Your Kansas City BBQ Bucket List

A highly subjective take on the city’s best BBQ 🐖 Click the map icon for location pins and directions that connect directly to your phone's Google or Apple Maps🗺️

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America’s BBQ City 🐷

Kansas City has dozens of BBQ options from world famous joints to hole in the wall gems. Many cities claim they’re the barbecue capital, so what makes KCMO different from the rest?

The short answer: sauce.

Kansas City does what you might call a wet barbecue. The meat is important of course, but the liquid gold is the real star of the show here.

This list covers some of Kansas City’s best smoke shacks and their must-try dishes, including the BEST brisket sandwich in the Midwest.

I'll be rating each spot out of 5 ⭐️’s on two staples:

• burnt ends

• pork ribs

Be sure to save this list so you can dine at all of the world famous BBQ joints that help put this city on the map!

✅ I’ve Been

✅ Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que

@taylorblair

4.75/5 ⭐️ The late Anthony Bourdain named Joe’s one of “13 Places to Eat Before You Die” and many Kansas City residents would agree with that. Famous for the Z-man, composed of sliced smoked brisket, smoked provolone, onion rings and house barbecue sauce inside a Kaiser roll— this thing is worth lining up for. Pair the sandwich with their french fries, the best in the city arguably, and you’ll suddenly believe the hype. Award winning recipes of pulled pork, brisket, ribs and smoked chicken are also popular choices. This place makes the best ribs in the city and rightfully holds the #1 spot on my list. Pro Tip: Lines can stretch around the building at this popular spot. Order to go or there’s a few other locations in the area.

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✅ Char Bar - Westport

@taylorblair

4.5/5 ⭐️ First of all, this was a TON of food and I ate almost all of it. That should tell you how good it was! The Mac n Cheese was literally to die for. Like I could live off of that stuff. I liked the burnt ends but my favorite were the ribs. I’m really just a baby back ribs sort of girl. Give me a rack and I’m happy. The pulled pork was also very tender!

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✅ Slap's BBQ

@taylorblair

4.3/5 ⭐️ Slap’s BBQ, named for the Squeal Like A Pig barbecue team from brothers Joe and Mike Pearce, serves fresh barbecue every day while still remaining active on the competition barbecue circuit. You will definitely want to try the ribs, burnt ends, and baked potato casserole.

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✅ Jack Stack Barbecue - Freight House

@taylorblair

3.75/5 ⭐️ Jack Stack Barbecue provides an upscale dining experience at each of its locations throughout the Kansas City metro. The classy aesthetic gives it a high-end steakhouse feel and the extensive menu includes staples such as brisket, pork, ribs, ham, turkey, and chicken — along with upscale items such as barbecued shrimp, lamb ribs, crown prime beef ribs, and smoked prime rib.

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✅ Q39 - Midtown

@taylorblair

3/5 ⭐️ The food at Q39 is excellent and comes more elegantly presented than other places on this list. The brisket, which is served sliced into long thick strips is tender and the burnt ends are delicious. As for the ribs, they’re juicy but not fall-off-the-bone tender as promised.

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📌 Haven’t been yet…

📌 Arthur Bryant's Barbeque

@taylorblair

A KC classic— No BBQ tour is complete without a visit to Arthur Bryant’s for their legendary burnt ends, sliced pork, and fries. I’ve been dying to try this place!

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📌 Harp Barbecue

@taylorblair

Harp Barbecue serves high-quality craft barbecue every Saturday at a pop-up at Crane Brewing in Raytown, Missouri. Get there early and prepare to wait in line for the delicious sliced brisket, sausage, sweet potato burnt ends, and cheesy corn.

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📌 Chef J BBQ

@taylorblair

This is a relatively new barbecue restaurant in town that is creating quite a buzz. As far as I can tell, they started up in March, 2020 right as the pandemic was hitting and shutdowns were starting. I found on their website that Chef J sticks to tradition and family recipes, he finds it just tastes better. He’s taken that same approach when creating his BBQ. He uses only the highest quality of meats to smoke. All of his sauces & rubs are made fresh and in-house as well.

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📌 Jones Bar-B-Q

@taylorblair

At Jones Bar-B-Q, a long line of customers awaits the food prepared by hard-working sisters Deborah and Mary Jones, who recently catapulted to fame with appearances on Netflix’s Queer Eye and the Steve Harvey Show. Their ribs, rib tips, sausage, and now-famous sauce are enjoyed by diners on the picnic tables outside the small building that houses the operation.

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📌 Gates Bar-B-Q

@taylorblair

This BBQ joint is one of Kansas City’s oldest black owned restaurants! Gates is one of those places that put Kansas City barbecue on the nation’s radar. When it was game day in chiefs kingdom, barbecue was there to feed the crowds! This is the spot everybody recommended when I first moved to the city!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Taylor Blair

Available for hire

👋🏼 Hi I’m Taylor! A 20-something Kansas City based Photographer / Travel Creator and your new vacation planning bestie! I’m here to help you feel prepared for your trip by giving you my favorite recommendations and travel knowledge all bundled into a handy tool that will act as your digital tour guide during your stay! My travel guides are a great option for people who: ⏰ don't have time to spend hours on research, but want the freedom to do their own planning. 📱 want a handy, mobile-friendly personalized collection of trusted stops in their chosen location. My hand-crafted guides are perfect for the adventure lovers and beach bums alike; with recommendations to fit every budget and activity level! I always try to incorporate: • Authentic local experiences & cuisines • Cultural mindfulness • Local, women, and minority-owned businesses • Mission-driven causes Explore with ease using an interactive map featuring all of my favorite accommodations, restaurants, hidden gems and activities! With location pins and directions that connect directly to your phone's Google or Apple Maps, sit back and let me do the vacation planning for you! 🗺️🔍 _________________________________________________________________________________ For customized travel itineraries & recommendations, browse my pricing & packages, pick your preferred level, answer the questionnaire and you'll receive tailored experiences just for you via email! ✉️ _________________________________________________________________________________ My destinations of expertise include Costa Rica, Bali, The Caribbean, Alaska, Canada and most of the States but I'm always expanding my travel knowledge and love taking on requests in new places! Find me on Instagram + Tiktok @taylorrblairr for more travel content & subscribe to my Thatch profile to keep up to date with map releases and special offers!

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