STACKS RESTAURANT INDEPENDENCE MISSOURI SERIES

The restaurant was situated initially in the same neighborhood. In 1946 Arthur Pinkard, who was a cook for Perry, joined with George Gates to form Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q.

The sauce and restaurant continue their success.Īlong the main inner wall of the restaurant is photographic history of many famous politicians, actors, actresses and sports figures and other tribute pictures of military personnel displaying Arthur Bryant's memorabilia such as shirts or bottles of sauce. In April 1972, Kansas City native Calvin Trillin wrote an article in Playboy proclaiming Bryant's to be the best restaurant on the planet.ĭespite new-found fame, Bryant did not change the restaurant's very simple decor, which consisted of fluorescent lighting, formica tables, and five-gallon jars of sauce displayed in the windows, even as Presidents Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan stopped by.īryant died of a heart attack, in a bed that he kept at the restaurant, shortly after Christmas of 1982. Arthur then took over his brother's business in 1946, and the restaurant was renamed Arthur Bryant's.Īrthur Bryant's, which eventually moved to 1727 Brooklyn in the same neighborhood, became a stomping ground for baseball fans and players in the 1950s and 1960s, because of its close proximity to Municipal Stadium, where the Kansas City Athletics or A's played their home games during that period. Charlie took over the Perry restaurant in 1940 after Perry died. Working for Henry Perry was Charlie Bryant, who in turn brought his brother, Arthur Bryant, into the business. Perry's restaurant became a major cultural point during the heyday of Kansas City Jazz during the 'wide-open' days of Tom Pendergast in the 1920s and 1930s.Īrthur Bryant's Barbecue at 18th and Brooklyn in Kansas City Perry's sauce had a somewhat harsh, peppery flavor. Kansas City and Memphis barbecue styles are somewhat similar, although Kansas City tends to use more sauce and a wider variety of meats. Perry came from Shelby County, Tennessee, near Memphis, and began serving barbecue in 1908. Perry served slow-cooked ribs on pages of newsprint for 25 cents a slab. Kansas City traces its barbecue history to Henry Perry, who operated out of a trolley barn at 19th and Highland in the legendary African-American neighborhood around 18th and Vine.

STACKS RESTAURANT INDEPENDENCE MISSOURI SERIES

The area is also home to several large barbecue cooking contests, notably the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle and the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, the largest barbecue competition in the world. The Kansas City metropolitan area has more than 100 barbecue restaurants, a number of which are nationally renowned. Side dishes served with Kansas City barbecue include a unique style of baked beans, French fries, coleslaw, and other classic barbecue side dishes. īurnt ends-the crusty, fatty, flavorful meat cut from the point of a smoked beef brisket-are among the items prepared. Most types of barbecued meat served in other American cities known for barbecue, including pulled pork, brisket, beef ribs, chicken, and pork ribs in a number of different cuts, are served in Kansas City-area barbecue restaurants. Most local restaurants and sauce companies offer several varieties with spicy and tangy flavor profiles, historically the sauces were not sweet until Rich Davis, a child psychiatrist from KC developed the KC Masterpiece sauce which used molasses and varied greatly from the more traditional sauces used at the longtime KC BBQ restaurants where orders are made at a counter. Kansas City barbecue is seasoned with a dry rub, slow-smoked over a variety of woods and served with a thick tomato-based barbecue sauce, which is an integral part of Kansas City style. Kansas City barbecue is characterized by its use of a wide variety of meats: pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, sausage, and sometimes even fish. The Kansas City–style sauce is characterized by a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as the originator of the style, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit. Kansas City–style barbecue refers to the specific regional barbecue style of slowly smoked meat originating from Kansas City in the early 20th century.

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