Think KC and what immediately comes to mind is barbecue – beautiful “burnt end” brisket dipped lovingly in semi-sweet tomato-based and molasses sauce. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the white bread. Perfect.
If you’re looking for a place to practice sopping up all that sauce with that bread we’ve got a couple of top-tier suggestions. Both of them are local legends. You can’t go wrong either way.
- Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque holds court in a quartet of locations, one of them at the Freight House in the city’s Crossroads Art District. These folks specialize in burnt ends – drier, blackened end pieces of brisket that are intensely flavorful. They even serve up a burn end stew and a Poor Russ sandwich, chopped burnt ends arrayed on a sesame seed bun. Beautiful. Finish off the meal with, ah, something light like vanilla rum bread pudding or a triple chocolate brownie. The Freight House location is as loaded with ambiance as their baked potatoes – 25-foot ceilings and a fireplace lounge replete with full-service bar.
- When celebs travel they like to lock on to the epicurean essence of the town. In Kansas City that means they pay a visit to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. The original location (there are three in all) on Brooklyn Ave. is a favorite. Over the years luminaries like Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson have savored Bryant’s barbecue. Order up a whole slab of pork ribs and slather them with one of Bryant’s three signature sauces: original, rich & spicy or sweet heat.
Getting to Kansas City is no challenge. All the U.S. majors fly there, including Southwest Airlines. MCI (that’s KC’s airport code) is a focus city for the carrier.
(Image: Herkie)
