Kansas City–style barbecue is a slowly smoked meat barbecue originating in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 20th century. It has a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as its originator, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.
Overview
Kansas City barbecue has a wide variety of meats: pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, sausage, and sometimes fish. It is seasoned with a dry rub, slow-smoked over a variety of woods and served with a thick tomato-based barbecue sauce.
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 with molasses, which varies greatly from the more traditional sauces at the longtime KC BBQ restaurants where orders are made at a counter.
Burnt ends are the crusty, fatty, flavorful meat cut from the point of a smoked beef brisket. Side dishes include a unique style of baked beans, French fries, and coleslaw.
History
The Kansas City metropolitan area has more than 100 barbecue restaurants, several of which are nationally renowned. The area has several large barbecue cooking contests, such as the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle and the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, the largest barbecue competition in the world.
Henry Perry
Kansas City barbecue history originated with Henry Perry, who operated out of a trolley barn at 19th and Highland in the legendary African-American neighborhood around 18th and Vine.
Perry served slow-cooked ribs on pages of newsprint for 25 cents a slab. He came from Shelby County, Tennessee, near Memphis, and began serving barbecue in 1908. Kansas City and Memphis barbecue styles are somewhat similar, although Kansas City tends to use more sauce and a wider variety of meats. His sauce had a somewhat harsh, peppery flavor.
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.
Arthur Bryant
Working for Henry Perry was Charlie Bryant, who in turn brought his brother, Arthur Bryant, into the business. Charlie took over the Perry restaurant in 1940 after Perry died. Arthur then took over his brother's business in 1946, and the restaurant was renamed Arthur Bryant's.
Arthur Bryant's, which eventually moved to 1727 Brooklyn in the same neighborhood, became a hangout 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.
In April 1972, Kansas City native Calvin Trillin wrote an article in Playboy proclaiming Bryant's the best restaurant on the planet.
With 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 when visited by Presidents Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan.
Bryant died of a heart attack, in a bed that he kept at the restaurant, shortly after Christmas 1982.
Along 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.
Gates and Sons
In 1946 Arthur Pinkard, who was a cook for Perry, joined with George Gates to form Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q. The restaurant was situated initially in the same neighborhood.
Gates barbecue sauce does not contain molasses; the ingredients, as listed on the bottle, are: "Tomatoes, vinegar, salt, sugar, celery, garlic, spices, and pepper. 1/10 of 1% potassium sorbate preservative added." It is available in Original Classic, Mild, Sweet & Mild, and Extra Hot varieties.
Gates also expanded its footprint in a more conventional way, with restaurants all displaying certain common features—red-roofed buildings, a recognizable logo (a strutting man clad in tuxedo and top hat) and the customary "Hi, may I help you?" greeting belted out by its employees as patrons enter.
