Ode to BBQ

One cannot complete a series of posts about Kansas City without a mention of BBQ.

Before we went to Kansas City, I told anyone who would listen I couldn't wait to eat some good BBQ and drink some sweet tea. Those are two things that are pretty absent from Minnesota menus. Sweet tea is usually some Nestea crud, and Famous Dave's is usually offered up as the only BBQ option. Kansas City is just south enough to know how to do these right. So, our last stop in KC was Arthur Bryant's BBQ, which was highly recommended by my sports director.

It did not disappoint.

Arthur Bryant's is a legendary hole in the wall right outside of KC's jazz district (which we totally plan on visiting next time we pass through). The place is packed when the Royals play, but fortunately they weren't in town so there wasn't a wait on a Sunday afternoon.

I got my favorite BBQ standby, pulled pork, but Dave was the one who won this culinary round by ordering their ribs, which were excellent. You order your food at a counter and they pull it off the grill, smoker, or fryer and load up your plate. If you order something to go, the cooks slap it all on a piece of brown butcher paper and roll it all up together... bread, BBQ, pickles, fries, whatever. We took our leftovers home this way, and they were still good. If you are one of those people who have a problem with your food touching, you might want to skip takeout here.

We had BBQ sauce under our fingernails and a mountain of food left. It's one of those places where you have to stop eating before the food is gone....one of those places where you have to skip the next meal because you ate so much....one of those places you know you'll go back. Satisfied, I told Dave, "this is my culture food. This is MY gefilte fish."