trap. Pricey, no locals to be found, bad/unappreciative service, mediocre food, and crowded.

We spent $40 on lunch for two. Pricey for wanna-be-ghetto BBQ if you ask me.

The line on a Saturday was out the door. It was cold and people in line were too stupid to keep the door closed if they were on the outside, apparently everyone inside should have to suffer and be cold because they were too.

When we got up to the register, we ordered through the glass by yelling our order out, hoping he got it right... after repeating we had our food. They were out of silverware. Paid at the register, attempted to get silverware but was told off by the guy... got plastic, sat down. table we sat at was freezing cold because it was near the door..

So far, had the food lived up to the expectations, I could've "dealt" with it and been happy. But then we started eating. The food was just not good. The burnt ends were not burnt. They were doused in sauce to the point you had to fish them out of a pile.... When you found meat it wasn't good. Just not good. It resembled pulled pork more than burnt ends of brisket.... I think basically they run out of burnt ends, but keep selling non-burnt ends doused in sauce just because people have somehow heard that they're what you should get.

The ribs should not have been served to humans. They were some of the dryest most flavorless meat I've ever seen. Several were totally inedible they were so crunchy.

Nothing on our plate had any smoke flavor to it.. There was surely no smoke ring, let alone any smoke flavor. Might as well have been cooked in an oven. this may not have always been the case at AB's, but they're turning out such a high volume of meat i'm not entirely surprised. (ok well just a little bit surprised, I really expected to have something resembling smoked meat when I went to a BBQ joint). I think they bank on their sauces disguising this so that's why everything is doused in sauce when it comes out of their window.... The burnt ends had huge chunks of pure gelatinous fat in them, a sure sign that they weren't smoked at the right temperature or right duration of time.

And the sauces... there are 3. All of them bad. Not a single one is anything I'd like to have on my plate again... I'm not picky about sauce, but really...they weren't good. I don't know what AB was trying to do with his sauces, but he should've spent less time making 3 and more time making one that was actually good.

I can't believe people actually recommend this place...

...we attempted a recovery the next day at LC's Bar-B-Q...
What a recovery it was!




we ordered an order of burnt ends and a combination platter... which lets you pick 3 meats, but they can't be 2 from a certain category... (so we picked ribs, smoked turkey, and brisket) ...

the smoked turkey was the way smoked turkey should taste.. the ribs were good... and the brisket good...

the real treat here was the burnt ends. they actually resembled what i pictured when I heard about burnt ends (not the jello blob we got at AB's). they weren't doused in sauce, you could actually see the meat. and not only that, they had a really nice smoke ring.. actually everything here had a nice smoke to it. the sauce was markedly better than AB's...

the portion sizes were abundant, we took home leftovers.. and it was less $$ than arthur bryant's worked out to be... the staff here was super friendly. the bathroom, though grungy, was spotless...

(side note for those planning... most BBQ joints are closed on Sundays... touristy joint or two aside probably. LC's is open on days when there are Chief's games though, so we were in luck..).

No argument about anything you had to say about either Arthur Bryant's or LC's, except your comment about there not being any locals to be found. I guarantee you, possibly with the exception of the exact moment in time when you were visiting, that is not the case. Mrs. Roadhouse and I were big fans of AB's until a couple years ago when we experienced exactly what you did with an order of burnt ends. Sides of beans, cole slaw, and potato salad were equally weak.

On the other hand, the regular brisket sandwiches that were being consumed at the tables around us looked mighty tempting. AB's may have come to a point where you need to find just the right thing to order (I'm thinking brisket and fries), and not deviate from that combination. EVER.

As for his sauces, they are definitely an acquired taste, especially if you are used to a sweet, tomato based Chicago style sauce. I had that same assessment of his sauces nearly 30 years ago, the first time I tried them.

We had gone to Bryant's for a meet-the-family dinner the night before I dragged my future wife, a KC native, off to Chicago to live in sin until such time as we decided to do things proper-like. Being a Chicago boy who thought he knew everything he needed to know about good 'Que, I ordered a slab of ribs for myself, all the while chuckling at these poor know-nuthin' suckers around me who were ordering brisket, pork, ham, and some kinda dish that was burned (why on Earth would they want that???)

I look down at my slab which was served on a full sized baking sheet, filling it edge to edge to edge to edge, and noticed that there wasn't any sauce on it. Well, anyone who's eaten a slab of ribs from Leon's knows that ribs are supposed to be smothered in sauce. So naturally I grab the nearest bottle of AB's sauce and, without tasting it, slather it all over the full slab. I brought that first rib up to my lips and took a chomp, almost gagging in the process.

It was so bad I thought about giving up before I even got started. Problem was, my darling future wife's Grandmother had insisted on paying for my dinner and she sat there watching me to make sure I enjoyed it. I managed to choke down another bone or two before making some lame excuse about a big lunch and my eyes being bigger than my stomach.

It was 20 years before I went back to Arthur Bryant's, and even then it was under protest. I happened to be back in KC with my Dad who had read all the press that everyone else who has ever gone there for the first time has read, and he pressured me into making the stop. I related the above story to him, but he was insistent and I caved.

Keep in mind that by this time I had been married to my KC native wife for about 19 years. We had made multiple trips per year back to Kansas City and had experienced a good number of other local establishments, educating me in the ways of KC 'Que. Not only that, but I had since learned that Chicago Barbecue was not the beginning, middle, or end of the subject.

We ordered a burnt end sandwich ( by this time I knew what that was), some slaw, beans, and an order of fries. What a revelation! Somewhere in those 20 years since that first godawful rib, Arthur Bryant's had learned how to make good Barbecue! Holy crap, even his sauce had gotten better! The following Christmas when I was back in town with the wifey, we made a beeline for AB's and decided it was our new local favorite.

As I stated earlier, our love affair with Bryant's lasted until about two or three years ago when they greatly disappointed us. The burnt ends were just as you described them, soupy, almost tasteless, and more sauce than meat. We heard similar reports from others who had been there recently. We have never gone back to AB's; discovering in its place plenty of other places we hadn't visited before.

With all the other worthy Greasehouses in KC, I don't think we'll ever return to Arthur Bryant's. Still, those brisket sandwiches looked mighty good...

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:As for his sauces, they are definitely an acquired taste, especially if you are used to a sweet, tomato based Chicago style sauce.

...Not really sure how to take that, but I'm not even from Chicago really; my comment had nothing to do with how I think their sauces should taste, and more to do with the fact that I just don't think they were a good flavor combination. I've had sauces all across the country and don't have any specific preference (OK, maybe I do prefer an Eastern N Carolina vinegar sauce if I had to pick..)... As I said I'm not picky about sauces, but I just don't think any of the 3 we had on our table were very good... Could you explain what the sauce style he's going for is? To me one tasted like a modified ketchup. Another tasted like a vinegar sauce gone really odd. maybe it was a bad mix that day too. either way, for a BBQ place that serves food that doesn't even taste like it's been smoked, I don't care to investigate too much more...

and as far as no locals being there... perhaps it was just the day/time... a saturday before a big football game. at least 3/4 of the cars in the lot were rental cars if that tells you anything. i did see some people who appeared to be locals approach but when they saw the line they turned around and moved on..

I think Arthur Bryant's sauces, for better or worse, defy categorization. There are elements of a traditional Kansas City sauce poking around in there alongside hints of any number of regional Carolina sauces, as well as Texas styles.

By no means am I defending or justifying AB's sauces or the Barbecue served at the restaurant. First off, any institution that has been around that long and won the accolades of so many, hardly needs any defense from the likes of me.

Secondly, my point above was that depending on your 'Que background, AB's might, at first, not meet your concept of what makes for good Barbecue. It took 20 years of broadening my smoked meat horizons before I enjoyed AB's food or sauces (BTW, I totally agree that one of those sauces tastes like nothing more than a slightly spiked up ketchup).

Thirdly, by mentioning that tempting looking brisket more than once, I was trying to indicate that if you were judging AB's quality based on the burnt ends alone, you may not have given them a fair shake. We have no quibble on the poor showing of the burnt ends; as I said, Mrs. Roadhouse and I experienced the same thing. However, if you haven't tried the brisket, or the pork, or the ham (a unique KC thing-ham in a 'Que joint), then you really haven't sampled everything Bryant's has to offer. There are plenty of legendary restaurants that do one thing, and one thing only, well enough to earn them that legendary status. There once was a time when AB's burnt ends were the talk of the town. That time may have passed, with brisket or some other offering supplanting the burnt ends as their "go to" meat.

As for the lack of smoked flavor, I 'm not sure what to say. With all that sauce covering up the meat, it's hard to say what you tasted. I do know that AB's ancient smoker, adapted from the building's original bakery oven, is in plain sight with smoke pouring out of it every time the door is opened. If you decide to give them another chance, say in 20 years or so, maybe give the brisket a try and either limit the sauce or avoid it completely in order to get the true flavor of the meat.

Incidentally, people have been complaining that Arthur Bryant's has been going down hill almost since the second day they were open for business. Once you've had that first revelatory taste, it's not easy to repeat a transcendent experience time after time after time.

Buddy

Bryant's brisket is great. The burnt ends have way too much sauce. If go during the week at lunch it would be all locals there. I used to go to Jack Stack's for a more relaxed, pleasant dinner and outstanding beef ribs.

How did I miss this awesome KC BBQ account?

I just recently went to Kansas City for the first time in my life (during Xmas) and tried Gates BBQ. We first drove up to Arthur Bryant's but the location we went to seemed a bit deserted and sketchy (not to say that it is or that all of them are - just this one made us uncomfortable).

So I tried the BBQ beef at Gates - pretty good! I like the spiciness of the sauce, very different from the BBQ I'm used to! I also loved their baked beans and thick cut fries.

My boyfriend got the mix plate which was freaking HUGE:

I should have bought some Gates sauce to take home. Around Chicago, they sell KC Masterpiece but it tastes nothing like Gates' sauce (which I prefer). Anyone know where to get the sauce around here?

Here is the rest of my blog on Kansas City bbq if you'd like to read it: http://chewonthatblog.com/2008/12/31/on ... -city-bbq/

The Shop N Save in Des Plaines carries Gates' Original Recipe Barbecue Sauce, but none of the other varieties. Also, America's Market (discussed frequently on these boards) carries the Original and the Extra Hot varieties.

Gates is another one of those KC institutions where you really need to know what you're ordering and stick to that. You made the right choice with their brisket. The ribs are anemic at best; scant shreds of meat clinging to dry bones compared to the incredibly meaty versions available at B.B.'s Lawnside BBQ, for instance. The turkey comes from a processed roll, not a whole bird. The ham is pretty good and the pork is just okay. Definitely stick with the beef at Gates.

As for Bryant's, you must have been at their Brooklyn Avenue location. The other two outposts are positively suburban, both literally and figuratively; nothing threatening about them. Even the Brooklyn location used to be way scarier than it is now. That whole neighborhood is going under a gradual gentrification process in an effort to attract more tourists and skitterish suburbanites from Johnson County in Kansas. The relatively new Jazz Hall of Fame and the Negro Baseball League Museum are both within blocks of Bryant's.

There's plenty more good Barbecue (better than either Gates or Bryant's, believe it or not) to be found in Kansas City. My current personal favorite is Jones Bar-B-Que, a tiny, quaint urban eatery just off downtown Kansas City, Kansas. They have an ancient smoker reminiscent of the beast at Arthrur Bryant's.

They do all the requisite meats including their own house made and stuffed sausages, and something I rarely see outside of Chicago, rib tips!. I ate there back in October when I was in town for the American Royal Barbecue Cook-off and had a fantastic lunch. Although some of the locals may tell you that Jones Bar-B-Que is in a less than desirable neighborhood, I saw nothing there that was objectionable. Still, if you found Bryant's area to be "sketchy", you should probably stick to daytime lunch visits for Jones.

Glad you had a good trip,

Buddy

Shop N Save
518 Metropolitan Way
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 227-5800
http://www.shopnsavefood.com

America's Market
9 Huntington Lane
Wheeling, IL 60090
(847) 850-2563

Gates Barbecue
3201 Main St
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 753-0828
Plus several other locations in the KC metro area

B B's Lawnside Bar-B-Que
1205 E 85th St
Kansas City, MO 64131
(816) 822-7427

Jones Bar-B-Q
609 N. 6th Street
Kansas City KS 66101
(913) 371-6400

Incidentally, people have been complaining that Arthur Bryant's has been going down hill almost since the second day they were open for business. Once you've had that first revelatory taste, it's not easy to repeat a transcendent experience time after time after time.

It hasn't been the same since Henry Perry died.

What I go to Gates' place for is the lamb sand. Only place in town to get it. Usually gloriously rich (read: "fat"), with lots of smoke and flavor. It's most likely a young mutton rather than an elder lamb, but then, I like flavor sheepishly.



Geo

Actually, Fiorella's Jack's Stack is known for their lamb ribs, but other than them, Gates is the only place in town that I know of that serves lamb or mutton. I love lamb and have been tempted to try it at Gates on numerous occasions, but for some reason always revert to the brisket. Sell me baby, sell me...make me want that mutton next time I'm in town!

Buddy

Gates is the only place in town that I know of that serves lamb or mutton.

I had it once at Bryant's-- Trillin talks about it in his articles-- but they got rid of it, probably, sometime in the mid-80s.

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:Sell me baby, sell me

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Mmmmm, smoky, succulent, unctuous, crisp skinned R I C H mutton.... mmmmmm.

Geo

Okay, I'm sold.

And a little turned on...

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:My current personal favorite is Jones Bar-B-Que, a tiny, quaint urban eatery just off downtown Kansas City, Kansas. They have an ancient smoker reminiscent of the beast at Arthrur Bryant's.

They do all the requisite meats including their own house made and stuffed sausages, and something I rarely see outside of Chicago, rib tips!.

Good to hear. The one time I tried to hit Jones (over a year ago) they were out of everything, so we went to the Colombian place next door. I've always heard good things.

I know there are lots of reports of unevenness from Bryant's, and I haven't been in a while, but I've never had a bad meal there. Some not as good as others, but never bad.