Jackie F.
Yelp
Pro: Opens right on time. Separate to go line. Helpful service. Good local price. Cute outdoor picnic style self seating and self service.
Con: Poorly smoked, barely seasoned, no/low bark, watery bbq sauces. Warm potato salad!?!
Got to KS and are just trying all the BBQ to see what is the hype. This was the 3nd place we visited and kind of was a waste of a meal. Got there 30 minutes before opening, waited in line with fine other locals, chatted about to get with them. Surprise, we are getting every protein to judge the hell out this establishment.
Beef Brisket - No point, flat was a dried out mess. I have no clue what was their smoking technique but there was barely any smoke ring, the low amount of rub created barely any bark.
Pulled Pork - dried out, flakey.
Burnt Ends - If their idea of burnt end is to take the charred remain of the brisket point and cut it into cubes, I don't want to know.
Smoked Turkey - Actually moist.
Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage - Mild flavored, def can taste the smoke, needs more cheddar (see Wisconsin)
Beef Polish Sausage - Overly salty, weird mix
Warm potato casserole - So weird, perhaps this is a regional thing, but was definitely different than an usual cold potato salad. By serving it warm/hot, the potato was meshy and lacks a crispy cold bite to counter balance the salty meat.
Slaw - minced, sloppy soggy bland disaster
Beans - well done. dark and full of flavor - winner
Corn - greasy soup that happen to have corn
Mac - better than the corn, but that's not saying much
Spare Ribs - like the brisket, poorly smoked and barely seasoned. The bark came out rubbish, it was steamed by whatever warming contraception, lacking in texture
Quarter chicken (dark) - moist, which is a plus. skin was rubbish.
The staff was pretty helpful with my order when I requested "half a pound of protein and smallest amount of your best sides". After trying to figure out the bread to meat ratio, they just give me a whole loave of bread.
In retrospect with Kansas BBQ, it's just bland in comparison to central Texas BBQ, lack of seasoning and smoke, KC BBQ relies way too much on the sauce. Which in turn, was too watery like Carolinas style, without as much vinegar. So it's not just Slaps for folks that demands better BBQ, this place have a lot of great local reviews, but the food in this city is just very mild in general. If you are experienced with BBQ across the country, this could be the best you could get on this side of the state line for KC. LC Bar-B-Q is a dirtier hole in the wall but better on the other side of the state line.