Southern Living picked this KC restaurant as one of the best barbecue joints
A Kansas City staple was named the best place for barbecue in Missouri, according to a popular lifestyle magazine.
Southern Living, a publication that shares recipes, house guides and tips about Southern culture in the United States, named Arthur Bryant’s BBQ as the best barbecue joint in the state.
While most consider Kansas City part of the Midwest, the restaurant was one of 30 recognized by the publication. Other barbecue joints mentioned hailed from Alabama, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
It’s not the first time a Kansas City restaurant was recognized as one of the best by Southern Living, as the magazine previously named Jess and Jim’s Steakhouse one of the “most legendary steakhouses in the South” in 2024.
Robert F. Moss, the magazine’s contributing barbecue editor, said Kansas City’s barbecue scene has changed due to an uptick of chefs and pitmasters bringing styles from other states like Texas to the city, but their readers stuck with a local icon.
Southern Living conducted an online survey asking readers to rate their favorite places with a third-party agency from July 10 to Aug. 21, 2024, and collected over 10,000 answers.
“The counter men carve tender folds of smoked beef, pork, turkey, and ham on stainless steel slicers then pile it atop slices of white bread on paper-line trays,” Moss said in his review. “Bryant’s orange spice-laced sauce is unique, and superb hand-cut fries round out a barbecue meal you can find only in Kansas City.”
Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, located at 1727 Brooklyn Ave., traces its roots to 1908, which it had a different name and in a different location. It was created by Henry Perry, known as the father of Kansas City barbecue, who cooked and sold barbecue from the Garment District and moving around to locations near downtown, like 18th and Vine, 19th and Vine, and 19th and Highland streets.
Brothers Arthur and Charlie Bryant learned their techniques under Perry, and Charlie Bryant took over after Perry died in 1940. Charlie Bryant retired from the business in 1946, leaving it all to Arthur Bryant, who would later rename the restaurant to his name and move it to where it currently stands.
The restaurant is considered the birthplace of burnt ends, the bits of charred brisket that started as a free side given to customers and evolved into Kansas City’s barbecue calling card.
MMD Acquisitions LLC in Kansas City bought the restaurant from the Rauschelbach family in 2023. The family had acquired it from Arthur Bryant’s family after he died in 1982.
The restaurant has seen its fair share of celebrities and leaders walk through its doors. Patrons of the barbecue joint include Steven Spielberg, Michael Landon, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Wilt Chamberlain and Bryant Gumbel.
Former presidents Barack Obama, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter also got a taste of Kansas City at Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, and they have their pictures on the walls inside the building.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM.
