Going to KC for BBQ Weekend - Need suggestions

RemoGaggi

RemoGaggi

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Brethren,

5 of us are planning a trip from Sacramento to visit Kansas City in June (staying 3 nights) to check out various BBQ joints. None of us have ever been to KC, so I'm open to any and all suggestions. Our ages range from 40-51, with a general plan of sampling as many BBQ Joints as we can and probably ending the evening at a cool bar enjoying some drinks. No clubbing - way too old for that.

I know there's a ton of BBQ Joints and looks like some good Fried Chicken also? (Gus' & Stroud's). We are planning on renting a place through Airbnb and staying downtown for 3 nights. We've found 3 possible places to stay. One is around the corner from Joe's Kansas City BBQ, the other is in the Crossroads district and the other is in the Library district. Any thoughts or comments on any of these 3 areas?

Comments on the Power and Light district? Would this be cool to hang out at night, or is it more of of a younger crowd? Is it safe to walk around the Downtown area? I do plan on renting a car and Ubering in the evening as there will be beer involved.

Also, there's a BBQ Competition that weekend at Rockhurst High school - Kelley Wilson Memorial BBQ https://kw-bbq.com/. We've never been to a KCBS competition before and wondering if it's worth checking out. I'm wondering if there's any food and drink to buy at these comps, or is it really just fun for those participating in the comp. It looks like this is a 30 minute drive or so from downtown KC. Is is worth going to or should we just concentrate on going to the established BBQ joints. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Any suggestions for our trip would be most welcome. Thanks!
 
Q39 is my favorite, but I frequent Joe's KC, Slaps, Blind Box, and Jack Stack fairly often...mainly due to proximity where i live or work.

I don't eat fried chicken very often, but didn't really care for Strouds when I went. Heard good things about Gus's though.
 
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I Agree with joes kc, slaps, q39, and jack stack. Tons of others as well.
 
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Also, I judged that conpetition last year, it was my first time judging. There was a good turn out and its fairly easy to get to from downtown.

Crossroads is kind of an "artsy" part of downtown, and there's lots of foodie type places to eat and plenty of bars and nightlife in the area.

The "fun" part of competitions are usually Friday night, sometimes theres live bands or other entertainment. Usually that's when the partying happens. Saturday's are usually only interesting to people who care about barbecue, and sometimes people are pretty "heads down" trying to finish their cooks and meet turn in. May be harder to talk shop on Saturday than Friday.
 
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I’ve never heard of safety issues if you stay in the bar parts of downtown. Power and light is geared towards the younger crowd, but it’s worth checking out. It’s then a short hop across the highway to more grown up bars and distilleries. Crossroads has like 3 breweries that I know of.
 
Also, Boulevard Brewery is worth a tour and you can try a bunch of their beers on tap in their beer hall. The National WW1 museum is a great visit, if you decide to do some non-barbecue related stuff and its all in the same general vicinity you're looking at.
 
Power and light is disappointing, filled with boring chain restaurants. The Plaza is much better. Westport used to be fun too but have not been there in ages.
 
The "fun" part of competitions are usually Friday night said:
So, are there vendors/food & drink to buy if visiting the comp? or just a bunch of folks with their smokers prepping food for judging?
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Plow boys is also near the power and light! Most KCBS comps don't have food that you want to eat its just a food truck at best so I would eat at a BBQ joint then go to the comp and mingle with the teams!
 
Also most BBQ comps are in parking lots and its byob most of the time so grab some drinks to walk around with
 
Although I’ve never been I’ve heard really good things about char bar in downtown KC. The KC BBQ store in Olathe is always worth a stop too
 
electron_si said:
Although I’ve never been I’ve heard really good things about char bar in downtown KC. The KC BBQ store in Olathe is always worth a stop too
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I always forget about char bar - their food is good and they have a great outdoor hangout spot, weather should be perfect that time of year.
 
Q39 for sure! IMnotalwaysHO it is the best, but I am still trying to make the rounds on KC BBQ places myself. Just to say you went there, you could try Arthur Bryants for the historical significance. Probably be good to offset the Q with the fried chicken too :thumb:.
 
I realize my opinion won't be popular but I'm not a fan of KC BBQ. The company I work for has a major office in KC and I've eaten BBQ hundreds of times in KC.

I don't like any of the famous BBQ joints and to be honest I've stopped eating BBQ in KC. I've found much better BBQ in Texas, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. The quality of meat, attention to detail and innovation are a good decade behind many of the other newer and more innovate BBQ joints in the nation (in my opinion). When I think of BBQ in KC I think 1970 instead of 2018.

When I go to KC I do hit Jack Stack for the wings. They are the best smoked wings in the nation (in my opinion)...again I realiz KC is a "Mecca" of BBQ and my opinion probably won't be recieved well but that's just my feeling. I would 100 times rather visit Austin.
 
Nobody in Kansas City goes to the "famous" places like Arthur Bryant's or Gate's. You just aren't going to the right places. Nobody that likes barbecue could eat at Q39 and say "nah, this is not good food". AB's and Gate's most definitely are "old school KC style barbecue" but just about every other Q joint in town has moved on.
 
sudsandswine said:
Nobody in Kansas City goes to the "famous" places like Arthur Bryant's or Gate's. You just aren't going to the right places. Nobody that likes barbecue could eat at Q39 and say "nah, this is not good food".
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Please shoot me the name of some good joints and I will try them. I'm in KC multiple times of the year and the guys in the office seem to pride themselves on taking me to the joints I've listed...I don't even know how to politely decline at this point because I don't won't to offend.
 
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