Barbecue Restaurants in Kansas City: Smokehouse Bar-B-Q

Our recent road trip to Kansas City was planned for several days of visiting barbecue restaurants and listening to blues music. Kansas City style wood-fired barbeque is slow-smoked; sauces are tomato-based with sweet molasses notes. Out of several barbecue restaurants in Independence, where we were staying, we chose Smokehouse Bar-B-Q on our final night in town:

Smokehouse Bar-B-Q – A 25 year old company that bills itself “best of Kansas City” should be challenged on that boast. With 4 locations in the Kansas City Metro, you can get your fix from Smokehouse Bar-B-Q in all kinds of ways: dine-in, carry out, nationwide shipping, and personal local delivery. The Independence location is a free-standing rather nondescript building on a shopping mall frontage road. Inside was surprisingly elegant – a Rat Pack vibe, classy without the kitsch. It works with Kansas City style barbecue.

I happily ordered my new addiction, corn nuggets, and they arrived with great speed. Pete ordered the ribs and I got a sliced chicken sandwich with baked beans. We knew Smokehouse Bar-B-Q would have its work cut out to beat The BBQ Shack in Paola, where we’d dined the night before. But you just don’t always want to drive all over hell’s half acre for decent barbecue. Smokehouse Bar-B-Q didn’t disappoint: the service was friendly and the food was very good. Prices weren’t significantly higher than other barbecue restaurants, either.

Overall Rating: Solid!

We’d love your recommendations in the comments!

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