They love Kansas City BBQ and Mexican food. They combined them in this new restaurant

Two of the partners in the new Barbacoa are Mexican American brothers who grew up on traditional Mexican cuisine and Kansas City barbecue.

Now they are combining those two influences in their new Troost Avenue restaurant.

While barbecue may mean “sauce” to many Kansas Citians, to Barbacoa’s owners it means slow cook using smoke, “searing proteins with real flames.”

So their menu includes starters such as brisket taquitos (rolled and fried tacos with pickled onions, garlic crema and chipotle salsa). For entrees they have smoked carnitas, shrimp diablo, and turkey and mole (smoked turkey breast, mole, sesame and grilled spring onions with Yoli Tortilleria’s flour tortillas).

Sides include charro beans and seasonal salads. They will add a few more entrees later this spring.

Desserts: a craft chocolate plate, along with arroz con leche (sweet rice, cinnamon, raisins, roasted pistachios and High Hopes ice cream “of the moment” (from neighbor High Hopes Ice Cream).

The drink menu includes a Mexican mule, Smokey Dove (with mezcal, lime, agave and Fever Tree grapefruit soda) and an agave martini.

The three owners:

▪ Executive chef Roman Raya Jr. opened Taco Tank food trailer in 2017, doing festivals and other events. He shut down for six months during COVID-19 and then started taking his trailer to area breweries on a regular schedule. He also had a day job working for a commercial mortgage company. But soon he was making enough to do the trailer full time.

In late summer 2021, he opened a kitchen in Parlor food hall in the Crossroads. He added a location in North Kansas City’s Iron District a year ago.

▪ Madeline Buechter joined Taco Tank as an operator when it was at the breweries. She is now bar manager at Barbacoa, crafting cocktails to pair with the food.

▪ Raya’s brother Phillip Raya joined Taco Tank as kitchen manager at the Parlor location, freeing up Roman Raya and Buechter to open the Iron District location. He is sous-chef at the new restaurant.

They closed the Parlor location to open the full-service restaurant. But it had helped them build a following and provided some funds for Barbacoa.

“A full-service concept has always been the goal. Barbacoa was my original idea before opening Taco Tank,” Roman Raya said. “From where we were we had to earn our way into it. So we took those steps to get here.”

They spent three months remodeling the former Urban Cafe space at 5500 Troost Ave. It seats 40 and has eight seats at the bar. Bar customers also can order from the menu. It opened Thursday with the brisket taquitos and arroz con leche as the most popular orders.

It will have its grand opening Thursday. Hours will be 5 to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. It will have brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.

This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 12:43 PM.