Wednesday, May 6, 2009
This semester 20 students became experts of Kansas City: its jazz, its history and its barbeque. These students took part in a seminar called “Kansas City: A Biography of a City” taught by Jonathan Earle, associate professor of history. When deciding upon a way to end the class, we were left with no choice but to have a barbeque competition. Our classmates day-tripped to the locations of our three taste-test contestants: Oklahoma Joe’s, Gates and Arthur Bryant’s. The former are well-established, historic KC originals. Oklahoma Joe’s is located in a gas station, although its success has led to a restaurant in Olathe (which is not legit). These three were chosen after hours of tears, fists and arguments regarding personal devotions that could very easily have ended up with someone buried under several tons of concrete in the riverbed next to the Plaza, compliments of Tom Pendergast.
Our method was objective. The mouth-watering selections were secretly labeled one through three. Our judging involved four categories; sauce, ribs, side dish and Pit Boss’ choice item, where we allowed them to put forth their best.
Our ranking system ranged from one, completely inedible, to ten, culinary nirvana. The only flaw to our perfect system was revealed when one of the day-trippers ran in holding a forgotten container of beans from Gates, the BBQ baked beans that made all other baked beans trivial. This additional dish added to the miniscule number of edible items for our resident vegetarian; and there was much rejoicing.
Surprisingly, the lowest rankings were from establishment three, Arthur Bryant’s. One respondent (our ballots were secret, too) said “Everything was very bitter. I felt like my tongue was being attacked by very angry BBQ mercenaries,” and another drew a zombie PacMan painfully losing his lunch. Surprisingly, the unsung hero, Oklahoma Joe’s, most nearly achieved the epitome of barbeque excellence. One person wrote “Swine flu be damned. This is the barbeque for me.” It won the hearts of our class with its irresistible sauce, helping it to beat out the heavily touted Arthur Bryant’s for first place in the 2009 University Scholars Tastery.
— Tetwiler is a Paola sophomore in English and chemistry. Schimming is a Wichita sophomore in English and graphic design.
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Comments
Tetwiler & Schimming: Judging KC’s best BBQ
Zarda's is underrated and delicious! I must say that it doesn't quite reach the level of Gates or Oklahoma Joe's, though.
Tetwiler & Schimming: Judging KC’s best BBQ
Arthur Bryant's (the original at 18th and Brooklyn) stands alone as the best BBQ, and in many respects the best restaurant in the Kansas City area. In fact, I have never found BBQ anywhere in the nation that even comes close. The restaurant's ambiance and history alone make it a treat to visit. Whenever you go, make sure you get it "to go". You get a lot more food, trust me.
Tetwiler & Schimming: Judging KC’s best BBQ
In its day (run by Arthur), Arthur Bryants was truly the King of Q. Today, not so much. However, without a doubt, the original location is still a BBQ legend. Great food, great sauce, great portions. The other locations -- Legends included -- are really bad and truly not worth the Bryant name.
I like OKLA Joes. I also like Jack Stack.
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