This was another one of the out-of-the-way places now made famous by spikey-haired Food Network types. So, excuse me if I was skeptical.
We smelled the place half way down the street and salivary glands kicked into overdrive. Then, you pull into a working wood yard, selling specialty wood for BBQ-ers. A nearby train was blaring its horn, some old country was playing on the speakers, and I knew I already liked it better than half the BBQ joints in KC, and I hadn't eaten anything yet.
There was line out the door. This doesn't always mean its good. I've stood in too many lines for crap BBQ. But, I watched orders going out the door to the lovely little brick patio out front and everything looked good. I ordered the burnt-end chili on the suggestion of a trusted friend and some cheesey corn, as I am a Jackstack BBQ cheesey corn fanatic.
The chili itself (and I was a National Chili Cook-off judge for years, thank you very much) was fantastic on its own. It was three bean variety, not too sweet, not too spicy. But, throw on the burnt ends, and holy shit!
Wow, that was some good chili. The cheesy-corn was forgettable, but I dumped it into the remnants of chili and kicked it up a notch.
The other Spooners gave the burnt end sandwich a thumbs up, and that's good enough for me, sir.
I will definitely returning to try some of their other treats.
Service: 4 Spoons Long-ish wait, but once the order was in, we got it quick from a nice old lady who called me "hun".
Food: 4 Spoons What I had, I'll stack up against any BBQ place around. Congrats Food Network, you got it right for once.
Kitch: 4 Old, rundown houses for a restaurants always work for me.
Bonus: Booze, and you get to watch the pitmaster work right out there on the patio.
