Food recs: The best BBQ in Kansas City

Up To Date’s food panelists and barbecue enthusiasts from around Kansas City recommend their favorite places to get ribs, brisket, pork, chicken and sides in the metro.
It’s no secret that Kansas Citians love to talk — and argue — about barbecue. That hasn’t changed over the decades.

But according to Carlton Logan, who’s lived in Kansas City all his life and co-administrates the popular Facebook page Kansas City Eats, barbecue has changed a lot, especially when it comes to sides.

“It used to be what I call the kind of trilogy: baked beans, potato salad and coleslaw. And now we've expanded to things like elotes and and other side dishes,” he told KCUR’s Up To Date on Friday.

Of course, it’s not all about the sides.

While most Kansas Citians will tell you we’re a ribs and brisket town, Rod Gray, CEO of the Kansas City Barbeque Society, says chicken is a pretty big deal, too.

“Chicken is the unsung hero in barbecue, for sure,” he said. “There's a lot of great chicken in Kansas City.”

Logan, Gray and Jill Silva, a contributor to Flatland, all agree that the best barbecue chicken in town is at Q39.