Founded in 1946 by George W. Gates as "Gates' Famous Old Kentucky Bar-B-Q," Gates' Bar-B-Q is widely regarded as a Kansas City institution. The restaurant's original location was within what is now the 18th and Vine neighborhood. With the growing popularity of their food and barbeque sauce, the company acquired this location which is located near the company's headquarters. This location features a statue of the company's "Struttin' Man" logo, and similar to all Gates locations, guests should expect an enthusiastic "HI, MAY I HELP YOU" greeting from staff when they enter the service line. Gates has seen many iterations over its nearly 70-year history. The first location was opened at 19th and Vine, before moving several times and opening numerous other locations. Now boasting five restaurants across the Kansas City metro area, Gates' Bar-B-Q is a pillar of the culinary and social fabric of Kansas City. This restaurant at 12th and Brooklyn has been in operation since 1954.
The history of Arthur Bryant's is closely connected to the larger history of Kansas City. One of the oldest and most influential restaurants in establishing the unique flavor of Kansas City barbeque, Arthur Bryant’s dates back to 1908 when Henry Perry began serving barbecued meats from a cart in Kansas City's Garment District. In the decades that followed, Charlie and Arthur Bryant learned the craft while working for Perry. In 1949, Arthur Bryant established this restaurant which quickly established a strong reputation among diverse groups of Kansas City residents. The restaurant's fame spread following a 1972 article by food critic Calvin Trillin that declared Arthur Bryant's "the single best restaurant in the world." In the decades that followed, American Presidents, politicians, civil rights leaders, actors, and athletes from all around the United States and the world have made a pilgrimage to experience what some consider to be the best BBQ ribs in the world.
Henry Perry is widely regarded as the "Father of Kansas City BBQ," and this was the location of the last restaurant he operated. Given the long and storied tradition of barbecue in this city, the fact that leading restaurants from Gates to Arthur Bryant's draw their roots to Perry's shop here at 19th and Highland is a tribute not only to Perry's craft, but his influence on the next generation of cooks and restaurant operators. The practice of barbequing meats in the city can be traced all the way back to the era after the Civil War when Southern migrants came to the city looking for work. The massive Kansas City Stockyards provided huge quantities of affordable meat to the area’s residents. Henry Perry began selling barbecue wrapped in a newspaper from a cart in 1907. A few years later, he opened Perry’s Barbecue, the city’s first barbecue restaurant. Encouraged by his success, more entrepreneurs opened their own restaurants, which were frequently concentrated around the African-American community of the 18th and Vine District. Perry operated a restaurant at 17th and Lydia, about three blocks northwest before moving to 1514 East 19th Street and operating his final restaurant at 1900 Highland Avenue. Today, Kansas City is well-known for its delicious barbecue from about 100 different vendors, including Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque and Gates Bar-B-Q, who both trace their methods to Perry. The city also hosts the American Royal, the largest annual barbecue competition in the world.
Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue in the renovated Freight House is a Kansas City barbecue establishment over sixty years in the making. Set in the Crossroads Arts District, with impressive architectural features such as twenty-five-foot ceilings and a fireplace bar, Jack Stack Freight House captures the spirit of its founder, Russ Fiorella, who loved barbecue and hospitality. Three generations later, the Fiorella family is still serving phenomenal food and has become a Kansas City barbecue staple.
This historic Kansas City landmark was constructed between 1909 and 1911. The building serves as the headquarters of the Kansas City Stockyards which was once the second-biggest stockyard in the United States, trailing only behind the Union Stock Yards in Chicago. Founded in 1870, and operating until it closed in 1991, the Kansas City stockyards and its Live Stock Exchange Building were essential to the economic growth of the city, providing livestock owners with the best prices for their cattle. Beginning in 1899, the stockyards began what is known today as the American Royal Livestock and Horse Show. At the height of its operations, between 1911 and the devastating flood of 1951, the stockyards sold millions of cattle, including cows, hogs, sheep, horses, and many other animals. The Livestock Exchange, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands as a monument of the growth, development, and decline of Kansas City and its livestock industry. The building has been home to the Golden Ox steakhouse, an iconic Kansas City establishment, since 1949.
Brothers Joe and Mike Pearce began competing in barbecue competitions in 2013. Their competition team, Squeal Like a Pig, successfully competed on BBQ Pitmasters, and opened the award-winning Slap’s BBQ restaurant in 2014. Slap’s still competes on the Kansas City Barbecue Society circuit each year, averaging 25-35 contests each season.
Rosedale Bar-B-Q is a no-frills Kansas City barbecue essential. Known for their smoked meats and barbecue staples such as brisket, pork, ham, turkey, ribs and chicken, Rosedale has innovated but is not as interested in dining fads as preserving their nearly 90-year barbecue legacy. Originally founded as a hot dog and beer stand, Rosedale is Kansas City’s oldest continuously running barbecue restaurant owned and operated by the same family.
An iconic green-and-white gas station at the corner of 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, KS, has been an essential Kansas City barbecue stop since 1997. Jeff and Joy Stehney originally opened this barbecue joint that year as the second restaurant in the Oklahoma Joe’s franchise, which they co-founded with Joe Don Davidson in Stillwater, OK. But when Davidson sold his business, the Stehneys bought his share of the company and started Joe’s Kansas City BBQ, a new and unmissable part of Kansas City’s long barbecue tradition.
This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.
Get a QR Code for this tour
This driving tour includes six of the most iconic BBQ restaurants in Kansas City along with the two places that made it all possible, the restaurant operated by the "father of Kansas City BBQ and the West Bottoms. Understanding that there are over a hundred BBQ restaurants in the Kansas City metro, this trail is meant to be a starting place to your exploration of the history and culture of Kansas City BBQ.
