City: Kansas City, MO

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (913) 722-3366

Description: No doubt Jeff and Joy Stehney heard every imaginable joke using “gas” and “restaurant” in the same sentence when they started serving barbecue in a space shared by a filling station and convenience store. Now they’re laughing all the way to the bank as people line up noon and night for award-winning fare. While competitors often excel at one or two items, at Oklahoma Joe’s everything is superb. Favorites include lip-smacking ribs, burnt ends, and Carolina-style sandwiches, that Southern treat of pulled pork topped with spicy slaw. They’ll slap smoked meats on anything here, including salads. Just don’t skip the fries. In supersize-me portions, they’re some of the best in the city. The line starts to form again for the dinner specials where the mix is half dine-in, half rib slabs to go. Can it get any better than this? Well, yes. They could be open on Sunday. And if they would just do something about that name. Though we still favor the original location, we’re happy to have an Oklahoma Joe’s in Olathe now. But it’s still not open on Sunday!