Jack Stack BBQ / Kansas City, MO

As an avid traveler, I love to explore new cities and regions of the country, but I also enjoy sampling each area's food and restaurants as well. My typical rule of thumb is to avoid chain restaurants and find somewhere to eat that is authentically local. Whether it's a 5-star restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall dive bar or even a food truck, I love the experience of trying new things that are fresh or local to each area.

After a drive across the rolling hills and heavy forests of Missouri, I found myself in the bustling metropolis of Kansas City. When I finished my photo shoot with some local models, I asked them if they could recommend any specific foods or restaurants in the area. They were all in agreement that the one food I had to try was Kansas City barbecue. Kansas City is, after all, the Barbecue Capitol of the World. 

The history of Kansas City barbecue dates back to the early 1920s, when local KC resident Henry Perry fired up an outdoor barbecue pit next to his streetcar barn. He was serving up slabs of barbecued meat wrapped in newspaper, and his style of barbecue became so popular that local fans began imitating his technique and style to create new recipes of their own. 

So it was decided. After visiting some local sights to shoot photos, I would choose a local restaurant to have my first taste of Kansas City barbecue. 

That evening, I ended up at local favorite Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ, located inside a historic railroad building just north of Union Station in the Crossroads Arts District. Originally built in the 1887, the Freight House was used for storage of freight and dry goods from dozens of trains that arrived in Kansas City daily. The stored goods were then picked up by merchants and transported to nearby warehouses. 

With 25-foot ceilings, faux candle-lit chandeliers hanging down over the dining room, and photos of the old trains that once stopped at the Freight House and Union Station lining the brick walls, the atmosphere was perfect. 

Jack Stack BBQ is owned by the Fiorellas, a family of Italian immigrants who moved to Kansas City in the early 1900s as farmers. The family's longstanding history of barbecuing began with Russ Fiorella, one of fourteen children, who was running a grocery store and working as a butcher in the 1950s. Russ loved barbecuing the meats he cut, and nearly every Sunday he could be found smoking brisket, ribs, or pork shoulders for his family. 

As little neighborhood grocery stores began to disappear thanks to the larger grocery store chains moving into the area, Russ made the daring decision to sell his store, buy a local roadhouse tavern and turn it into a barbecue joint. In 1957, Russ and his wife Flora opened Smoke Stack BBQ, which eventually expanded into several locations owned by Russ's sons.

One of Russ's sons, Jack Fiorella and his wife Dolores had the dream of opening an upscale barbecue restaurant, that would be a new take on his father's sit-down barbecue joints. In 1974, they opened their first restaurant which became known for being the first in the KC area to smoke their meats using hickory wood. 

In the mid-1990s, Jack and Dolores changed the name of their restaurants to Fiorella's Jack Stack, a business that continued to expand to new locations, including the Freight House location which opened in 2000. 

Now that we've laid out the history, let's talk about the food. 

I started off my meal with a glass of fresh lemonade, just the right blend of sweet and tart.

The menu was loaded with amazing options. Pulled pork mac + cheese, smoked jalapeno cornbread, and fire-kissed wings were among the appetizers available, but my eyes went straight for the main course. The meats included burnt ends, pulled pork, beef brisket, pork spare ribs, and honey-glazed baby back ribs. 

When it came time to order, my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. With a little help from my server, I narrowed it down to the Kansas City combo, which gave me the choice of two meats (burnt ends and honey-glazed baby back ribs) with a side of potato salad and homemade pickles. On the side were two barbecue sauce options: original and spicy. I did have a small taste of the spicy on the tip of my spoon, but if you know me at all, you know that I chose the original. (Spicy isn't my thing.)

The food was delicious --- the burnt ends were flavorful and tender, the ribs were so tender that they slid right off the bone, the potato salad was creamy goodness with a just a little kick of spice, and the homemade sweet pickles were gone in seconds.