The barbecue debate in Kansas City continues to rage hot.
Arthur Bryant's and Gates have long been the standard bearers for Kansas City barbecue. But the mantle might need to be widened, according to The Atlantic's Reeves Wiedeman. He takes readers through his experiences at Oklahoma Joe's and Fiorella's Jack Stack to discover "the new kids on the barbecue circuit."
If you take the long view of Kansas City barbecue, then I guess Oklahoma Joe's and Jack Stack could be considered newcomers. Both have been so consistently successful and have their share of ardent fans locally, it's easy to forget that they are still relative newcomers to the national scene. Wiedeman's piece means to reveal who's got sauce in the city of fountains:
There's nothing particularly strange about finding Kansas Citians lined up at a barbecue joint--even one that sits, quite literally, inside a gas station. What's odd is to find them waiting at any restaurant that isn't called Bryant's or Gates, the titans of Kansas City barbecue.Wiedeman missed LC's and Danny Edwards, among others, but that's not really the problem. The world is catching up to the idea that Kansas City barbecue doesn't have to mean one style of smoking. The debate among Kansas Citians rages because of the quality of a number of places -- each of which strives to put out the best in town.
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