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.
4 editor picks for Kansas City barbecue sauce in Kansas City, ranked by editorial score. All Kansas City signature dishes · Kansas City barbecue sauce across every city.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que ★ 4.8
kck · 3002 West 47th Ave, Kansas City, KS 66103
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que runs out of a working Shamrock gas station at 47th and Mission in Kansas City, Kansas, where the Stehneys opened in 1996 and invented the Z-Man sandwich.
Arthur Bryant's Barbeque ★ 4.7
18th-and-vine · 1727 Brooklyn Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64127
Arthur Bryant's on Brooklyn Avenue in Kansas City is the canonical BBQ address, with roots back to Henry Perry's 1908 pit and the Bryant family's takeover at the Brooklyn Avenue location in 1958.
Gates Bar-B-Q ★ 4.6
18th-and-vine · 1325 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64110
Gates Bar-B-Q's Emanuel Cleaver II flagship in Kansas City has run the city's tomato-sweet sauce style since 1946, with the famous greeting at the door.
Q39 Midtown ★ 4.5
midtown · 1000 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO 64111
Rob Magee's Q39 on 39th Street in Kansas City applies a competition-circuit pitmaster's discipline to weeknight barbecue, with a full bar and table service.