A Delicious Kansas City BBQ Road Trip Roundup

Ryan toured some of KC's tastiest new BBQ spots along with a few old favorites with new locations.

Last week, I shared my experience at the Grand Opening of the Museum of BBQ in Kansas City, the world’s first museum dedicated exclusively to smoked meats and side dishes. I also had the chance to visit some new BBQ restaurants while I was in KC, as well as a few old favorites that have changed locations in the last few years.

Before I got to town, I saw that the food truck Smoke-n-Seoul was going to be serving lunch outside of Kansas City’s popular Vietnamese coffee shop, Cafe Cà Phê. I have been following Smoke-n-Seoul for years and have been dying to try the unique food from friendly owners Greg and Nancy Stears. They combine the Kansas City BBQ from Greg's roots with the flavors of the Korean cuisine Nancy grew up with. It’s a match made in heaven.

My 11-year-old son Henry and I ordered as much from the menu as we could possibly handle. Henry wanted to try the Korean chicken, so we ordered bone-in Korean-style fried Smokeshow Wings. We also got a Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich topped with Kimchi slaw, gochujang mayo, and pickles on a toasted brioche bun. The chicken was all amazing, and Henry devoured most of the wings.

I really was excited to try the BBQ, so I ordered a KC-Q Sandwich made with pulled pork, sautéed kimchi, onion straws, and gochujang mayo on a bun. I particularly enjoyed the Sweet and Sticky Ribs, which are baby backs that have been smoked, sauced, and then grilled to order and served with rice. Perhaps the best bite of all was something that Greg surprised me by loading up the Crispy Fries I ordered with perfectly smoked brisket. Next time, I will go straight for the brisket and order even more from the menu.

Next up, we visited Jazzy B’s BBQ in Lee’s Summit, where owner Brandon Simpson likes to put his unique spin on Kansas City BBQ. His burnt ends, ribs, wings, Jazzy fries, and spicy blueberry sauce have been favorites of mine for years. Two years ago, he moved to a new, larger location and made a small name change (from Jazzy B’s Diner). On Friday nights, crowds enjoy live music in the venue, which also includes a full bar.

It was great to see Brandon, and it was as if no time had passed since my last visit a few years ago. We ordered all of my old favorites, and Jazzy B’s has not missed a beat. The menu has been updated slightly to include Jazzy tots, which, despite the fact that they have the exact same cinnamon-flavored seasoning as the Jazzy fries, somehow taste even better.

After Henry continued his Spring Break trip to visit family in St. Louis, I stayed behind in KC. I joined my old friends Ardie Davis (better known as Barbecue Hall of Fame member Remus Powers) and barbecue fanatic Brian Nowotny (known as Big Tex KC BBQ) at Wolfepack BBQ.

Wolfepack BBQ moved from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar location in Kansas City’s Columbus Park area, right next to the aforementioned Cafe Cà Phê. I have had the chance to feast on pitmaster Jared Wolfe’s BBQ at events and at his food truck in prior years and could not wait to visit his restaurant.

Ardie, Brian, and I enjoyed the warmer weather outside on the patio. I ordered brisket, ribs, beans, and lemon pepper slaw. I enjoyed everything, especially the brisket with spicy sauce and the tangy slaw.

After we were done eating, the pitmasters showed off the giant offset smoker loaded with gorgeous briskets. Inside the restaurant, we admired the gorgeous bar and the artwork featuring Henry Perry, the historic chef and restaurateur who is widely considered the Father of Kansas City BBQ. It was wonderful getting together with Ardie and Brian while eating such great brisket.

The following day, I went to the new location of Harp Barbecue in Overland Park, Kansas. I met up my friends Jill Silva, a James Beard award-winning author and former food editor of the Kansas City Star, and talented photographer Tarik Sykes (AKA BBQ with Rik Rik).

After traveling across the country learning about the best elements of BBQ, pitmaster Tyler Harp made his name popping up on Saturdays at Crane Brewing in Raytown, Missouri. He later opened a brick-and-mortar just around the corner. Late last year, he relocated his restaurant across the border to an affluent neighborhood in Kansas. We worked up an appetite standing out by the smoker, an M&M BBQ Company rotisserie cooker that has replaced the traditional offsets Harp launched his career using.

Harp put together a beautiful tray that would be right at home in Texas, which included brisket, burnt ends, spareribs, smoked turkey, Spicy Queso sausage, and pork belly pastrami. The sides included sweet potato mash, mac and cheese, beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and cheesy corn.

The stars of the show were the Pastrami Bomb Sandwich, made with pastrami pork belly and slaw served with a BBQ mustard sauce on marble rye and the perfectly cooked Green Chile Cheeseburger. Combined with our favorite sides (the sweet potato mash and mac and cheese), we marveled at how Harp Barbecue has evolved from the Texas-style brisket and West Tennessee whole hog barbecue of years past.

Later, we were surprised with a visit from YouTube star Lisa Nguyen, who took a break from eating incredibly spicy ramen to get her Harp Barbecue fix. It felt like old times for the first time in a long time, and we all remarked on how much the world has changed since the pre-pandemic years when Harp first started popping up.

My final visit in KC was to Discourse Brewing to try Point & Flat BBQ, from pitmaster Quentin Van Horn. I was joined by Jud Kite, one of my oldest friends from school. Unfortunately, I have missed out on getting to try Van Horn’s BBQ the last several times I have been in Kansas City, so I decided not to make the same mistake again.

We ordered both brisket and pork belly burnt ends, jalapeño cheese sausage, spareribs, brisket-stuffed and bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers, cheesy corn, and macaroni salad. The spareribs were some of the best I have had in recent memory, and the poppers were divine. The macaroni salad was completely devoured before we filled up on BBQ and fantastic IPA and Sour beers from the brewery.

It definitely feels like the BBQ Van Horn is producing is a successful continuation of the Kansas City craft BBQ tradition pioneered by Tyler Harp, Jared Wolfe, and others from a new generation of young pitmasters. I am thankful to have the opportunity to enjoy new and revitalized BBQ in my old hometown.

Ryan Cooper
Co-Founder, The Smoke Sheet