Home of the One and Only Kansas City #BBQBible!
Home of the One and Only Kansas City #BBQBible!
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Devan’s (Double) Dozen: BBQ Edition, Part I
After a year that took me to nearly every barbeque restaurant, joint, stand, pop-up, and concept in the Kansas City metro, a lot of readers were left asking the one question I had failed to answer, “Which is best?” Here in Kansas City, talking about barbeque is as common as discussing the weather or the local sports team, but far more precarious. The BBQ joint one person swears by will be the one another swears they won’t visit again. That didn’t stop me from weighing in with the first-ever double edition of Devan’s Dozen. This part contains a countdown from #24 to #13!
FCS: BBQ Sides
Oftentimes, my recommendation on what BBQ joint a person should try is simply based on the question of “What do you like?” While that typically is all about the meats, the fact is that the side dishes are just as much a part of the barbeque experience. Typically, BBQ restaurants aren’t judged on everything else but as a follow up to my meat rankings, I decided to rank, well, everything else that can be found at KC BBQ joints.
FCS: The Meats
“With great palate comes great responsibility.” Perhaps that was not the line exactly as Ben Parker famously delivered it, but does it not hold true? Oftentimes, my recommendation on what BBQ joint a person should try is simply based on the question of “What do you like?” With that in mind, after a year that took me to every BBQ joint worth visiting, this column names the best BBQ joints in the metro, based on the cuts of meat where each spot excels.
Bar-V-Que
Barbeque is a community food. It is best when shared with others. And yet? Not every member of every community eats meat. Year after year, vegetarianism becomes more popular in the United States. And whether it’s a lifestyle, or just for a meal, more and Kansas City pitmasters are flexing their creative muscles to serve up Kansas City flavors that are inclusive to a much wider audience. These are some of the best places to enjoy bar-v-que in the city.
The Fountain City Foodie’s Guide to the World Capital of BBQ (MO)
Setting out to try every single Kansas City barbeque spot, it can be easy to know where you start, but where does one finish? There’s no set checklist of every BBQ joint in the metro. There’s no order guide of what you must, and mustn’t get! That is, there wasn’t. As I recorded my own decade-long pilgrimage through the Q Capital, one friend joked this was a “BBQ Bible”. Not only did I confirm it, I got a little carried away with the concept.
Part 1 / 2 explores the 9 Missouri counties that comprise KC.
Devan’s Dozen: Fried Chicken Edition
When I was a kid, fried chicken was a special treat. It wasn’t that fried chicken was reserved for special occasions. Instead, it was that fried chicken made any meal a special one. A friend asking me the question a couple years ago of, “What’s the best fried chicken in KC?” spawned a very intentional quest to answer that question. So here are my Top 12 Fried Chicken Spots in KC. If you’re expecting Stroud’s or Go Chicken Go, you won’t find that here.
FCS: Best of 2021
As the year comes to a close, I award my Fountain City Superlatives for the 2021 year. As a deviation from what many publications do, these superlatives are much more personal. They are not necessarily the best in KC - they are just the best new experiences I had in KC in 2021. As always, there’s no voters - it’s just me.