Favorite BBQ Restaurants (Independence, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs: hotels, homes, theater)

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by KC_Sleuth

My response has more to do with the 18th and Vine area, not the restaurant. The implication that the area is "ghetto" really stuck out to me. The neighborhood has two prominent museums and some jazz clubs. The place is hopping with tourists, patrons and musicians most of the week. I guess I shouldn't have expected people who aren't part of the creative fabric of this city to venture out of their subdivision to "brave the perils of 18th and Vine" to see amazing musical talent, or to venture into crossroads on a first Friday, or to go to a church in East KC to hear one of the city's choral groups. But for those of us who are artistic and are a part of these sub-communities the unwillingness of some people to go outside of their very narrow comfort zone seems rather silly. Every Monday night blue room in 18th and Vine runs a jam session that goes until 11pn...the foundation runs one until 5am...I have played at both and never had a problem even very late at night.

OH S*FU and stop making assumptions about me. Museums and jazz clubs do not make the area "not ghetto." I live in Johnson County now, because I choose to. I have also lived in KCK and I have lived right off of Independence Avenue in the northeast. Kansas City has been a part of me since my birth. It's not like I know nothing about the place and have not experienced everything there to experience in Kansas City in the last 55 years.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

I do like Arthur Bryant's though and their sauce is the most unique I've found, I like it.

It's hands down my fave. I used to have a conviction that the ultimate KC BBQ experience was a Z-Man from OK Joe's, slathered with Bryant's original sauce.

Bryant's sauce IS very unique. While most places that have house sauces in KC are good, an approximation of their sauces can be found elsewhere in the region/country in commercially prepared brands. There is no widely available sauce like Bryant's.

Rosedale BBQ has good sauce, but the last time I ate there and had it, their sliced turkey seemed to be like cheap deli meat from the grocery store, not sliced from whole smoked breasts, and that's not good barbeque at all.

I have found this to be true of the turkey at more than one decently regarded KC BBQ mainstay. I'm not a big turkey fan to begin with, but I generally steer clear of it when eating BBQ, because too often, it's akin to deli lunchmeat. Sick. At my BBQ-catered wedding reception, I did order one of the BBQed meats to be turkey, as a courtesy to any guests who weren't red meat eaters. But I sure as hell did not eat it, I ate brisket/burnt ends and pulled pork. People who ate it seemed to love it, but I'm gunshy of turkey, really.

[PJSaturn]

Jack Stack on the Plaza. Best BBQ rib dinner I've had, anywhere, ever.

Kansas City's Best BBQ | Jack Stack Barbecue - Country Club Plaza

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[luzianne]

Originally Posted by PJSinger

Jack Stack on the Plaza. Best BBQ rib dinner I've had, anywhere, ever.

Kansas City's Best BBQ | Jack Stack Barbecue - Country Club Plaza

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Agreed. Jack Stack is my favorite too! I go to the OP location. We usually get baby back ribs for two; comes with three sides.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by KC_Sleuth

My response has more to do with the 18th and Vine area, not the restaurant. The implication that the area is "ghetto" really stuck out to me. The neighborhood has two prominent museums and some jazz clubs. The place is hopping with tourists, patrons and musicians most of the week. I guess I shouldn't have expected people who aren't part of the creative fabric of this city to venture out of their subdivision to "brave the perils of 18th and Vine" to see amazing musical talent, or to venture into crossroads on a first Friday, or to go to a church in East KC to hear one of the city's choral groups. But for those of us who are artistic and are a part of these sub-communities the unwillingness of some people to go outside of their very narrow comfort zone seems rather silly. Every Monday night blue room in 18th and Vine runs a jam session that goes until 11pn...the foundation runs one until 5am...I have played at both and never had a problem even very late at night.

Okay. Keep patting yourself on the back and feeling superior. Whatever works for you.

[MLSFan]

Originally Posted by PJSinger

Jack Stack on the Plaza. Best BBQ rib dinner I've had, anywhere, ever.

Kansas City's Best BBQ | Jack Stack Barbecue - Country Club Plaza

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Wabash gives jack stack ribs a good run, they are equal to me actually but wabash is up in excelior springs so it's a bit out of the way

[luzianne]

Oh, and by the way, KC Sleuth, I'm sure I was frequenting places you mention before you were ever a part of the "artistic fabric" of KC. Were you playing in KC in the 80s? Yeah, I didn't think so. I have friends who did/do play at the Phoenix, the Tuba, Chaz, the Blue Room, outdoors at the Plaza, and everywhere else all over Kansas City. You probably WISH you were them. If I said the name of the band you would know it, but I won't.

I still think the area around Arthur Bryant's is ghetto. Keep on with your air of superiority, though.

[brandthom]

I find two things funny about this whole thing. One, 18th and vine is not "ghetto" (do people still use that term?) It amazes me people are attacking KC Sleuth for "patting himself on the back" for preferring the original location, and then turning around and negatively catergorizing a historic community from up on their high horse and preaching what qualifies as rundown,

Second, that people still think newer restaraunts don't have pest problems, almost all if not virtually all restaraunts at the very least have mice, and most have roaches have well, regardless of age, location and management. They're large buildings with many unblockable holes containing a plethora of food, it comes with the territory, the only difference is how under control they have the problem and how well the pests are kept out of the dining and prep areas (how much time and money they're sinking into pest control)

If someone is visiting JoCo, then no its not worth it to go to the original location, but if you're visiting the city, its ridiculous to suggest that someone not go to the orginal location, and also ridiculous to claim, there isn't a certain atmosphere about it.

My favorite place I feel is LCs, and (I may very well get banned for saying this on this forum it seems) but the Zman from OK joes is one of my favourite sandwhiches period BBQ or not.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by brandthom

but if you're visiting the city, its ridiculous to suggest that someone not go to the orginal location, and also ridiculous to claim, there isn't a certain atmosphere about it.

That's all I was saying. Is the food at the Arther Bryants at the Speedway just as good as the Brooklyn location? I'm sure it is and if somebody were staying out there and were not really visiting "KC" then sure, go there.

But to tell "tourists" that actually want to take in as much of a city's unique culture as they can while in town to go to some suburban place? If you are visiting a city, you generally want to take in and experience what that city is all about. You don't want to drive all over hell and visit watered down more generic versions of the original.

If people come to KC to visit for the first time, they will want to go to the Plaza, Crown Center, River Market, Downtown etc and they will want to experience KC bbq at gates, bryants, jack stack etc in the urban core locations (none are in the "ghetto"). Even LC's is not ghetto. It's very run down and poor, but not ghetto.

By the way. I sent a family visiting KC from the east coast to Jack Stack downtown last week and they said it was the best meal they had ever had. Not just bbq, but best meal? Hard to believe that, but that's what they said so they were definitely impressed.

I'm sure they would have had a very similar meal at the Overland Park location, but they also loved that they could "walk" to it from Crown Center and they loved the atmosphere of the location in the freighthouse. So they loved not just the food, but the entire experience. Even if they were staying in the suburbs (and one night they did), I would have told them to go to the downtown or plaza location. That's where they wanted to be.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

It's hands down my fave. I used to have a conviction that the ultimate KC BBQ experience was a Z-Man from OK Joe's, slathered with Bryant's original sauce.

Bryant's sauce IS very unique. While most places that have house sauces in KC are good, an approximation of their sauces can be found elsewhere in the region/country in commercially prepared brands. There is no widely available sauce like Bryant's.

I have found this to be true of the turkey at more than one decently regarded KC BBQ mainstay. I'm not a big turkey fan to begin with, but I generally steer clear of it when eating BBQ, because too often, it's akin to deli lunchmeat. Sick. At my BBQ-catered wedding reception, I did order one of the BBQed meats to be turkey, as a courtesy to any guests who weren't red meat eaters. But I sure as hell did not eat it, I ate brisket/burnt ends and pulled pork. People who ate it seemed to love it, but I'm gunshy of turkey, really.

So did you ever actually put Arthur Bryant's sauce on a Z-Man?

I wish we had an expert on BBQ sauces around here, I'd like to have a better understanding of the various type of sauces not only around town, but also from around the country. I've wondered if maybe Arthur Bryant's is a style typical in the Carolinas, an area I've heard that uses lots of vinegar and mustard. I've never had Carolina-style BBQ sauce, but would like to know of examples I can order online. Gate's sauce, to me, is distinct. It's got a strong flavor of celery, pepper, and a unique blend of spices. And I Oklahoma Joe's sauce is unique, to me, too. When I lived in Oklahoma, we would eat Head Country BBQ sauce, which was local and I liked. Oklahoma Joe's reminds me of that, but I don't know how to describe it, molasses? It's probably the one I find to be closest to the generic, big-brand, nation-wide sauces you find in the grocery store. Other than those three sauces, I find the generic sauce around Kansas City and everywhere else I've eaten BBQ to be a somewhat thin, somewhat spicy dark sauce, of which Rosedale and Wyandot are great examples of and not something I've run across in a generic brand, but would be interested in knowing which brand makes such a sauce, because I do like it.

I'm making myself sound like a lighter eater here with my liking of turkey at BBQ restaurants. I generally prefer beef and am big on sausage and I do like all of the meats at BBQ restaurants except ribs really. But there's just something about the light nature of turkey that really allows it to take on the smoke flavor that I really like. If you get cook turkey, which Gate's has (so did Wyandot, last I ate there), it makes for a really good BBQ sandwich. Similarly I find lamb chops and steaks can provide a stronger grilled flavor than beef when grilled at home. But now that I'm now that I'm using charcoal with wood + wood chips, I don't have a problem getting beef infused with that flavor anymore.