July 9, 2009
New BBQ Joint Coming To DC's Penn Quarter - Hill Country
Hill Country pays homage to Lockhart, TX's Kreuz Market. Kreuz Market is famous for selling its meats by weight and on butcher paper. A quick glance at the Hill Country website has us excited to try this new entry into the DC BBQ scene (Again, is there a DC BBQ scene? - We are still trying to figure that out too and if there isn't one we are trying to get one started.) Not only are we looking forward to trying their BBQ, we're looking forward to the prospects of a live country music venue in the heart of the city. Now the wait begins so you'll still be able to find us in our backyards and at events in the area handing out our BBQ to all of our fans.
April 24, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Dickie Doo Bar-B-Que
About half of my formative years were spent roaming the streets of Sedalia, Missouri. If you're not familiar with Sedalia it's a small town of about 21,000 about an hour and a half to the East of Kansas City. Sedalia has a few claims to fame:
2.) Since 1901, the Missouri State Fair has been held in Sedalia.
3.)Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime" music made Sedalia his adopted home.
April 18, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Jammin' Joe's BBQ
If you live in the DC area and travel down to Charlottesville, VA on Route 29, then you probably know about our favorite roadside BBQ joint - Jammin' Joe's BBQ!
April 16, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue
Oklahoma Joe's was conceived of on the competitive barbecue circuit in the early 1990s. The team that eventually went on to open Oklahoma Joe's was know as "Slaughterhouse Five" has won many Grand Championships, including the American Royal. Their first restaurant, Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue and Catering opened its doors in January 1996 in Stillwater, Oklahoma and their Kansas City location opened a few months later in August 1996. The Oklahoma location is now closed, but the Kansas City restaurant is going stronger than ever, in fact a second location has been opened in Olathe, Kansas.
Oklahoma Joe's has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, The Food Network and PBS to name a few. Zagat rated Oklahmoa Joe's as "Excellent" and the hometown Pitch Weekly gave it 3.5 Stars.
I'm a fan of the beef brisket, but can honestly say I've never had a meal at Oklahoma Joe's that I didn't enjoy and the novelty of the ambiance even makes the food taste better. Next time you are in Kansas City, Kansas stop by and give Oklahoma Joe's a try. You can check them out on the web at http://www.oklahomajoesbbq.com/.
Now go fill up your stomach and your car!!!
March 31, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Arthur Bryant's
You are sure to get a healthy argument in Kansas City over where to get the best BBQ in town. Folks in Kansas City tend to be loyal to their favorite BBQ Joint like your dog is loyal to you. One of the BBQ Joints that can claim as large of a loyal following as any in Kansas City is Arthur Bryant's.
Arthur Bryant was know as the "King of Ribs" and some have called him the most renowned barbequer in the history of barbeque. Arthur got into the barbeque business when he visited his brother Charlie, who worked for Henry Perry who started the Kansas City barbeque tradition. Arthur never left Kansas City and the world of barbeque after this visit. After Henry and Charlie died, Arthur took over the business and perfected the sauce. About the sauce, he once said, "I make it so you can put it on bread and eat it."
Arthur Bryant's many loyal fans include New Yorker columnist Calvin Trillin, who once called Bryant's the best restaurant in the world. Over the years a number of Presidents have dined at Bryant's, including Harry Truman (the Kansas City areas hometown President), Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Other well known celebrities who have dined at Bryant's include Steven Spielberg, George Brett, Wilt Chamberlain, Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson.
Bryant's slow smokes its meats with a combination of hickory and oak woods (Pork Barrel BBQ's favorite mix of smoking woods) to perfection. Step up to the counter and order a beef sandwich with white or wheat Wonder Bread. The man behind the counter slaps down the bread, puts at least a half of a pound of meat on the bread and then provides a generous slathering of sauce. There is literally enough meat on the sandwich for two or three meals!!! Don't forget to add fries, beans and a good helping of pickles and wash it all down with a Boulevard Wheat Beer - Kansas City's hometown beer.
You'll find the original Arthur Bryant's at 1727 Brooklyn Avenue, in downtown Kansas City. In recent years one has opened up at the Ameristar Casino and at the Legends at the Kansas Speedway. Check them out on the web at http://www.arthurbryantsbbq.com/.
If you need anymore convincing just look at the picture at the top of this blog post and try not to drool all over yourself.
March 15, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Rocklands Barbecue and Grilling Company
Since we are two guys from Missouri, you probably think all we can talk about is great Kansas City Barbecue - and you'd be right - except for a little gem of a BBQ joint we found in Alexandria, Virginia - Rocklands Barbecue and Grilling Company.
March 6, 2009
Kansas City Star BBQ News - Barbecue fans aren't reluctant to voice opinions
Posted on Thu, Mar. 05, 2009
Barbecue fans aren't reluctant to voice opinions
By JOYCE SMITH The Kansas City Star
There’s an old saying that in polite social circles one should never discuss religion, politics or sex.
In Kansas City you might add barbecue to the list.
Almost nothing gets barbecue fanatics riled up as a discussion of Kansas City’s best.
Take the recent reports on the closing — then reopening Wednesday — of Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que in the Kansas City Power & Light District.
Dozens of readers rang in on The Kansas City Star’s business blog, economy.kansascity. com, with such comments as “it turns out Famous Dave’s is actually better than a lot of KC BBQ places” to “a Minneapolis BBQ joint in the BBQ capital of the world — Kansas City? What a joke.”
But there’s no debate that Kansas City is a barbecue town.
Zagat Survey even selected three barbecue places — Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue, Danny Edwards Blvd. BBQ and Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue — in its list of top 10 area restaurants for 2008.
So this week I stopped at those restaurants, and more, to get the inside scoop from pit masters themselves on what makes great barbecue.
•Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque, Kansas City and Kansas City, Kan.
The technique: “The sauce, the tradition, the way we prepare our meats — slow-smoke it over hickory and oak. The key to barbecue is the pit master. We have three here and all of them have been here over 15 years. We try to prepare it the way Mr. Bryant did 80 years ago,” said Eddie Echols, general manager.
Also on the menu: turkey, sausage.
•Danny Edwards Blvd. BBQ, Kansas City.
In 1980, Danny Edwards went head to head with legendary Gates Bar-B-Q and Arthur Bryant’s. Not only did it survive, it often makes top barbecue lists, right along with them.
“I didn’t worry about what they have, just worried about what I sell,” he said. “You just do your best. I’m the one back here doing the cooking. It really makes me happy seeing all these people at the door every day, even in a depressed economy. They just want a good product at a reasonable price.”
The technique: Juicy slow-smoked brisket using hickory wood.
Also on the menu: Mexican chili, sweet potato fries.
•Famous Dave’s Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que, Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City Power & Light District.
“Minneapolis, that’s where our company is based, but our flavors and our cooking processes and all that came from all over the country,” said Mat Eastlack, general manager of the downtown Famous Dave’s. “Our founder, Dave Anderson, spent 25 years developing his recipes from all over the country — Kansas City, Memphis, the Carolinas, Texas — and so he takes the best from all those areas.”
The technique: Signature rubs, meat smoked for 2½ to three hours, then cooled. The next day it’s brought up to 160 degrees to help break down the fats and loosen the meat up so it falls off the bone easier. It’s charred on the grill, then sauce is added and the meat is grilled until caramelized.
Also on the menu: chicken Caesar salad, catfish fingers, smoked salmon spread, Cajun chicken sandwich.
•Gates Bar-B-Q, Kansas City, Kansas City, Kan., Leawood and Independence
George Gates II calls Gates a specialty house that concentrates on just making great barbecue.
“Barbecue is an art, it’s a feeling,” he said. “Everybody can paint, but not everybody is an artist. That’s what makes Kansas City so great, because you have so many styles of painting — of artistry of barbecuing.”
The technique: The pit has to be at the right temperature with the right moisture. Ribs start off on the bottom of the pit, close to the fire. The meat is seared to keep the juice in, then moved away from the fire to finish.
“Directly over the fire, not indirect, is what gives us our Gates flavor, along with our Gates spices,” Gates said.
Also on the menu: mutton, turkey, yammer pie.
•Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, Country Club Plaza, downtown, Martin City and Overland Park.
“We really try to focus on the quality of our raw ingredients and preparing all our products fresh from scratch,” said Case Dorman, president.
The technique: Authentic brick pits using 100 percent wood — 60 percent hickory, 40 percent oak — with meat seared at 350 degrees, then moved to a rotisserie smoker to slow-cook and hold the moisture.
Also on the menu: Rack of lamb, seared tuna, vegetable kabobs, entree salads and cheesy corn bake.
•Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue, Kansas City, Kan., and Olathe.
Started as a competition barbecue company, Oklahoma Joe’s opened as a restaurant in 1996.
“There’s a big difference in cooking barbecue in your backyard, cooking barbecue at a competition or cooking barbecue in a restaurant,” said Jeff Stehney, co-owner with his wife, Joy Stehney. “The most important thing when you go from cooking competitively or in the backyard to the restaurant is you obviously have to figure out a way to make money at it … but you do need to stay true to your belief that quality comes first.”
The technique: “Our barbecue rubs are what makes our barbecue stand out. The most important thing is how the barbecue rubs interact with the smoke and the heat,” Jeff Stehney said. “And we use only Missouri white oak to smoke with.”
Also on the menu: Red beans and rice, smoked chicken gumbo, Z-Man sandwich (smoked beef brisket, barbecue sauce, smoked provolone cheese and onion rings).
February 12, 2009
Best BBQ Joints in America - Gates BBQ (Gates Bar-B-Q)
Today we begin a regular feature where we highlight some of America's top BBQ Joints. In order to make this list a restaurant must only meet one criteria - have great BBQ!!
Today's Best BBQ Joint in America is Gates BBQ (they call it Gates Bar-B-Q) in Kansas City, Missouri. Gates is the first BBQ joint we highlight because it is my favorite. Having lived in Kansas City for a number of years I am confident that I put a few members of the Gates family through college with the amount of money that left my wallet in exchange for a Mixed Plate, Beef on Bun, or Burnt End Sandwich.
Gates began providing great BBQ and some of the best BBQ sauce in the world to Kansas City in 1946. Since its inception it has grown from a single restaurant in the early days to six restaurants throughout the Kansas City Metropolitan area today.
Since 1975 BBQ enthusiasts have been able to purchase Gates sauce in retail stores as well as the restaurants. My advice to you is this, if you see Gates sauce in your local store buy a few bottles - you won't be disappointed. I personally like the Extra-Hot, but all of their sauces will put a smile on your face.
If you're lucky enough to be in the Kansas City area find a Gates and go have lunch or dinner. In fact, if it weren't for the other amazing BBQ Joints in Kansas City you might want to have lunch and dinner there. Once your foot is in the door you'll be greeted by the familiar words "Hi, may I help you?" By all means let them help you to one of the best BBQ meals you'll have in your life.
My advice to first timers is to go for the Mixed Plate - on the menu it comes with beef brisket, ham, ribs, fries, white bread and pickles, but you can ask them to substitute the two meats with any of their meats. My personal favorite is double beef brisket, but you can also get turkey or pork. If you're not quite that hungry go for a sandwich - you won't be disappointed. As for sides I recommend the beans and thick cut fries. With all this being said, don't worry about what you order. Everything is great!!! We also love their blend of spices in their dry rub!
For more information about Gates check out their website at http://www.gatesbbq.com/.
If you've had the fortune to eat at Gates, let us know what you think with a Comment. Why do you love Gates? What is your favorite item on the menu? What is your favorite memory of eating at Gates? Any advice for a Gates rookie? Please be sure to try our All American Spice Rub!
