Kc Bbq Sauce appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.

Kansas City barbecue sauce · Kansas City

The tomato-based, molasses-sweet, vinegar-tangy sauce that defines Kansas City barbecue. Thick, sweet, slightly smoky, sometimes with cayenne heat layered in for a slow burn.

Henry Perry, the father of Kansas City barbecue, served his meats with a peppery vinegar sauce starting in 1908. The current tomato-and-molasses base evolved through Arthur Bryant's house sauce (rust-orange, vinegar-forward) and Gates' sweeter style. KC Masterpiece, developed in 1977 by Kansas City psychiatrist Rich Davis, cemented the sweet-smoky template and carried the city's sauce style nationally.

Where to eat in Kansas City: