Although Slap’s didn’t open until 2014, it’s already become a KC landmark thanks to its solid combo plates and classic feel. The restaurant is clean but casual: Expect Styrofoam cups, self-serve sauces (skip the sweet, score the spicy), and outdoor-only seating (for cold days, there’s a covered patio with heaters). It’s also a fine place to experiment with less-popular meats. Slap’s Polish sausage and juicy, thin-sliced turkey are some of the best in the city. There’s usually a line at lunchtime, but it moves fast — and the bar will serve you a beer while you wait.

There’s no secret to the success of Chef J, a new spot in the city’s historic Stockyards District. Pitmaster Justin Easterwood’s 1,000-gallon offset smoker — which he calls “Big Mila”— is parked right outside. That smoker yields fall-apart slices of beef brisket and tender ribs with a bold bark, but the sandwiches are just as good (try the Tennessee Dip, a smoked pork butt sandwich served with a cup of spicy vinegar red sauce). Easterwood isn’t precious about mixing regional influences: His gold sauce, coarse with mustard, hints at South Carolina, while his signature sauce is vinegar-based and stippled with pepper and celery seed.

On the weekends, you’ll find a mix of locals, tourists, and Beltway politicians at this Jazz District restaurant, which writer Calvin Trillin famously decreed “the single best restaurant in the world” in 1972. Bryant’s decor hasn’t changed much since Trillin’s visit; the Brooklyn Avenue dining room is a time capsule of Formica, framed newspaper clippings, and greasy floor tiles. The cooking, on the other hand, has changed. Once famous for burnt ends, Bryant’s best meal is now its lean brisket sandwich, served on soft white bread and topped with AB’s distinctive brick-red, vinegar-bright sauce. No one makes a sauce like Bryant’s — whether that’s good or bad is one of the city’s enduring culinary debates.

Barbecue snobs tend to overlook restaurants with cloth napkins and real silverware. But at Jack Stack, a single, humble side dish has kept the critics at bay: cheesy corn. Jack Stack’s version is a cut above the rest, with an extra dose of salty, smoky ham careening through the expected velvety richness. It helps that the meats are good, too. The Kansas City combo is a fine way to sample the restaurant’s pit-smoked sausage and baby back ribs — but you may as well pay the upcharge to sub in the unique (and uniquely extravagant) crown prime beef rib. Although Jack Stack has six metro locations, the Freight House restaurant, just off the streetcar line, is particularly cute and convenient for tourists.

During the week, chef and butcher Vaughn Good helms the kitchen at Fox and Pearl, a stylish spot for wood-fired cooking. But every Sunday, the restaurant shapeshifts into Night Goat, a barbecue brunch spot with fun drinks and top-notch sides, like a caramelized onion and chile cornbread or a smoked jalapeno slaw. The brisket and beef sausage are popular, but don’t overlook the house-cured ham and pork belly, which Good does better than just about anyone else. And if it’s on the menu, you can’t go wrong with the queen-sized breakfast burrito, which fills a supple, pork-fat Caramelo tortilla (made in nearby Lawrence, Kansas) with thick-sliced brisket and creamy beans.

The second you walk through the door, you’ll be greeted with a “Hi, may I help you?” more sung than spoken. If you need a minute to decide, just ask — or just order the burnt-end sandwich, which stacks a soft hoagie with true, crispy-crackly burnt ends (Gates doesn’t take the shortcuts many other spots do on their burnt ends). Add a generous squeeze of the beloved house sauce, which is subtly sweet but balanced with vinegar, smoke, and a blush of heat. Gates has been a local institution since 1946; while the restaurant has six locations now, the Main Street spot is a favorite for its quiet bar, casual vibes, and cozy brown booths.

Q39 is the kind of upscale place where there’s a nontrivial possibility of seeing someone spray sauce onto their starched white collar. There’s no better place to take fussy relatives visiting town. Founder Rob Magee, who died last year, cut his teeth on the competition barbecue circuit; he built on that experience to open a family-friendly restaurant capable of turning out consistent hickory-fired meats at high volume. The burnt ends, which are preternaturally tender, don’t suffer for the brisk pace. The original location in Midtown is always crowded, so make a reservation or plan on a wait; it’s a bit easier to get a table at the second location in Overland Park, Kansas.

Formerly known as Oklahoma Joe’s, this Kansas City, Kansas, mainstay operates inside of an old gas station. Lines can be long at peak hours, likely in part because Anthony Bourdain named Joe’s one of his “13 places to eat before you die.” It would be easy to coast on that reputation, but Joe’s has remained consistent over the years, with top-notch beef ribs, burnt ends, and thin-sliced brisket (try the brisket on the Z-Man, one of the city’s famous sandwiches). To eat like a local, call ahead for carryout and skip the line; don’t miss the seasoned fries or dirty rice.

Few pitmasters have had as big an influence on KC barbecue in recent years as Tyler Harp. Since coming on the scene in 2019, he’s launched a local barbecue festival, an educational podcast, and inspired a host of aspiring craft barbecuers to switch to offset smokers. Harp only operates on Fridays and Saturdays inside Raytown’s Crane Brewing, and he almost always sells out; get here early to sample his incredibly rich sausages and thick slices of fat-marbled, perfectly smoked brisket. If you’re thinking that sounds like Texas-style brisket, you’re right. But Harp has never let regional expectations define his cooking, adopting techniques from across the country even as he pays tribute to the pitmasters that first put KC on the map.

One of KC’s youngest barbecue restaurants, Buck Tui opened last year promising something new: KC barbecue executed with northern Thai flavors and techniques. In just a few months, chef Ted Liberda (who also owns the excellent Waldo Thai with his wife, Pam) transformed Buck Tui from a weekly farmer’s market pop-up to a full-service brick-and-mortar with date-night cocktails and fun appetizers (try the smoked butterscotch wings). Order the two-meat plate to score a link of pork sausage, fragrant with lemongrass and makrut lime, and a tangle of sweet-and-sour smoked pork. The accompanying sides (jasmine rice, papaya slaw) keep the plates from feeling too heavy, while the restaurant’s bright Tiger Cry sauce blesses everything it touches with heat.

Maybe it’s the 15-minute drive from downtown, or maybe it’s that you have to pass by LC’s Barbecue on the way to get here — whatever the reason, Big T’s has flown relatively under the radar compared with some of the city’s other barbecue giants. That’s a shame, because the wood-fired meats coming out of Timothy Jones’s brick pit are consistently great. The double-decker beef brisket sandwich is the best play, but the smoked turkey leg is surprisingly good too (certainly better than you’ll find at any Renaissance fair). Dine in to soak up the restaurant’s charmingly retro vibes, with decor evoking KC’s stockyard roots.