Home of BBQ

Kansas City became known as the unofficial Home of Barbecue through a culture of more than 90 barbecue restaurants, numerous cookoffs, and many dedicated enthusiasts cooking on neighborhood sidewalks and in backyards. The city’s barbecue tradition and nickname grew from African-Americans who came north by rail from the South at the turn of the 20th century. Many worked in packinghouses and took home the cheapest cuts of meat at the end of the day. They found that Kansas City’s native hickory trees provided excellent smoking chips and that the local bumper crop of tomatoes made an ideal sauce base. Smokers soon appeared in backyards across the city, and in 1916 Henry Perry, known as the father of barbecue, opened the first barbecued meat store on 19th Street. There slabs of ribs were grilled in pits and sold for 25 cents each, and locals said Perry’s sauce was so hot that first-time customers gasped. Today the city’s barbecue scene includes many competitors, each with its own style of sauce.

Kansas City, Missouri · United States