Best BBQ in Kansas City/Overland Park, KS?

Q39 is my favorite, their brisket and burnt ends are best I've had in a restaurant. I frequent Joe's KC and Jack Stack as well, all basically in Overland Park. Lots of other options if you venture out of O.P. but you cant go wrong with Q39 IMO.

sudsandswine said:

Q39 is my favorite, their brisket and burnt ends are best I've had in a restaurant. I frequent Joe's KC and Jack Stack as well, all basically in Overland Park. Lots of other options if you venture out of O.P. but you cant go wrong with Q39 IMO.

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Agree...get there as early as you can. Got there right after they opened and in 15 minutes it was packed and people waiting to get in the door.

Joe's KC but the one in the gas station .

I just did a KC trip a few weeks. Joe's BBQ (gas station) and Q39 were tops for us. The ribs and burnt ends at both places were great and really made me rethink how I can step my game up to try to produce food like that. If you are there on a Saturday, go to Joes around 10:30 to beat the line for the burnt ends. You will not be disappointed.

We went to Jackstacks, and I was very disappointed. We sampled the a plate with the big beef rib, pork ribs, and burnt ends. I thought the beef had a steamed quality to it and the pork ribs should never had made it onto a plate - it was that bad. To me, JS is an wanna be high end restaurant masquerading as a BBQ restaurant.

We went to Slap's BBQ and tried the sampler plate with pork ribs and burnt ends. While I thought the texture on both were perfect, the rub/sauce they use there is too sweet for my liking. If you like sweet, you'll like this place. If you don't like sweet, don't bother.

And, we had to try Arthur Bryants, mainly for the historical significance. It's a cool joint. The burnt ends were not very good. Tasted like stew meat mixed with sauce. I thought the pork ribs were good, not great. I did, however, like their sauce. It's a different type of sauce, and I liked it. You'll either really like it or hate it. I don't believe there's much in between.

If you get a chance, be sure to stop by the Kansas City BBQ Store. They've got ALL the best rubs and sauces. And you can sample pretty much every rub. We spent over an hour there sampling, checking out the gear, and talking with them. Super nice people there and we ended up buying so much rub to take home, our bags got the special treatment at the airport on the way home.

If you venture a little north, SLAPS.

Non-native, and still have a lot of places to hit, but Q39 rocks. I think you will also need to check out Joes KC BBQ, BB's Lawnside BBQ

I will add The Woodyard to the list. Not OP, but very close.

RemoGaggi said:

We went to Jackstacks, and I was very disappointed. We sampled the a plate with the big beef rib, pork ribs, and burnt ends. I thought the beef had a steamed quality to it and the pork ribs should never had made it onto a plate - it was that bad. To me, JS is an wanna be high end restaurant masquerading as a BBQ restaurant.

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Did you go to the one in Overland Park? I've had a couple bad meals from there but have probably eaten there 30 or 40 times and it's almost always good (though not on the level of Q39 etc) - it's a different style. Unfortunate that you had a bad experience, though.

sudsandswine said:

Did you go to the one in Overland Park? I've had a couple bad meals from there but have probably eaten there 30 or 40 times and it's almost always good (though not on the level of Q39 etc) - it's a different style. Unfortunate that you had a bad experience, though.

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I should have been more specific. I went to the Freight House one.

LCs is a dive and a bit of a drive from Overland Park, but the best BBQ in KC (next to mine :mrgreen in my opinion.

Smoking Guns in North Kansas City is worth the trip!

MoKanMeathead said:

Smoking Guns in North Kansas City is worth the trip!

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I still need to try that place out, I frequently use their rub by proxy :wink: Us south of the river people don't venture north of the river very often and feel very out of place when we do, though.

I go to Joes in Olathe so I can go to KC BBQ Store,across the parking lot. Slap is really good too. Maybe I’m lucky Ive never had a bad meal at Jack Stack, and the crown beef rib is very good.

I type this from KC, my first time, and my pilgrimage. 48 hours, 4 classics that have been well researched. 1st , Jack Stacks. Average. Nothing special. 2nd Q39, really good brisket, undercooked but good BE, decent ribs and the best overall atmosphere if you drink beer. 3rd Joe’s, waited in line 20 mins and got brisket and ribs. They slice the brisket paper thin, just ok. The ribs were the best retail ribs I’ve had. No sauce needed. Best single serving of bbq this trip. Then I backed out of going to Slaps, I couldn’t eat any more bbq. I just couldn’t do it...never thought it possible.

Glad I found this Im headed to Overland Park next week for work. Lots of good recommendations in this thread ill have to try out.

I haven't seen Danny Edwards on here yet. Very unassuming place on southwest boulevard in KCMO. I think they have the best brisket in town by a long shot. They always slice it nice and thick. They also have great ribs and on saturdays they do a santa fe corn bake this is really tasty.

For Arthur Bryants, I always get the sliced pork sandwich or ribs there. Not always the most consistent but I've never had bad Q from there. Also, definitely need to try their beans. They do a smoked italian sausage log that is very tasty

L.C.s, sliced pork sandwich, burnt ends, beans and fresh handcut fries. My personal #1 of KC barbecue

Q39, been there 4-5 times and don't get all the hype. Decent enough barbecue but the atmosphere feels wrong to me. I fought through those same feelings with jack stack and eventually came around on it, but I'm not there with Q39, it just doesn't excite me and is not worth the effort for ok, expensive barbecue. They are definitely the hot new kid on the block though, so totally worth a trip, just not my style

Joe's KC, the most consistent of all barbecue places. Tastes the same every time and is consistently delicious. Try the ribs, burnt ends, Z-man sandwich and their seasoned fries. Even with multiple locations, they turn out a consistent and identical product at all of their locations

Woodyard Barbecue, really solid ribs. A really cool place to stop at and also pick up some great smoking wood.

Gates, I like it, people either like it or hate it. It can be inconsistent from location to location. I usually try to go to the location off Cleaver and the paseo. They chop their burnt ends and they can be a gut bomb. I like their sliced pork and brisket on sandwiches and their big steak fries with their very unique sauce

There are a ton of other options too and new places springing up all the time. It's hard to go wrong with any local barbecue joint here, but these are some of the ones that I frequent

GREAT INFO!! Just what I was looking for. My son's soccer team just won the Midwest Regional Championship and we are off to Overland for a week in July. This is a nice list to start with. Thanks guys.

Slap's BBQ and Joe's KC are the only places I like .