Subject: Oklahoma Joe

• People: It's spelled barbecue

  DLC of the always entertaining KC Lunch Spots recently held a poll asking readers to vote for their favored spelling of the word barbecue...or is that barbeque or bbq? Just as there's not one dominant version of barbecue, there's not one dominant version of its correct spelling. As DLC notes, no less of an authority than the Oxford English Dictionary lists four different spellings and as shown above, Lay's Potato Chips have used at least threespellings in the past few years. Even though Kansas C

  December 8, 2008

• Morsels

  March 2, 2000

• Best Barbecue Specials

  October 19, 2000

• Avoid low-fat peanut butter, pizza, soda, pretty much every food ever invented

  Among Michael Pollan's food rules is the one that says if your grandma wouldn't recognize the food, avoid it. Grandma knows fruits such as apples, oranges and pears but not say, fruit-by-the-foot. Also, if Grandma wouldn't recognize many of the words in the health claim on the package, the health claim is probably bogus. Men's Health (yes, the same magazine that declared Oklahoma Joe's the best barbecue joint in the world) has released an article showing eight foods with health claims that are d

  June 5, 2009

• Wanted: the most iconic restaurants in Kansas

  Flickr: Jimmy Wayne 22The Kansas Sampler Foundation is an organization that encourages tourism and promotes growth in rural areas of Kansas. Now searching for the "8 Wonders" of Kansas Cuisine, the foundation wants your nomination for the most iconic/best/friendliest restaurants or foods in the wheat state by March 31. (There have been similar contests for Kansas art, architecture and commerce.) The contest is open to restaurants anywhere in the state. The only requirements are that they have be

  March 20, 2009

• EATSTRONG

  August 28, 2008

• The Department of Burnt Ends smokes out some saucy new beers

  April 24, 2008

• KC's been snubbed by conventioneers, so the Department of Burnt Ends has developed a list of alternatives. And, oh, are they alternative.

  March 13, 2008

• The High Road

  Thank you, mysterious animal-escorter.

  March 1, 2007

• Life Without Wal-Mart

  Kansas City advertising genius Bob Bernstein helped make Wal-Mart what it is today. Then the world's largest retailer dumped him.

  December 7, 2006

• Redwood Fantasy

  There's work to be done at this officey bar before you'll see skin.

  March 30, 2006

• Oink! Oink!

  The Rib Crib encourages diners to make pigs of themselves.

  September 23, 2004

• Organic Uprising

  Skateboarder Bob Burnquist takes a run at the food pyramid before heading to Vertical Uprising Saturday.

  June 3, 2004

• Mmm ... give me a little taste of Kansas and Missouri

  This month's issue of Bon Appetit headlines its main feature "The United Plates of America." It's devoted to identifying the best and most uniquely American flavors in all 50 states. "Whether it's a slice of just-baked cherry pie in Michigan, an oyster and bacon sandwich in Louisiana ... there's always something delicious just around the corner in America."What follows is a "definitive" list of each state and its best dishes, drinks and ingredients categorized into buying, eating and drinking. H

  May 6, 2009

• Two KC barbecue joints in the top 10

  Just last week I was complaining that LA's Barbecue Festival wasn't a real competition, even though it was the perfect opportunity to test different regions' styles against each other. Little did I realize that Paul Kirk, the "ambassador of barbecue," had done just that in his new book America's Best BBQ.Kirk -- who hails from Kansas City -- is a pit-master (he's won in the open competition at American Royal) and is a certified master barbecue judge. For his new book, which comes out tomorrow, h

  May 11, 2009

• No one wants to play with ...

  Taken Wednesday night at Oklahoma Joe's.

  May 15, 2009

• An interview with Serious Eats blogger and former Kansas City native Adam Kuban

  Adam Kuban is the Henry Luce of food blogging. To talk about his love of pizza and hamburgers (especially sliders) he founded two Web sites -- Slice and A Hamburger Today -- that took on lives of their own before being incorporated into the Web site Serious Eats, where Kuban is now the managing editor. While he lives and eats in New York, Kuban grew up in the Kansas City area and attended the University of Kansas. Fat City talked to him via a series of e-mails.You've written in a couple of diffe

  June 9, 2009

• Gates Bar-B-Q named a landmark restaurant

  Gates has a little more to strut about after being named one of the 23 landmark restaurants in the country. No, it's not an official landmark as designated by the government. The title was bestowed by AOL, which called it "lip-smacking good" and commended the sauce as "what elevates it to the top of the heap," especially when its on the ribs. Gates is in good company. Other restaurants to make the list included Ted Drewes of St. Louis, Katz's Deli of New York, Pink's Hot Dogs of LA and Ben's Chi

  June 19, 2009

• Kansas City's Top Ten baked beans

  Until today, we just assumed that everyone loved baked beans. But as Charles Ferruzza, Owen Morris and new Fat City blogger Jonathan Bender discovered -- thanks to erudite Pitch music editor Jason Harper -- that no less an authority as Pythagorus opposed the consumption of beans (he wouldn't touch meat either, based on the principles of reincarnation). The poet Callimachus wrote: "Keep your hands from beans, a painful food: As Pythagorus enjoined, I too urge." Callimachus, however, di

  July 3, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Wednesday, August 12

  An attempt to hit for the Belgian beer cycle ends victoriously at Dish Pizza in Liberty, Missouri, which apparently has some serious Tuesday beer specials. [JJS in KCK]A review of St. Lupulin -- a new extra pale ale and seasonal offering from Colorado's ODell Brewing Co. [Liquid Diets] The Atlantic's cross-country food tour stops in Kansas City and weighs in on Arthur Bryant's and Oklahoma Joe's. [The Atlantic]The bizarre story of "desert lobsters" in Nevada, as one couple fights to legali

  August 12, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Friday, August 28

  A look at the history and choices when it comes to mead and a few suggestions for how to make your own. [The Wort Hog] A recipe for poblano cream soup and a conversation with the manager of the greenhouse at Johnson County Community College. [Making of a Foodie]A visit to Kansas City and a desire to experience this city's barbecue begins and ends with Oklahoma Joe's. [The Faster Times]This might be something you don't want to know, but the contents are out of the wrapper, so to speak, with an i

  August 28, 2009