Until We Meet Again
While Plowboys Barbeque began in Blue Springs in 2013, for the last seven years, the restaurant has brought a necessary barbeque presence to the heart of downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Published August 13, 2022
It’s weird, but I remember it like it was yesterday - the first time that I had Plowboys’ Barbeque.
It was back in 2015. About six months prior, I had really begun in earnest my quest to discover the very best of Kansas City BBQ. I was looking online for a place to grab Friday lunch when I happened to notice that a barbeque place I had only recently heard of, Plowboys, had a location that was just four blocks from my downtown office. It was a hot summer day and barbeque sounded perfect. Combined with the prospect of trying a new place? I HAD TO GO!
Yet, I had my concerns. As I walked down Main Street, sweating through my polo, I wondered if there was really a barbeque joint on Main Street. How was it that I drove this street every day, twice a day, and never noticed it? But then as I approached the address, I had my answer. To call that original Plowboys’ downtown location, humble, would be playing it lightly. It was like a small corner bodega. It was like the foyer to a foyer to an office building. It was the type of place that if you blinked, you would have missed it. A small corner shop with a few tables and chairs but a lunch counter that clearly served what I was there for - barbeque!
Being a lobby, one would have been hard-pressed to call this a restaurant. After all, there was no smoker, and really no kitchen on-site. Instead, there was a counter serving meat and sides that had been prepared at the original Blue Springs location and transported to this BBQ bodega to satisfy the downtown lunch crowd. Now, I have been in dozens of barbeque joints all around this city, state, and nation, in all manners of disrepair, and yet, this was the one that had me the most uneasy. I stepped up to the counter and ordered my meal. I remember having pulled pork, beef burnt ends, baked beans, and potato salad. When the tray came out, I was relieved to see the meal looked the part. But still, I was nervous.
But at this point? All I could do was dig in and let the cards fall as they may.
While the BBQ Nachos get all the attention, the real star is the pulled pork. As a topper for the nachos, on a sandwich, or as an entree - it is KC’s best.
The story of Plowboys Barbeque really began in 2001 when Todd Johns and Randy Hinck started their Pork Pullin’ Plowboys competition-BBQ team. After much success on the competition circuit over the course of six years, Todd Johns started selling the dry rub that had won the team so many trophies - the Yard Bird Rub. A few more years of competition brought many more trophies for the team including an impressive 1st Place Pork nod from the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in 2008. The following year the team would win five championships including 1st place Brisket at the American Royal World Series of Barbecue en route to being named American Royal Grand Champion! Continued success led to Johns releasing a few more rubs, and even a few sauces for sale.
In 2013, Johns decided to parlay his award-winning pedigree and sales acumen into the restaurant business and opened Plowboys Barbeque in Blue Springs, Missouri. Two years later, he opened a second location in downtown Kansas City. As the Plowboys’ brand grew, the restaurant temporarily expanded to Overland Park, Kansas and Lincoln, Nebraska making it the only Kansas City barbeque joint to simultaneously operate in three different states. Not to be stopped there, Plowboys entered into a relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs, becoming their exclusive barbeque partner for five seasons. Now I am not going to say that Plowboys’ BBQ nachos helped the Chiefs bring the Lamar Hunt trophy back home twice and finally bring Lombardi Trophy glory back to KC. But, I am not, not saying that either. In addition to winning football, over the course of those five years, Arrowhead Stadium became home to Plowboys’ unique addition to Kansas City’s burgeoning barbeque scene - the BBQ nachos. House made and freshly fried tortilla chips piled high with Plowboys’ signature cheese sauce (a key ingredient in their delectable cheesy potatoes, mac ‘n cheese, and cheesy corn), and a smoked meat of choice, quickly became a favorite among Chiefs’ Kingdom and put one of the best BBQ joints in KC on the map.
And don’t be fooled, that is exactly what Plowboys Barbeque has been over the last nine years - one of Kansas City’s best. Here in the Q Capital, with more barbeque restaurants per capita than any other major city in the world, Plowboys was, and is, elite. If the trophy cases at their locations failed to tell the story, the foodie scene in Kansas City didn’t. Time and time again, the restaurant, and the famous BBQ nachos, received love from the likes of The Pitch, INK Magazine, and 435 Magazine.
A combination of competition success and booming sales of sauces and rubs necessitated the need for Plowboys to become a restaurant in 2013.
You may recall that this is not the first time that I have sung the praise of Plowboys Barbeque. Early on after disKCovery was launched, I released my widely-read ranking of the top 12 BBQ Joints in Kansas City. Plowboys cracked my top five. In my Fountain City Superlatives, I awarded Plowboys Barbeque for having the best pulled pork in KC. This is an opinion that rings true to this day. And in my Fountain City Superlatives surrounding barbeque sides, while Plowboys failed to top my list for any of them, they did take home a record five honorable mentions. Just two months ago, in my deep dive into the BBQ Sauces of Kansas City, it should be no surprise given their history, that I named Plowboys Barbeque as having the best sauce lineup of any BBQ joint in town.
So you can imagine my despair when the news broke two weeks ago that Plowboys was closing up shop for good. And it was not just going to be the downtown location which has been a popular lunch stop for me over the years - but ALL locations would be closed by August 15. While much of what surrounds the exact shutdown is rumors of inability to reach a reasonable lease agreement on the flagship property or simply a desire to retire, one thing must be considered. Due to the challenges that are still being felt from the pandemic, and record rates of inflation, it is an incredibly difficult time to be a restauranteur. As sad as I am to see Plowboys go, I understand that they are making the right decision for their business and their family.
And so knowing that the end was near for of Kansas City’s best BBQ joints, there was only one thing left for me to do - dig in.
A note on the door of the downtown location during the final week told the story.
Those first bites I ever had at Plowboys were beyond comprehension. Here I was in a glorified office lobby eating meat that came from a hotbox and wouldn’t you know it? It was some of the best barbeque I ever had. I remember the big meaty slivers of pulled pork with a perfect rosy smoke ring and a lovely, charred bark. Unlike many other pulled porks around the city, Plowboys let the meat and dry rub do all the talking. The cornerstone of Johns’ rub lineup, the Yardbird, was sweet and salty with just a pinch of heat. The flavor amplified the smoky, tender pieces of pulled pig shoulder. Upon the first bite I ever took, I knew that I was eating the very best pulled pork in all of Kansas City. And in seven years, I have never strayed from that belief.
The burnt ends were exactly what I hoped they would be. Large, meaty, cubes of beef with a soft, black char on the outside of each. Perfectly striated with fat but with plenty of beef, this is a burnt end that would have done Arthur Bryant proud. And as I would discover over years of dining there, the potato salad and bbq beans were but two strong entrants in an extensive, and delicious line-up of Kansas City sides.
While the meat and the sides were enough to make me a Plowboys' fan upon first bite, the sauces really drove it home. While this line-up has grown in the years since, my obsession with the KC Crossroads sauce has been a seven-year love affair.
I have many fond memories of that original downtown location but I was thankful when Plowboys moved to a larger location that allowed them to not only smoke their meats on-site, but also to offer the entirety of their menu. The introduction of fryers meant that some of the best fries you will find at a KC BBQ joint and the house-made tortilla chips that are the bedrock of their famed BBQ Nachos, were now on the menu. The investment in an actual downtown restaurant space that could seat close to 150 people quickly made Plowboys’ a must-visit for the downtown office crowd and out-of-town visitors alike. As the only barbeque joint in the downtown footprint and on the KC Streetcar route, Plowboys helped bring our city’s most proud culinary tradition to the heart of it all. They were a cog in the resurgence of our downtown. And selfishly, the move to a better restaurant space also moved some of KC’s best barbeque one block closer to my office.
And while it may seem crazy that I can still remember that first taste of Plowboys’ so vividly, that is exactly what a great meal does. It sticks with you! The first meal truly blew my mind. The notion that some of the best barbeque I had ever had up to that point would come from a hot box because it was smoked off-site. I had trouble believing it. That’s the experience that first made me a Plowboys’ fan. As they expanded into an actual restaurant space downtown and I finally visited the original location in Blue Springs, my opinion of their offerings rose to new heights.
Rarely has a restaurant captured my attention as fully and quickly as that little BBQ bodega on Main Street did.
So, when I heard the heartbreaking news, I knew that one last meal at Plowboys was in order. And while it would seem that the best thing to do would be to make the trek to the original Blue Springs location where it all began, the fact is, that’s not where it began for me. I fell in love with this food at the corner of 11th and Main back in 2015. Here in 2022, 12th and Main would have to do!
When I walked through those doors yesterday at 12:30pm, the restaurant was surprisingly empty. But a handwritten note taped to the door expressed the gratitude of the Plowboys’ family. With so many options to choose from, I had no idea what to order but ultimately, I went with the Royal Crown Combo (Four Ribs, Pulled Pork, Brisket, two sides, and Texas toast). Graciously, the server allowed me to sub out the brisket for the beef burnt ends that I truly desired. She did not even upcharge me for the swap! With it being my final taste of Plowboys, I went heavy on the potatoes with a side of cheesy potatoes and made-to-order fries.
One last meal at one of KC’s best BBQ joints.
My last taste of Plowboys’ was every bit as good as the first. This meal perfectly scratched that seven-year itch. Plowboys’ pulled pork is still the city’s best. The way that it effortlessly melts into my mouth is beyond what words could ever hope to describe. The babyback ribs come unsliced, typical for this variety. It is not necessary as the ribs are so tender that they rip apart without any effort at all. With a well-seasoned, nicely crispy rind, the ribs were exceptionally prepared. Tender but not overcooked. Crispy and chewy on the bark, but still soft. The beef burnt ends were still the gargantuan cubes that I have always enjoyed. The cheesy potatoes seem simple, shredded potatoes mixed in a blend of melted cheeses. But that yellow lump was just so fantastic. There is a nostalgia to the casserole that I cannot quite place but it is everything that I could ever want comfort food to be. And the fries, as always, made to order. Hot, crispy, fluffy on the inside, and the best complement to the best line-up of Kansas City barbeque sauces.
As I worked my around around the tray during this last supper of sorts, the fries are where I ended up. Ripping open the plastic dipping cups of each sauce variety, I grabbed my fries two at a time and tasted each of the four sauces in a mechanical order. I savored each moment as my meal came to an end, but it was then that I remembered that while Plowboys was closing their doors, they are simply transitioning to what they do best.
Concurrent with the news of their restaurant closure, Johns announced that Plowboys would be transitioning to Plowboys Foods and focusing on their business’s roots, selling their signature line of sauces and rubs. Oftentimes, outsiders try to insult Kansas City barbeque by mistakenly labeling our ‘que as “just sauce”. Some people will even attempt to insult a barbeque joint by saying that all they have is good sauce. However, in this case, it is not an insult at all. As amazing as the barbeque served by Plowboys is, their sauces and rubs are still what they do best. In May I wrote, “Not since the 1942 Monarchs has Kansas City fielded a line-up as strong as the sauces at Plowboys” and even still, I cannot find better words. The barbeque is exceptional. But the barbeque sauces? Those are next level.
Knowing the future of Plowboys allows me, and hopefully other fans, to take comfort. While we will be deprived of this city’s best pulled pork, those large meaty burnt ends, and those shredded potatoes melded together by that sinfully tasty signature cheese, Todd Johns and the Plowboys’ team will continue to loom large on the Kansas City barbeque scene. The city’s best sauce lineup will be available in stores, and perhaps in more places than before. The KC Crossroads and En Fuego will always have a place in my refrigerator door. The Yard Bird Rub will always be the first canister I reach for when I make my burgers. But as much as these sauces and rubs will remind me of the good times, they will also make me sad for what I no longer have. They will leave me disheartened that I could never hope to do these sauces and rubs justice; remiss that I cannot have this sauce as intended, on Plowboys’ perfect pulled pork or wonderfully crispy fries.
Selfishly, I hope that this is not my last taste of Plowboys’ first-rate barbeque. Selfishly, I hope that an elite barbeque joint who won me over with meat from a hotbox in an office lobby will do some pop-ups, or maybe even operate a food truck in the future. Maybe, I will still get a chance to taste their offerings at festivals or competitions. One can selfishly hope. And that is all it is, a selfish hope. It is not an easy time to be a restauranteur. While Kansas City is losing a restaurant that was a real credit to our barbeque scene, I cannot help but applaud the team who brought it every single day for nine years. I have to respect this decision. Todd Johns and his team have earned the chance to take it easy. While I will miss the food and the service, and having a barbeque joint downtown, I am simply thankful that the very best part of their business will continue to live on.
So in that respect, while I wrote to say farewell, it is not so much a “goodbye” as it is a “see you later”. Whether it be on Amazon, at the grocery store, or perhaps at a First Friday or the World Series of Barbecue (fingers crossed!), I know that I am not done with Plowboys and Plowboys is not done with Kansas City. And whether it come days from now on a grocery run or months into the future, I cannot wait until I meet Plowboys again.
While the food service industry has always been a taxing one, the past few years especially have been so taxing on our restaurants, bars, diners, dives, and coffee shops. What is your favorite spot that has been recently lost? Did you get a chance to say goodbye? We never know how much longer we will get to enjoy the best of our beautiful city, so please, remember to support local always.
