Style
Kansas City Barbecue
Slow-smoked ribs and burnt ends with thick, sweet sauce.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
Kansas City, United States
Jeff and Joy Stehney opened this in 1996 inside a working gas station at 47th and Main — it started as Oklahoma Joe's, born from their championship competition team, and people have queued past the pumps ever since. Anthony Bourdain put it on his list of places to eat before you die; the American Royal put Grand Championship trophies on the wall. Open 11 to 9 most days, 10 to 10 Friday and Saturday. Still a pit, a queue, and a former gas station.
Arthur Bryant's
Kansas City, United States
KC institution with thick tomato-molasses sauce and sliced brisket on white bread.
Bodean's BBQ
London, United Kingdom
This is where Bodean's does what it does — barbecue in the Kansas City style, on a London street corner where you wouldn't necessarily expect to find it. The place exists. People go there. That's what matters.
Bodean's BBQ
London, United Kingdom
Bodean's has done Kansas City-style barbecue in London since 2002, when Canadian restaurateur Andre Blais opened the first Soho site after studying the KC pits — often called London's first authentic KC barbecue. This is the Tower Hill branch on Byward Street, in the shadow of the Tower: burnt ends, ribs, low-and-slow. Call or check the site for hours.
Chef J BBQ
Kansas City, United States
A barbecue operation in its own city, doing the style it knows. Find them at (816) 805-8283 or online at chefjbbq.com.
J's BBQ Olathe
Olathe, United States
Family-owned smokehouse in Olathe, Kansas, continuing a local barbecue legacy with pit-to-table Kansas City-style barbecue smoked fresh daily. Founded by Josh and Jason, it emphasizes limited daily production of brisket, ribs, burnt ends, and sides served without sauce unless requested. The venue opened in 2025 in the former Johnny's BBQ location and offers catering alongside dine-in.
Jack Stack BBQ
Kansas City, United States
Jack Stack BBQ runs on hickory — the wood that built Kansas City barbecue, burned slow in pits that don't rush a rack of ribs or a tray of burnt ends. This Freight House location carries that method into the Crossroads, a few blocks south at 101 W 22nd Street. It's one of several Jack Stack rooms around the city, each turning out the hickory-smoked board the brand is known for. Call ahead if you need to: 816-472-7427.
Jack Stack BBQ
Lee's Summit, United States
One of several Jack Stack rooms around Kansas City, the Lee's Summit location works with hickory — the wood behind the city's barbecue reputation — and turns out the burnt ends, ribs and brisket that go with it. Open seven days, closing at nine most nights and half-past eight on Sundays. A sit-down room that does one thing and does it at length.
Jack Stack BBQ
Lenexa, United States
This is one of several Jack Stack locations across the metro, each running the same hickory-fired program that built the name. The wood does its work; the menu follows Kansas City form. Open daily, closing at nine most nights and ten on weekends. The address is a few miles southwest of the city center, and the kitchen runs until close.
Jack Stack BBQ
Kansas City, United States
This Martin City location is the original Jack Stack — the Kansas City restaurant where the Fiorella family built the hickory-smoked reputation the brand now trades on. The pits run hickory, and the board is Kansas City to the core: burnt ends, crown prime beef short ribs, ribs and brisket, smoked over the long hours a KC pit demands. It's a full sit-down room rather than a counter, a fixture on Holmes Road for decades. Call ahead on 816-942-9141 — the burnt ends in particular have a habit of selling through.
Jack Stack BBQ
Overland Park, United States
Kansas City barbecue, Jack Stack style: hickory-smoked meat in a full sit-down room. The Overland Park location carries the same hickory pits as the original, turning out brisket, ribs and burnt ends with the patience the city expects. Open seven days, late enough on Friday and Saturday to catch dinner past nine.
Jack Stack BBQ
Kansas City, United States
This Jack Stack sits at 4747 Wyandotte, a few blocks from the Country Club Plaza's fountains and shops, running the same hickory pits as the rest of the family: ribs, brisket and burnt ends, smoked until they're ready. The dining room fills most nights, especially Friday and Saturday when the doors stay open until ten. Order at the counter or take a table; Sundays close earlier, so plan accordingly.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
Leawood, United States
This Leawood location extends Joe's Kansas City beyond the gas-station original without changing the deal: you queue, you order at the counter, you eat. It's the barbecue that began life as Oklahoma Joe's — Jeff and Joy Stehney's championship competition team turned pit — before becoming a KC institution. Open most days 11 to 9, later on weekends. No reservations, no table service.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
Olathe, United States
Joe's Kansas City has smoked barbecue in Olathe since 2006, one of three in the group behind the famous gas-station original. It's walk-ins only — show up, wait your turn, order at the counter. Open eleven to nine most nights, ten on weekends. The competition pedigree, multiple American Royal Grand Championships, is in the brisket.
Meat Mitch BBQ
Leawood, United States
Meat Mitch is Mitch Benjamin's Kansas City barbecue on West 95th Street — the competition-sauce brand turned restaurant, from a pitmaster with the trophies to back it. Call ahead or check the site for hours. KC style, done by someone who has won at it.
MISSION BBQ
Leawood, United States
The brand was founded by two friends with a passion for barbecue, and this Leawood outpost carries that forward in a strip along the Kansas side of the state line. It's open daily — eleven to nine most days, half-eleven to eight on Sundays — and the menu runs the usual barbecue roster without claiming a particular regional style. It's a chain, so the experience here mirrors the others: consistent, predictable, and built for volume. If you're nearby and want barbecue without a wait, it's there.
Slap's BBQ
Kansas City, United States
Slap's opened in 2014 and takes the competition circuit seriously — 25 to 35 KCBS contests a season — and it shows in the hickory-smoked Kansas City barbecue, which moves fast enough to sell out most days. Dine in, take it to go, or order ahead. Come early.
Woodyard BBQ
Kansas City, United States
This is a straightforward barbecue restaurant that cooks with local wood and keeps the hours of a place that knows people will come. Open late on Friday and Saturday — past midnight — and until eleven most other nights. It exists. It feeds people. That's the point.
Wright's Barbecue
Johnson, United States
Wright's started in Johnson in 2016 and grew into a small Arkansas chain, but this is where it began — Kansas City-style barbecue, open at half-ten, food off the pit until it's gone, dark on Sundays. Sauce, smoke, and a state that's learned to queue for it.
Wright's Barbecue
Bentonville, United States
This Wright's, at 1410 SE 8th Street, feeds the Bentonville Walmart campus crowd — Kansas City-style barbecue from half-ten until the day's smoke sells out, closed Sundays. It's the Arkansas chain that started in Johnson in 2016, doing sauce, smoke and the fundamentals for the lunch rush.
Wright's Barbecue
Rogers, United States
The Rogers Wright's runs the Arkansas chain's Kansas City-style barbecue — open at half-ten, served until it sells out, closed Sundays. On West Pauline Whitaker, the same smoke and the same hours as the rest of the group that started in Johnson in 2016. Get there early.
Wright's Barbecue
Benton, United States
Wright's Barbecue — barbecue in Benton.
Wright's Barbecue
Bentonville, United States
Wright's Barbecue is a Kansas City-style operation that opened its doors in 2016 and now runs multiple locations across Arkansas. This outpost sits at 208 NE 3rd Street on Bentonville Square, serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday — or until they sell out, whichever comes first. The doors open at half ten and close at eight, except Sunday when they're shut. No phone number to ring ahead. Show up, order, and hope you beat the queue. When it's gone.
Wright's Barbecue
Little Rock, United States
Wright's cooks Kansas City-style barbecue and runs it until the food's gone — the Little Rock location on Rebsamen Park Road opens at half-ten and goes until nine or sell-out, whichever lands first. It's a branch of the Arkansas outfit that started in Johnson in 2016 and spread across the state. Closed Sundays; the rest of the week, it's there. Show up, order, eat.