Eat your way through Kansas City’s best barbecue with our new Barbecue Passport
Barbecue in Kansas City is as varied and nuanced as people’s preferences for cuts of meat, sauces and spice rubs. With an estimated 100 barbecue restaurants in the metro, it’s a tricky landscape to navigate, especially if you’re new to town, are just visiting or haven’t found your favorite spots yet.
That’s why the team at The Kansas City Star created the Barbecue Passport, a tried and true roundup of the 10 spots that readers deemed the best of the best in our barbecue bracket.
Overall, the passport encompasses a wide spectrum of Kansas City barbecue experiences from foundational institutions like Arthur Bryant’s, Gates and Joe’s, to newer pitmasters bringing innovative ideas to the table.
Use this passport to make lunch or dinner plans, impress people with your barbecue knowledge, share it with friends and race to see who can eat at all of them first. Or, use it as a roadmap to chart your saucy course. Dining at all of these essential restaurants is an excellent crash course to what the KC barbecue scene has to offer and will start you on your journey to becoming a Kansas City barbecue expert.
How to use the Barbecue Passport
1. Download The Kansas City Star’s Barbecue Passport, save it on your phone or print it out, and let the quest to eat at Kansas City’s favorite barbecue restaurants begin!
2. Eat at the barbecue. Go as fast or slow as your stomach can handle. Keep track of your progress using the Barbecue Passport.
3. Share your experience. Snap a picture of yourself eating some tasty food at one of the spots on the Barbecue Passport, and post it on your Instagram story. Tag The Star using @thekansascitystar, and we’ll re-share your picture to our Instagram story.
