Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue

I'm in Kansas City on business. After re-reading, that sounds really silly to me – as if I'm a sitcom dad from the fifties. "June, I'm awfully sorry I can't make it to Wally's big baseball game," our plucky hero said with genuine regret, "but I have to go to Kansas City on business." In such instances, I often feel as if I'm 6 years old and playing a game called "business meeting." OK. I'll be the businessman, you be the boss and Sally will be the salesperson. I'll get the crayons, and we can draw pie charts. We'll pretend this is coffee...

Anyway, I'm in Kansas City on business. I would be remiss as the author of Bar-B-Log were I to avoid KC BBQ. So after work last night, the team (CD, DC and Christina B. Martin) visited Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue which was recommended by several locals. When we stepped inside, I thought I was at Corky's with the hostess station, the long line and all the BBQ merchandise for sale. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised.

In Memphis, it's pork. In Texas, it's brisket. In KC, everything is on the menu. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey, sausage, lamb were all represented. I ordered the "burnt ends" and ribs – pork and lamb respectively. I'm not sure I understand the burnt ends thing, but it's simply chunks of smoked meat with BBQ sauce. It was odd but tasty. I sampled the beef burnt ends also which I liked better. I really enjoyed the lamb ribs. The slaw was pretty good but wouldn't work on a BBQ sandwich. The beans had a nice flavor but were too runny for my taste. The bread pudding was awful, but I have exceptionally high standards when it comes to bread pudding… CD didn't like it either.

All in all, it wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't bad – equal parts Tourist Trap and BBQ Joint maybe. If you're in KC, try Jack Stack, unless, of course, you already live in a town with great BBQ.

I apologize for the picture quality, but it was kinda dark in the restaurant.