Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que is one of the most famous BBQ restaurants in the country. Here are just a few reasons why: 



- Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain listed Joe's original Kansas City location as one of "13 Places You Must Eat Before You Die." [7]
- Joe's was named "Kansas City's Best Barbecue" by Zagat. [9]
- USA Today said the ribs were the “Tastiest Ribs in America [10]
- Food review site Yelp ranked Joe's Kansas City No. 3 in the top 100 places to eat in the U.S
- Thrillist named Joe's among the "33 Best BBQ Joints in America" in 2013 and 2016 [11][12]
- The New York Post named Joe's number one on its list of the 28 best BBQ restaurants in America in July 2017. [16][17]



Located in the Kansas contingent of Kansas City, this bbq joint based in a renovated gas station serves up Kansas City-style barbecue known for its thick, sweet sauce often made of tomatoes, molasses and brown sugar. Burnt ends, the crispy charred edges of slow-smoked beef brisket, are also a hallmark of this type of BBQ. 

"Although pork is commonly associated with Kansas City-style barbecue, there is also a strong tradition of barbecuing other meats, including beef; no doubt the result of Kansas City’s important role as a meat-packing center. The thick, tomatoey style of Kansas City barbecue sauce has become the prototype for commercial sauces sold nationwide," according to the Culinary Institute of America. 



"This is the story of Jeff and Joy Stehney and their company, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. In 1990, Jeff and Joy attended a barbecue contest for the first time, at the invitation of a friend. The Stehneys soon bought a competition-style smoker and, together with a few friends, formed a barbecue team. They called it Slaughterhouse Five. It wasn’t long before Slaughterhouse Five began winning contests. As their reputation for championship barbecue began to spread, folks began to ask Jeff and Joy if they would cater special events, wedding receptions, retirement parties, and such. Out on the competition circuit, Jeff and Joy had become friends with Joe Don Davidson, founder and owner of the Oklahoma Joe's Smoker Company. Under the heady influence of barbecue smoke, Jeff and Joe decided to go into the restaurant business together. Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue and Catering was created in mid-1995, and the first Oklahoma Joe’s restaurant opened in January 1996 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Later that year, experience and commitment intersected with opportunity and serendipity at the corner of 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, Kansas, where the owner of a little neighborhood gas station and convenience store, not far from the Stehneys' house, closed the little fried chicken counter he had been operating inside the store. "We put together a proposal, made an offer, and all of a sudden we were not only in the barbecue business, but also in the gas station business.” Then, in 1997, Joe Davidson sold his smoker company and moved to Texas. With no one to oversee the Oklahoma restaurant, it was closed and Jeff and Joy bought Joe's share of the Kansas City restaurant. The Stehneys have been the sole owners of Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que restaurants from that time forward."



I ordered the Z-Man, which has slow-smoked beef brisket, smoked provolone cheese, topped with two crispy onion rings, on a toasted Kaiser roll - and it has a bit of a history itself:

In 1997, not long after Jeff and Joy opened their barbecue joint at the corner of 47th & Mission Road in Kansas City, Kansas, they were approached by a fellow by the name of Mike Zarrick who had an idea to pitch. “I recognized the guy,” recalls Jeff. “He was a regular customer. He told me how much he liked our restaurant, and said that he was about to launch his own sports talk radio program on a new station in town; 1510 AM. It was just a little start-up station, and the jocks actually had to buy their own time on the air and sell their own advertising. So, I decided to take a chance on the guy. What sold me was his absolute passion for our barbecue. I’d rather partner up with someone with passion and enthusiasm at a little station, than with some big conglomerate with all the Arbitron numbers and no passion.” About six months later Jeff had an idea. “I had created this new sandwich which featured sliced smoked brisket, smoked provolone cheese, a couple of onion rings, a bit of barbecue sauce, all on top of a Kaiser roll. So, I went to Zarrick and asked him to talk about the sandwich on the air, and to invite his listeners to try the sandwich in the restaurant and to submit names to the sandwich. It would be a contest, and the winner would get a prize and we’d use that name on the menu. “Well, Zarrick was getting pretty popular and he had begun calling himself ‘Z-Man’ on the air. So when people came in to try the sandwich as part of the contest, they would ask for ‘that Z-Man’ sandwich. Eventually, a winning name was chosen, but it never stuck. By the time the contest ended, everybody was calling the sandwich the Z-Man! We’ve been calling it that ever since.”



The sandwich was great and had a little bit of everything - the sweet sauce, crunch from onion ring, smoke from the BBQ. Straightforward and satisfying. I also couldn't leave without some mac & cheese because arguably the sides are the best part of BBQ. And it did not disappoint - creamy, cheesy and the perfect side for the rich sandwich.



Grade: A