The honest guide to Kansas City barbecue.
Every joint worth your time — sauce styles, burnt-ends days, cash-only, odd hours, and which ones ship nationwide. The facts Google gets wrong, kept straight.
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All joints
22 of 22 joints
Arthur Bryant's Barbeque
Ships 🇺🇸KCMO - Midtown
Order this: A burnt ends sandwich, piled on white bread, with the gritty original sauce.
B.B.'s Lawnside Blues & BBQ
KCMO - South
Order this: Ribs with a side of live blues.
Brobeck's Bar-B-Que
Overland Park
Order this: A half-pound of burnt ends on a toasted bun — a local value pick.
Buck Tui BBQ
Overland Park
Order this: 72-hour brisket, Thai sausage, and brisket rangoons.
Burnt End BBQ
KCMO - Crown Center
Order this: Burnt ends, obviously — it's in the name.
Char Bar
KCMO - Westport
Order this: Naked burnt ends on the patio with a Boulevard draft.
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue
Ships 🇺🇸KCMO - Crossroads (Freight House)
Order this: Crown Prime beef ribs — the upscale KC splurge.
Gates Bar-B-Q
Ships 🇺🇸KCMO - Midtown
Order this: Ribs with extra Gates Original sauce — the bottle you'll want to take home.
Hayward's Pit Bar-B-Que
Shawnee, KS
Order this: Burnt ends from a Johnson County mainstay.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
Ships 🇺🇸KCK - Wyandotte
Order this: The Z-Man — brisket, smoked provolone, onion rings on a kaiser roll.
Jones Bar-B-Q
Ships 🇺🇸KCK - Wyandotte
Order this: Ribs — then take home a bottle of the sweet & tangy sauce.
LC's Bar-B-Q
KCMO - East Side (Blue Pkwy)
Order this: Burnt ends — dark, crusty, and piled high.
Meat Mitch
Ships 🇺🇸Leawood
Order this: Burnt ends — then take home the Naked and WHOMP! sauces.
Night Goat BBQ
KCMO - Westside (Fox & Pearl)
Order this: Whatever's on the board that day — this is chef-driven, not by-the-pound.
Q39
KCMO - Midtown
Order this: Burnt ends — chef-driven, competition-pedigree smoke.
R.J.'s Bob-Be-Que Shack
Mission, KS
Order this: Burnt ends — and don't skip the jalapeno sausage.
Rosedale Bar-B-Q
KCK - Rosedale
Order this: Burnt ends from the metro's oldest BBQ family.
Slap's BBQ
KCK - Wyandotte
Order this: Spare ribs — go early before they're gone.
Smokehouse Barbecue
Independence / Gladstone
Order this: A full-service rib plate.
Snead's Bar-B-Q
Belton
Order this: A 'brownie' sandwich — Snead's signature crusty brisket ends.
Woodyard Bar-B-Que
KCK - Merriam Lane
Order this: Pecan-smoked brisket, drenched in the mild house sauce.
Zarda Bar-B-Q
Blue Springs / Lenexa
Order this: Ribs — a reliable suburban KC standby.