We have a winner! The best barbecue in Kansas City? Here’s the place you voted No. 1
Picking the best Kansas City barbecue is almost as divisive as talking politics (maybe more so).
So we let our readers decide.
We started in late August with 34 of Kansas City’s best barbecue joints based on our readers’ suggestions. We used the top 16 for the first round of our bracket and narrowed it down week by week. In last week’s Flavorful 4 round, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que and Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue received the exact same number of votes, 575 each. In the Tasty 2 round, readers had until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to pick just one for the top spot.
The clear winner? Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que with 1,188 votes or 55%, compared to Fiorella’s 989 or 45%.
“Joe’s is always excited to be included with the best BBQ brands in Kansas City. The contests are a fun reward for the hard work of our staff,” said co-founder Joy Stehney in a statement. “You can find most of our awards hanging in our restaurants because we want to share them with our staff and customers that make them possible. Thank you to all our customers who advanced us each round and into the top spot of this year’s contest.”
Jeff and Joy Stehney attended their first barbecue contest in 1990 and were hooked. They bought a competition-style smoker and formed a team with their friends called Slaughterhouse Five. As they won awards, people started asking them to cater special events. Then their fans clamored for a restaurant.
They partnered with Joe Don Davidson, owner of Oklahoma Joe’s Smoker Co., and opened the first Oklahoma Joe’s in January 1996 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They opened their first area location in a Kansas City, Kansas, gas station — not far from the Stehneys’ home — in August of 1996. They later bought out Davidson and the name changed to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Q.
Now they have the original Kansas City, Kansas, location, as well as restaurants in Leawood and Olathe. They also have a sister restaurant, County Road Ice House BBQ & Bar, in the Power & Light District.
The menu includes barbecue sandwiches, including its famous Z-Man, and barbecue dinners — pulled pork, smoked turkey, smoked ham, beef brisket, ribs, burnt ends and more.
It ships its barbecue nationwide.
Joe’s Kansas City named one of the best restaurants in US — but not for its barbecue
The runner-up, Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue, traces its roots to 1957 when Russ Fiorella opened a barbecue with just a handful of items. His eldest son, Jack Fiorella, worked with his father until 1974 and then branched out on his own, opening Fiorella’s Jack Stack of Martin City.
It is now in its fourth generation with locations in south Kansas City, on the Country Club Plaza, the Freight House, Lee’s Summit, Lenexa and Overland Park. It just remodeled the longtime Plaza location.
The menu features 11 hickory-smoked meats — burnt ends, beef brisket, pork spare ribs, pulled pork, lamb ribs, fire-kissed wings and more, It also has salmon grilled with blackberry barbecue sauce, barbecue shrimp, honey-chipotle chicken, salads and soups, and sides such hickory pit beans, cheesy corn bake and potato salad.
