Kansas City-style barbecue refers to the specific regional
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...
style of slowly
smoked meat originating from
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...
in the early 20th century.
Henry Perry is credited as the originator of the style, as two of the oldest Kansas City-style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.
The Kansas City-style sauce is characterized by a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes.
Characteristics
Kansas City barbecue is characterized by its use of a wide variety of meats:
pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...
,
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
,
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
,
turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
,
lamb,
sausage
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
, and sometimes even
fish
Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
.
Kansas City barbecue is seasoned with a dry rub, slow-smoked over a variety of woods and served with a thick tomato-based barbecue sauce, which is an integral part of Kansas City style. Most local restaurants and sauce companies offer several varieties with spicy and tangy flavor profiles, historically the sauces were not sweet until Rich Davis, a child psychatrist from KC developed the KC Masterpiece sauce which used molasses and varied greatly from the more traditional sauces used at the longtime KC BBQ restaurants where orders are made at a counter.
Most types of barbecued meat served in other American cities known for barbecue, including
pulled pork
Pulled pork is an American barbecue dish, more specifically a dish of the Southern U.S., based on shredded barbecued pork shoulder. It is typically slow-smoked over wood (usually outdoors); indoor variations use a slow cooker. The meat is th ...
,
brisket,
beef ribs,
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
, and
pork ribs in a number of different cuts, are served in Kansas City-area barbecue restaurants.
Burnt ends—the crusty, fatty, flavorful meat cut from the point of a
smoked
Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and '' lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked.
In Europe, alder is the tra ...
beef
brisket—are among the items prepared.
Side dishes served with Kansas City barbecue include a unique style of
baked beans,
French fries
French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
,
coleslaw, and other classic barbeque side dishes.
History
The
Kansas City metropolitan area
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...
has more than 100 barbecue restaurants, a number of which are nationally renowned. The area is also home to several large
barbecue cooking contests, notably the Great
Lenexa BBQ Battle and the
American Royal World Series of Barbecue, the largest barbecue competition in the world.
Henry Perry
Kansas City traces its barbecue history to
Henry Perry, who operated out of a trolley barn at 19th and Highland in the legendary
African-American neighborhood around
18th and Vine.
Perry served slow-cooked ribs on pages of
newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has a ...
for 25 cents a slab. Perry came from
Shelby County, Tennessee
Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's 95 counties, both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memp ...
, near
Memphis, and began serving barbecue in 1908. Kansas City and
Memphis barbecue styles are somewhat similar, although Kansas City tends to use more sauce and a wider variety of meats. Perry's sauce had a somewhat harsh, peppery flavor.
Perry's restaurant became a major cultural point during the heyday of
Kansas City Jazz during the "wide-open" days of
Tom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939.
Pendergast only briefly held elected ...
in the 1920s and 1930s.
Arthur Bryant
Working for Henry Perry was Charlie Bryant, who in turn brought his brother,
Arthur Bryant, into the business. Charlie took over the Perry restaurant in 1940 after Perry died. Arthur then took over his brother's business in 1946, and the restaurant was renamed
Arthur Bryant's.
Arthur Bryant's, which eventually moved to 1727 Brooklyn in the same neighborhood, became a stomping ground for baseball fans and players in the 1950s and 1960s, because of its close proximity to
Municipal Stadium, where the
Kansas City Athletics or A's played their home games during that period.
In April 1972, Kansas City native
Calvin Trillin wrote an article in ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' proclaiming Bryant's to be the best restaurant on the planet.
Despite new-found fame, Bryant did not change the restaurant's very simple decor, which consisted of fluorescent lighting, formica tables, and five-gallon jars of sauce displayed in the windows, even as Presidents
Harry Truman,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
and
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
stopped by.
Bryant died of a heart attack, in a bed that he kept at the restaurant, shortly after Christmas of 1982. The restaurant is still open. The sauce and restaurant continue their success.
Along the main inner wall of the restaurant is photographic history of many famous politicians, actors, actresses and sports figures and other tribute pictures of military personnel displaying Arthur Bryant's memorabilia such as shirts or bottles of sauce.
Gates and Sons
In 1946 Arthur Pinkard, who was a cook for Perry, joined with George Gates to form
Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q. The restaurant was situated initially in the same neighborhood.
Gates barbecue sauce does not contain molasses; the ingredients, as listed on the bottle, are: "Tomatoes, vinegar, salt, sugar, celery, garlic, spices, and pepper. 1/10 of 1% potassium sorbate preservative added." It is available in Original Classic, Mild, Sweet & Mild, and Extra Hot varieties.
Gates also expanded its footprint in a more conventional way, with restaurants all displaying certain common features—red-roofed buildings, a recognizable logo (a strutting man clad in tuxedo and top hat) and the customary "Hi, may I help you?" greeting belted out by its employees as patrons enter.
Gates has opened restaurants throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area. The chain currently consists of six area restaurants: four in Missouri, two in Kansas. Gates also has sold barbecue sandwiches at
Kauffman Stadium
Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhead ...
during
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
home games, and currently at
Arrowhead Stadium
Arrowhead Stadium is an American football stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium has been officially named GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stad ...
during
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The t ...
home games.
Other notable restaurants
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue had its beginnings as the second restaurant in the Smokestack BBQ chain, which Russ Fiorella, Sr. had started in 1957. Fiorella's eldest son Jack worked with his father until 1974, when he and his wife Delores opened their own Smokestack location in the
Martin City neighborhood of south Kansas City.
Eventually Jack, along with his wife and children, decided to expand their menu selections, adding non-traditional barbecue menu items like hickory-grilled steaks,
lamb ribs, crown prime beef ribs, and fresh, hickory-grilled seafood, along with an extensive wine and bar selection.
They also began offering a higher level of comfort and service than most people were accustomed to at a barbecue restaurant. Smokestack BBQ in Martin City soon became one of the most successful restaurants in the Kansas City metro. In 1996, Jack Fiorella was named Restaurateur of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association.
By the mid-1990s, Jack Fiorella decided to replicate the success of his Martin City Smokestack restaurant.
Other members of the Fiorella family told Jack that he was not permitted to use the Smokestack name for his new restaurant, so both the new restaurant (opened in 1997 in
Overland Park, Kansas
Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As ...
) and Jack's existing restaurant in Martin City dropped the Smokestack name and were rebranded as Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue. They also opened a full-service catering operation in Martin City and their third location in the historic
Freight House building in the
Crossroads Arts District.
They began shipping their barbecue nationwide in 2000, and in October 2006 they opened a fourth location on The
Country Club Plaza. In 2014, a fifth Jack Stack restaurant opened in
Lee's Summit, Missouri
Lee's Summit is a city located within the counties of Jackson (primarily) and Cass in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census its population was 101,108, making it the sixth-largest city in bo ...
.
The original Smokestack chain closed its last remaining location in 2012.
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue has been featured on
The Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
and
The History Channel, and has been rated as among the best barbecue in the United States by several national organizations and magazines. Most notably, the
Zagat Survey has named it the "#1 Barbecue House in the Country."
Joe's Kansas City
Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que can be traced to competition barbecue and the
Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS). Accompanying friends at the
American Royal and The Great Lenexa BBQ Battle inspired Jeff Stehney to start cooking on his own. The first smoker purchased was an Oklahoma Joe’s 24” smoker, christened in April 1991.
By 1993, Jeff, his wife and business partner Joy, and Jim "Thurston" Howell were ready to make their mark on the KCBS competition circuit. Their competition team, Slaughterhouse Five, ended up winning eight Grand Championships, including the prestigious American Royal BBQ, three Reserve Grand Championships, and the KCBS’s Grand Champion “Team of the Year” in 1993. Over the next several seasons Slaughterhouse Five won dozens more awards and was generally recognized as one of the top competition BBQ teams in the Country.
Jeff and Joy opened
Oklahoma Joe's Bar-B-Que (later renamed to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que) in a gas station in
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
in 1996.
There are also locations in
Olathe, Kansas and
Leawood, Kansas.
Celebrity chef
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourda ...
listed Joe's original Kansas City, Kansas location as one of "13 Places You Must Eat Before You Die". Men's Health magazine named it America's manliest restaurant. Joe's was featured on Season 3 of ''
Man v. Food'' in August 2010. It was also named "Kansas City's Best Barbecue" by
Zagat
The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, coverin ...
.
KC Masterpiece
In 1977,
Rich Davis
Richard E. Davis (1926 – October 6, 2015) founded KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce.
Davis began his career as a child psychiatrist, instructor and author. His academic posts included appointments as professor and acting chairman of the department ...
capitalized on the reputation of Kansas City barbecue to form
KC Masterpiece
KC Masterpiece is a barbecue sauce that is marketed by the HV Food Products Company, a subsidiary of the Clorox Company.
History
KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce was created in 1977 by Richard E. "Rich" Davis M.D., a child psychiatrist practicing ...
, which evolved from his "K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce". KC Masterpiece is sweeter and thicker than many of the traditional Kansas City sauces served in the region. The KC Masterpiece recipe uses extra
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...
to achieve its thick, sweet character.
KC Masterpiece was sold to
Kingsford charcoal
Kingsford is a brand of charcoal briquette used for grilling, along with related products. Established in 1920, the brand is owned by The Clorox Company. Currently, the Kingsford Products Company remains the leading manufacturer of charcoal in t ...
in 1986 and now claims to be the number-one premium barbecue brand in the U.S. When Davis sold the rights to his sauce to Kingsford, he announced plans to build a franchise of barbecue restaurants.
The franchises were successful for a few years, but have since all closed.
Curt's Famous Meats
Curt's Famous Meats was a meat market founded in 1947 by Curtis Jones and sold to Donna Pittman in 1989. With clientele from all across America, Curt's specializes in barbecue prepared with Kansas City rub. It has a long history of award-winning barbecue, having won eight times the
American Royal barbecue competition, the largest in the world. It closed and was for sale as of July, 2018 after seventy years of operation.
Located on East
Truman Road in the Kansas City suburb of
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
, Curt's has been a large competitor in many local barbecue competitions. Curt's was also known for its predominantly female staff, nicknamed the Lady Meat Cutters.
Jones Bar-B-Q
Jones Bar-B-Q is an independent barbecue joint on Kaw Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, owned by Deborah and Mary Jones.
In 2001 Doug Worgul featured Jones Bar-B-Q in the afterword of ''The Grand Barbecue: A Celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of Kansas City Barbecue.''
Worgul said the sisters' barbecue "represent
dan artisan approach that cannot be replicated in higher-volume barbecue restaurants" and calls the location, a former taco stand, "the jointiest joint I've ever seen."
In 2016
Ardie Davis called it "old school", saying the barbecue is straightforward, not oversmoked, and not overtrimmed.
As of 2016 the Kansas City Star considered them possibly the only Kansas City barbecue owned and operated by women pitmasters. The sisters do not participate in the
barbecue competition circuit.
In 2018 they appeared on an episode of Steve Harvey's
''Steve'' in a segment titled "The Queens of Barbecue."
In March 2019 the sisters and the barbecue were featured on the third season of American television series
''Queer Eye'',
which was filmed in and near Kansas City.
Both they and the restaurant received a makeover, and they started bottling their sauce.
In the aftermath they had to put in a second barbecue pit to handle demand.
In 2019 Jones Bar-B-Q's Coconut Pineapple sauce was named by Bloomberg News as one of their five favorite barbecue sauces.
See also
*
Bacon Explosion
*
Burnt ends
*
List of regional dishes of the United States
The cuisine of the United States includes many regional cuisine, regional or local Dish (food), dishes, side dishes and foods. This list includes dishes and foods that are associated with specific regions of the United States.
__TOC__
Regional ...
*
List of smoked foods
This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. Meats and f ...
*
Regional variations of barbecue
Barbecue varies by the type of meat, sauce, rub, or other flavorings used, the point in barbecuing at which they are added, the role smoke plays, the equipment and fuel used, cooking temperature, and cooking time.
The meat may be whole, gro ...
*
St. Louis-style barbecue
References
External links
Kansas City barbecue restaurantsKC Library History of GatesKansas City Library Barbecue history resourcesKansas City Barbeque SocietyAmerican Royal BBQ Contest Information and Contest Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas City-style barbecue
American cuisine
Barbecue
Cuisine of the Midwestern United States
Culture of Kansas City, Missouri
Smoked meat