Original art by Mark Valentine
Jimmy Kimmel called out Kansas City in a good, but almost alien way…
“I would also like to welcome our viewers from KMBC in Kansas City,” Kimmel said Monday night. “We are now on an hour early. They used to have reruns instead, but now we’re on after the news like God intended. Someone send me a Z-man sandwich. You know what I’m talking about there.”
But most Kansas City have no concept of what a The Z-man sandwich is.
Apparently it’s a sandwich from Oklahoma Joe’s Bar-B-Que.
We take our barbecue seriously around these parts, so Oklahoma Joe’s could never be recognized as Kansas City’s best the best barbecue with a name like “Oklahoma Joe’s.”
So it wisely – and I guess for legal reasons – it changed its name Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que – a step in the divine direction.
The Z-man sandwich is sliced smoked brisket, smoked provolone cheese, a couple of onion rings and some sauce on a kaiser roll. It’s not clear if the brisket is smoked in true Kansas City fashion, but it is clear that cheese does not belong on any Kansas City barbecue.
There are long standing debates rooted in family ties about the best KC cuisine.
Gates may be the king of the sauces, unless you prefer Bryant’s. Jack Stack may win the best meat crown. And there are sub-local, district favorites.
However none of these traditional establishments have decided that cheese was the missing ingredient.
Do they put butterscotch on Sushi? Sauerkraut on spaghetti? Kimchi in tacos?
Full responsibility for this Jimmy Kimmel faux pas must be placed at the feet of whoever decided to take him to or send him Oklahoma Joe’s.
It’s not Jimmy’s fault, it’s yours – whoever you may be.
Very average Bar B Que.
Hell of a nice drawing by Valentine. Really cool.
Debating KC’s “best” BBQ is about as fascinating about debating whether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. It’s boring and lazy. I’ll take my personally smoked ribs, brisket, pork & chicken over anybody’s in town. Doesn’t make mine the best. I just happen to like it better. Declaring anybody’s BBQ as the best is as subjective as what the best color is. Besides, everyone knows it’s green.
What I like about Mark’s take is bagging on OK Hoe’s for the sacrilege of using cheese.
Why comment then?
L.C.’s is where the out-of-towners need to be taken for true KC BBQ.
Agree, but…
Love the sauce and when LC’s is good, it’s great.
However, it’s inconsistent as heck. Ollie Gates told me once that it’s because the meat he buys in a couple grades down from what Gates gets.
I work near by, and eat there every couple of weeks. I’ve yet to get a bad turkey sammie there.
Ollie talking down on a competitor? Imagine that! (jes’ sayin)
Gates mild is THE sauce, in my opinion. Once you dip your french fries in Gates Mild, you’ll never look at kethup the same again.
Ollie wasn’t talking LC’s down, he was confiding in me in response to my question of what was wrong at LC’s.
LC’s is hardly a competitor to Gates, and certainly not like 10 years ago when I posed the question.
What part of “confiding in me” did you not understand?
Actually, for those in the know, the z-man sandwich is a really good bbq sando. That said Gates, Arthur Bryant’s, Jack Stack, and OK Joe’s all are considered sub-par bbq joints by those who have spent some time catering or are really into the bb
Pray tell then, Oh Hog…
Which are the really good Qs?
Maybe Valentine is the ignorant one. I love the Z-Man, and everybody I know loves the Z-Man. The Kimmel reference is perfect.
I do favor Gates for overall BBQ, though.
Fair enough, Ron…
I do know the Z Man is popular, but Mark’s point is a good one in that it probably doesn’t epitomize Kansas City BBQ
Barbecue is a peasant food. And peasant foods are based on the stuff left for the poor.
Using a prime grade of meat for barbecue is ridiculous. Like those Philadelphia places which use Kobi beef for cheesesteaks.
And Jack Stack bragging about using Swift Premium meat is laughable.
It’s all what you grow up with that determines your preference.
I remember when you had to ask Slim in a soft voice for burnt ends at Bryant’s. No ‘cuer worth their salt wanted to admit they ever “burnt” their brisket.
Not saying what Ollie used was “prime” but…
And Rod Anderson of the Hereford House schooled me on this when I was writing about those two guys resurrecting the Golden Ox:
There are many different grades of meat and while the Hereford House wasn’t swinging for the stars, a la Morton’s etc – they were a couple grades or high above the OX. Those guys all kinda know what the competition is buying.
And pleasant food or not, I’ve had some piss poor peasant food at LC’s. I always go back, but not wa frequently as I might were it more consistent.
Like it or not, Joe’s pretty much has the highest profile among KC BBQ joints at this point in history.
Well, yes and no…
They’re kind of where Jack Stack was 10 years ago, but I think most people still recognize Gates & Bryant’s as the iconic KC BBQs
Absolutely.
It is not my favorite, but they are far more recognized today than Jack Stack ever was in its past.
I’ve ate there twice. I got sick both times. Very strange flavor in their ‘bbq’.
Going old school with Arthur Bryants. Love the pedestrian presentation of the food.
From what I’ve observed, the lines are usually pretty long at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best place to get BBQ in town. It just happens to be the “trendy” place right now, and I prefer not to do “trendy”.
Winner, Winner, Chicken dinner, Rick has been the only one who has made the right comment about Joes BBQ.
Something new will be along soon and Joes will no longer be trendy and I have never found trendy to be as good as the trendies think it is. Remember Annie Santa Fe as a case in point.
Joes’ Kansas City is the “‘trendy’ place right now”?
It’s far from being “trendy” — those long lines at the gas station location in Westwood have been going on for years.
That’s true, Tony…
But those days are gone. The Joe’s in Olathe and now south JOCo have turned it from a best kept secret into a mainstream money machine and yes, a trendy one.
Amen to that, brother Rick!
fellow fattys:
Is Sneads BBQ over by Lloch Lloyd any good? Havent been there in years and I see they are still open….they used to be a gem back in the day.
It was great at one time. It was bought and sold so many times, that the quality varied dramatically. I quit going years ago.
Check out Jon Russell’s out at 134th and State Line. They have the coolest sauces and will bring you little cups with all 9 in them to try with you lunch. Excellent.
Brobeck’s has really high quality meat and you can pick your own sauces including Gates. They are at 105th and Roe.
Just my opinion.
Heard a lot about Brobeck’s and ate there s few times last year.
It’s OK, but more in a suburbanite way to my thinking
Meh: wouldn’t make that trip from midtown, myself.
Yes, very much in the running for good Q.
Did anyone else notice the author seems to not know it’s Joe’s Kansas city not Oklahoma Joe’s
That’s what I thought when I started editing it, but actually that’s not the case.
Buying five or ten ads in the Star and changing out some signs does not erase the strongly instilled fact that far and away more people still think of it as OK Joe’s than Joe’s.
I think Mark was addressing that reality in noting that the sandwich is better know under the OK nomenclature
can we do one thing?
realize this city which was rated as one of the best to live in…has nothing
to do with BAR B Q!
I KNOW BAR B QBETTER THAN ANYONE ON HERE!!!!
if we keep thinking this town is famous for bar b q….we miss the real attributes
of thisgreat city. Glaze hates it but this in one hell of a town.
Lets move on from bar b q….it doesn’t save lives…its not beautiful…its
not why people come here…it doesn’t sell the city….
what we’re seeing is that bar b q is not the best kept secret….its the
beauty of this city….the atmosphere….the different areas that make
it unique.
SCREW THE BAR B Q
I wouldn’t necessarily have used these same words, but there is truth in what Harley says.
Boasting about what a big BBQ town we are serves mostly the restaurant owners, not the populace at large.
Memphis is a big BBQ town and I like visiting it, but not for the barbecue. I’ll try and hit one for a lunch or dinner when I’m there for a few days, but that’s about it.
And what good does BBQ do for the American Royal?
It’s going broke and when you compare the music fest Memphis accompanies its BBQ contest with Kansas City isn’t even in the running.
KC’s BBQ fest may end up costing the city far more than the good its done.
Because if taxpayers get picked off for $60 or $70 million to build a horse show and livestock showcase for the however many hundred locals that give a damn, it will be in part because a handful of town big shots used the BBQ contest to help extort the money form local politicians.
lets forget about bar b q. Flyovers love it…Clinton liked
bryants…..Obama liked joes….who gives a _____ !
(see I saved you time there hearne_).
lets let people know that this town is the best kept
secret in the world…or better yet…lets keep it to
ourselves and not turn it into a Atlanta /phoenix/la….
maybe bring some weather above 20 degress…
but as they used to say on the buttons I LOVE KANSASCITY!!!
maybe not the most hippest city for glaze…
but it’s still great!
I knew exactly what he was talking about.
I take it he has actually had one and found it to be worth mentioning.
Awesome!
Have a business associate in town staying on the Plaza. I sent him to Jack Stack’s on the Plaza on Monday and he later said it wasn’t good. And then others at work have said they have gone downhill. Is that true?
Next day I sent him to RJ’s in Mission. He loved it. Then I suggested Joe’s in KCK. He loved it. I didn’t want to send him to Joe’s because the wait is so long and the place is so crowded. He loved the whole experience.
Why does Joe’s get the most publicity? Why do so many celebs make a point of visiting there? Why are there lines out the door and down the sidewalk even when it is 10 degrees outside.
It is good, just not the best at everything. Their pulled pork on bun is pretty damn good though. They accidently gave me a chicken ZMan instead of my regular pulled pork and it was pretty good too.
Ixnay on RJ’s in ission-May.
Like the indie-rock snob who doesn’t want his favorite group to become huge, I’d prefer my favorite place w/out the Late Night shout-out and Joe’s lines out front.
They have a very aggressive social media group.
Cheese NEVER goes on BBQ.
Q39… if you haven’t tried it (in Westport) you’re missing the up and comer in KC BBQ.
Joe’s KC is the reigning champ…. Jack Stack was before that, Gates and Bryants before that…. remember, even KC Masterpiece on Metcalf used to be popular..
We’re lucky that people are always trying new things…