Tripadvisor Readers likes Me

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Readership Badge

60,000+ Readers

  Readership Badge

   60,000+ Readers

Just got another email note from Tripadvisor that said:

Congratulations, Bob! You're in the top 2%. With 53,461 readers, you're one of the most popular reviewers in Kansas City. As a leading contributor, your advice has really made its mark in our travel community. You've also earned a TripCollective Readership badge.

I do not review as many restaurants as I used to but feel free to check my reviews out here.

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eggtc.

I do not usually review restaurants but I think that I may begin to do so. This post is my first entry into the world of the culinary arts. Here is a blurb from the Eggtc. website:

The friendly staff’s 100 years combined experience prepares and serves only the freshest and finest gourmet breakfasts and appetizing lunches sure to please any palate.
...
The eggtc. Coffee Bar features prime Costa Rican blends, and Latte, Espresso, Cappuccino, and Café au Lait note a few of our gourmet delicacies prepared hot or iced.

Several folks over the years have suggested this place to me so I was quite anxious to try it this morning with my friend Kirk. One of the main attractions was a place that served a full breakfast menu and premium coffee. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Coffee: My first action of the morning was returning my watered down coffee and asking the waitress to give me another mug - I thought that I had simply got a bad pot.. no such luck.. the coffee was on par with Folgers or Maxwell House even though it was a locally made brand. If you like watered down weak coffee then this might fill the bill for you.
• Potatoes: I am not sure how it is possible to call yourself a breakfast place and not serve hash-browns. Instead they served these little cubed "breakfast potatoes" - yuk! Even I do hash-browns at home - it is just not that hard.
• French Toast: I did  not see any reason to try the eggs (even though egg is a part of their name) since they did not offer browns. So instead I ordered the French Toast. I tried the sourdough version which was excellent but thought that the raisin version might have been a good choice as well.
• Bacon: As many of you who read hear know, I love bacon even though I try to restrict my intake of it. I found the bacon here to be pretty good but a bit (not a lot) undercooked. There were three strips and it did have a good taste. I shared a half piece with Kirk.
• Breakfast Burrito: Kirk said that he enjoyed it but I wonder how filling it was as he ate my third slice of French Toast.
• Accessibility: The restaurant would have been a bit challenging to negotiate in a wheelchair as the aisles were very narrow. The restrooms (at least the mens) was very large and wheelchair accessible.

Judging by the many people standing around waiting for a seat this morning I think that my review is not in line with many who attend this wildly popular place. Even so, I felt that the place was a bit mediocre.. consequentially I give it a .

KB BBQ Awards

It was almost 35 years ago.. I believe it was the first week of August in 1976 when I first tasted and fell in love with Kansas City barbeque. Since that time I have tasted this world famous phenomenon at countless different KC venues. I have seen a few of these joints close.. one in particular I was sad to see go. Kansas City has so many great BBQ joints. With this in mind I now humbly announce the winners of the KB BBQ Awards:

• Best Pork Ribs: Ribs are at the heart of KC BBQ.. and when I say ribs I mean pork ribs.. and none of that Saint Louis cut stuff.. or Chili's Baby Back variety. The winner in this category is Gates Barbeque. My friend Bob thinks their ribs are to die for - they are very good and the very first ones I tasted in our city.
  
• Best Beef Ribs: Usually I am not much in favor of the beef version of this fare. The exception is the Crown Prime Beef Ribs at Jack Stack Barbeque. These ribs are outrageously good and oh so tender.
• Best Burnt Ends: These are the blackened, somewhat charred pieces of brisket ends that cannot be sliced. Sometimes these tasty morsels are too charred or too tough. The ones at Winslow's Barbeque (just down the street from my loft) are the best in KC. They are succulent, tender and quite delicious.
• Best Brisket: I love a good smoked brisket.. especially in a sandwich.. it is one of my favorite lunches. I could go with several different BBQ joints but I think I will settle in on Brobeck's Barbeque. Their beef is always tender and tasty.
  
• Best Pulled Pork: The Carolina Pulled Pork topped with slaw and Bubba Sauce may not be true KC BBQ but this sandwich served at Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque is one of my favorite sandwiches in the world. And no it is not related to that state just to our south.. the owners of the place are true KC area cookers. I opined about them  here.
  
• Best Sauce: Since that fateful day in August 1976 I have been a sucker for Gates BBQ sauce. All year long a bottle of the sauce sits in my refrigerator. It is a tomato based sauce with the perfect blend of spices and heat.
  
• Best BBQ Beans: No contest here. Jack Stack Barbeque (who used to be Smokestack BBQ) has the best beans in town. They are smoky and full of bits of BBQ pieces. I have loved these for many years.
• Best Overall BBQ Experience: If you have never been to Kansas City and want to experience the full BBQ experience you must try Arthur Bryants BBQ. It is reminiscent of what it must have been like eating BBQ in KC 50+ years ago. I wrote about it here. The cartoon about was published in the KC Star the day after Arthur passed away.

Honorable mentions for Kansas City barbeque joints are Zarda Barbeque and Hayward's Barbecue. They were once pretty good barbeque spots but alas it has been a long time since I have frequented their establishments. And I must give a posthumous award to Jake Edwards' Barbeque - no longer in business but they once had the best burnt ends in town.

How about you? Ever had KC barbeque? Any favorites here or where you live?

Gas Station BBQ

Kansas City Barbeque is somewhat world renown and I think that it is without equal. And yes I know that folks from the south may disagree.. I do like the varieties offered in Memphis and South Carolina.. their pulled pork sandwiches are some of my favorites. Yet I must say that KC ribs and brisket are matchless in the world of BBQ.

Two of my favorite places to nosh on ribs and such in the KC Metroplex are located in gas stations. The best of the bunch is Oklahoma Joe's.. and yes.. I get the irony that the best KC BBQ has another state in it's name but Joe's was born in KC. Here is a bit of their story:

Oklahoma Joe’s life began on the KC Barbeque Society competition circuit in the early 90’s as the Slaughterhouse Five, a team of barbeque enthusiasts who got together to cook at weekend championships around the Midwest and the South. The team won so many awards that by 1996, they opened a restaurant. The name itself came from the BBQers friendship, and later partnership, with Joe Jon Davidson, the founder and owner of Oklahoma Joe's Smoker Company. Compared with Kansas City institutions like the circa-1920 Arthur Bryant’s, Joe's is a modern place, using state-of-the-art smokers that cook meat with a combination of natural gas and wood. They offer a wide variety of barbeque and traditional accompaniments. 

If you get to the KC area (please let me know if you do) Joe's is definitely one of the places to visit.. but get their early - the line is out of the door if you get their late.

Do they have barbeque where you live? Are you jealous of folks in Kansas City?

Arthur Bryant's BBQ

Dave got me thinking about one of my all-time favorite barbeque restaurants this morning. I have been going to Arthur Bryant's for almost 30 years now. This cartoon appeared in the Kansas City Times newspaper in December, 1982 after Arthur Bryant passed away. Here are a few words about Arthur and his restaurant.

Arthur Bryant, the legendary King of Ribs, is the most renowned barbequer in history. He created a sauce that has attracted the likes of former Presidents Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter to his restaurant . . . considered to be the best restaurant in the world by New Yorker columnist Calvin Trillin.

Since 1930 celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Michael Landon, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bryant Gumbel, Tom Watson and George Brett — and common folk alike — have made the pilgrimage to Arthur Bryant's to enjoy barbeque that's slow-smoked with a combination of hickory and oak woods, mellowed to the peak of flavor, then splashed with Original or Rich & Spicy sauce. Read more about Arthur here.

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