2016 KC BBQ Bracket Trends & Awards

KCFoodGuys.com ate a lot of barbecue over the last couple of months and there are some interesting heroes and zeros out there including some barbecue trends.

 

2016 Kansas City Barbecue Trends & Concerns

BBQ Costs:  BBQ ain’t cheap.  Our average bill ranged from $15 to $30 and our total cost of eating our way through the tournament was well north of $1000.  We will be looking for underwriting sponsors in 2017.

Barbecue Nachos:  Enough already. Nachos are not barbecue no matter how much indistinguishable chopped meat you sprinkle on top of a nacho bell grande. This is a great dish to make at home, at the ballpark, or at Applebee’s but this is not an acceptable barbecue restaurant menu item.

No Burnt Ends:  We get it, keeping fresh que ready to serve at a restaurant is hard, damn hard. However, if you’re a barbecue restaurant then you need to make an effort to have burnt ends daily. I understand if you run out of burnt ends, but if you only offer burnt ends on weekends or only for dinner then you have put your middle finger up to diners and sold your soul to insignificance.

Bring your own sauce:  There is a BBQ restaurant that allows diners to bring their own sauce. It gets worse, they provide several generic sauces (Kraft, etc) in gallon jugs with pump tops to form KC’s most depressing BBQ sauce station.   Variety is the spice of life but not when it comes to mass produced BBQ sauce, we’re baffled.  Most puzzling is they have their own great sauce they serve on the table.

Optical Illusion BBQ:  Look closely. Because a few BBQ platters we received were tough to love. The beans, pulled pork, and brisket was indistinguishable on the plate in texture and color, and kind of all tasted the same since it was drowning in bad sauce.  KC has a lot of great BBQ, but it also has its share of sub-par BBQ.

Microwaves – We saw them, heard them, and have some burns in our mouth from some nuclear hot meat that came from them.  We understand that not every place can live completely without them but if you are putting any of your BBQ meat in them you’re doing your restaurant, your reputation, and your customer a disservice.  Clean it up people.  Warming up BBQ is only cool when your at home eating leftovers.

 

2016 Kansas City Barbecue Awards

BBQ Sandwich 

1. LC’s Beef Sandwich
2. Joe’s Kansas City Z-Man Sandwich
3. Danny Edwards Brisket Sandwich

Ribs

1. Joe’s
2. Q39
3. S.L.A.P.’s

Honorable Mention – Plowboys & Little Pig

Burnt Ends

1. Joe’s & Q39
2. Plowboys
3. S.L.A.P.’s

Sauce

1. Burnt End BBQ (Bold N Tasty)
2. Gates (Original)
3. LC’s (Original)

Honorable Mention – Plowboys & Little Pig

Beans

1. Jack Stack
2. PlowBoys
3. Little Pig

Honorable Mention – Smokebox & Smokehouse & Bare Bones Smokin

Unique Sides

1. BBQ Egg Rolls @ Smokeys on the Blvd
2. Horseradish Cole Slaw @ Tender Butts/Smoking Thighs
3. BBQ Wontons @ Blind Box BBQ

Honorable Mention – Cheesy Potatoes @ Plowboys

Best Restaurant Name

1. Smoking Butts and Tender Thighs
2. S.L.A.P.’s (Squeal Like A Pig)
3. P. Moore & Moore

Biggest Upset

• People’s Choice – 13 over a 4 – Fireside BBQ in Overland Park
• KCFoodGuys – 14 over a 3 – Little Pig in Belton

Cinderella’s

• People’s Choice – BBs Lawnside and Fireside BBQ
• KCFoodGuys -Bare Bone’s Smokin and Tender Butts & Smokin Thighs

2016 Kansas City Barbecue Styles

Hickory Pit:  Gates, Arthur, LC’s, Hayward’s

Banquet Hall:  Jack Stack, Rosedale, Zarda, Smokehouse

Home-style:  SmokinButts/Tender Thighs, P. Moore & Moore,

Gourmet:  Q39, Blind Box, Char Bar

Cafeteria:  Brobecks, Smokin Joe’s

Modern: Hawg Jaw Que & Brew, Burnt End BBQ

Dive: SLAP’s, RJ’s Bob Be Que,  Joe’s Kansas City

Country:  Porky’s Blazin