Cue the 'que

Now, what kind of KC girl would I be if I didn't weigh in with some thoughts about barbecue? Barbeque? BBQ? No matter how you spell it, if you live here, you'd better have an opinion on it.

The amount of time between Jon finding out he was being transferred to Kansas City and the day the moving truck showed up was about 3 weeks. During that time of telling our fellow Coloradans we were moving to Kansas City, the response almost certainly was, "well, I hear they have good BBQ there." We must have heard this upwards of 30 times in those 3 weeks. We heard this so much that one day I overheard my 4 year old son say to my neighbor, "yeah, I hear they have good BBQ there."

Within 48 hours though, we began to make the rounds. Our first stop was Arthur Bryants, where I first began to embarrass my family with professing my love for sausage. (I have been known in the past 7 years to say things like, "that's some good-looking sausage," "I LOVE sausage" and "no brisket for me, I'm a sausage girl.") I am also currently violating a promise to my child that I would stop telling people how much I love sausage. Technically I'm typing it though, not saying it...

So, anyway- Arthur Bryants. We ordered and sat down and my initial feeling was disappointment. Looking at my sandwich, I thought that they had given me brisket instead of sausage. I peeled back the bread, glanced at Jon's brisket, and realized, oh no, this IS sausage. I had never seen anything like it before or since. The sausage is sliced like brisket and likewise, layered on the sandwich. It. Is. DElicious!! Every time I go back I think, it can't be as good as I remember. It is. Every. Time.

So, we all know a blog about the 'que could go on and on and on. So I'll boil it down to some quick thoughts:

Arthur Bryants Barbeque - You really can't beat it for everything that KC bbq should be.

• Man up and go to the downtown location. You may not consider this to be the best part of town, but barbeque is something that brings us all together in KC and there is respect all around for the A.B.Q. (Note to Jon's friends- I don't mean Albuquerque.)
• Don't mess around- know what you want to order. It's not soup nazi crazy here, but know what you want by the time you get to the window. If it's your first time, maybe listen to the folks in front of you for ordering tips. 
• Go to the bathroom before you head to A.B. The bathrooms aren't gross, just tiny. If you're on the larger side of life, the hallway back there might be a tight squeeze. 
• A note to Vegetarians: Don't not go! While this is primarily a meat-heavy place, the french fries are not too be missed. Just a good ol' fresh cut fry. They are perfection. 

Joe's Kansas City Bar-be-que - You may still hear people call it Oklahoma Joe's. A somewhat recent name change has thrown some of us for a loop. Still the same great food though. 

• Again, here, go to the original location. It's in a gas station and you just can't beat the atmosphere and history. 
• DO NOT have some people in your party save you seats while you go order for the group. You will be waiting in line here (PLAN to be waiting in line, there never isn't one) for a while thinking, we're never going to get a seat. You will, don't worry. It's truly amazing how well they have their act down. As restaurant people I can say that Jon and I truly marvel at the efficiency of this place. 
• DO NOT try to beat the system and order to-go food with the plan of sitting in the restaurant and eating it. They do not, I repeat, do not, like that. 
• Vegetarians rejoice! They have a vegetarian option here. They put it right on their menu in a  special little box:  
  
  
  
  So now you can go enjoy bbq with your peeps and get something delicious. One caveat - even though they put this right on the menu, they will give you shit for ordering it. We took my cousin and her husband there (shameless plug for my cousin's Denver tie-dye business here and here) when they came through town over the holidays. I ordered it and the guy said to me, "Really. You know there's no meat on it, right?" However, I happen to enjoy people who give me shit, and he said it with a little holiday twinkle in his eye, which made me feel all warm and cozy, so, yes, please, one Portobello Z-Man for me! And it was delicious:
  
  
  
  
  

These are definitely our top 2 go-tos, but here's a few more notes that need stating:

Jack Stack Barbecue - Good overall bbq, definitely well known and I believe you can order it by mail pretty easily. They have the BEST side dishes- the Cheesy Corn Bake and the Cheesy Potato Bake are not to be missed.

Gates Bar-B-Q - The final one of what I'd consider the big 4 in this town. Not my fav. Stinky burps.

Smokey's on the Blvd BBQ is a spot near us in South Overland Park. You may think you need to go to one of the main 4 to get good bbq, but this place really holds it's own. Overall everything we've had here is good, but I was really blown away by the BBQ Eggrolls. They are totally unique, made to order and damn good. They are served with a crazy good sauce that they invented and make from scratch. There's a cool story about it too - I believe they tried to come up with a sauce that had no sugar in it for their dad for health reasons. They made several and this is the one dad chose. Very cool and personal aspect. They tell the story better than I do. Obviously.

Q39 - I hear it's a must-go-try, but we haven't been yet. Upscale, but delicious is the word on the street.

Well, that's it in a not-so-tiny nutshell. So, what's our favorite? Maybe I'm biased because it was my first introduction to barbeque (that's how they spell it at AB), but I still think Arthur Bryant's reigns supreme here. You really just can't beat that sausage. :)