The Stack BarBQ

The best BBQ in Kansas City! We have tried many places but nothing’s like their ribs and the coleslaw, not to mention the beans!

Horrible BBQ sauces the sweet sauce isvthe consistency of water and the spicy had some kick but not a thick sauce either, mediocre meats at best. The beans tasted like any run of the mill beans you could buy at the store and throw some smoked meat in them. The cheesycorn was the worst version of cheesycorn I’ve ever tasted. The gave me a vip card that will promptly go in the trash.

I paid $ 16.75 for five small pieces of burnt ends and two slices of turkey. The burnt ends were bland, fatty and the turkey was dry. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. I’ve had twice the food better quality at nearly every other BBQ restaurant in Kansas City. It’s a shame Smoke Stack was much, much better.

Disappointing. The ribs were flavorless. The beans lacked the brown sugar/​molasses flavor that we expected and tasted more like they’d been made with a lot of white sugar. Nothing exuded the smokiness you expect in the meat or beans. The salad was a bowl of wet iceberg lettuce. Had to search to find the tomatoes described on the menu. Terrible watery blue cheese dressing. NOT WORTH THE PRICE on our opinion. KC offers better BBQ elsewhere.

The service here is awesome. I always leave with a smile on my face, and the staff know me from going all the time!
The Stack sandwich is awesome. The beef on the meat dinner platter has been dry both times, but the sausage was great. The ribs I had once were terrible, tough meat and green on the bottom. Weird. Burnt ends platter was the best burnt ends I’ve ever had in Kansas City. So tender it was like meat flavored butter!
Anyway, some good some bad food, I keep going back!

Disappointing.
Found on Unilocal,thought I would give it a try. Lady at the counter was rude while taking my order. I got the ribs and pulled pork with fries and beans, my total was around $ 17.
Just awful.
Fries: decent, but not my style
Pulled Pork: terrible, seemed overcooked or old, it was wet and void of any seasoning. Actually tasted a bit of kitchen cleaner in there.
Ribs: Looked okay, not seasoned, and the sides were a bit charred, which would have been fine except I think the surface they cook on hasn’t been cleaned in a while. I got a taste of old grease and fish.
Beans: okay, but not my style
BBQ sauce: okay, but not it style
Check out my other reviews, I never leave bad reviews, I try to keep it positive. Just really surprised. Honestly my food was un-​eatable. Maybe it was just an off day…

Awesome barbeque, I had the burnt ends and a salad. Very tasty, good favor. Nice hidden place that was getting very busy at 3 pm on a Saturday afternoon. They have a few different types of sides and appetizers that are very unique and flavorful, although a lot of calories.

Barbecue in Kansas City is not so much a food as it is a whole way of life, somewhere between a club and a religion. It seems like everybody has their own favorite place, and that, according to them, is the barbecue joint by which you compare all the barbecue joints. Growing up, my family’s barbecue joint of choice was the old Smokestack on 71 Highway. When it closed a decade ago, it wasn’t so much the end of a restaurant as the end of a part of my life. Does this sound ridiculously melodramatic to you? Well, that’s because it is. I admit it, I’m fairly ridiculous when it comes to barbecue. Still, it was a sad occasion. Though it wasn’t quite the same, we occasionally would pick up sauce or take-​out from the Smokestack location at 89^th and Wornall until it closed. When that happened, I figured that was it. Then several of the former employees got the rights to some of the recipes and opened The Stack. Whoo!
Enough of the bio, on to the review. Food-​wise, The Stack is good. My wife and I came for lunch, and got the Lunch for Two, which has two ribs, three other meats, slaw, beans, fries, and Texas toast. We had the pork, brisket, and burnt ends (because you have to have burnt ends in KC). The brisket was excellent; it was cooked without sauce, which is kind of unusual for KC barbecue, but had a lot of flavor. The pork was good, though it was pulled pork style – the old Smokestack served sliced pork, which I tend to like better. Again, not sauced, but flavorful. The burnt ends were good, but not in my top 5 burnt ends in the city; one was a proper burnt end, with great char and a nice combination of tender and chewy, but most of the rest seemed a bit more like just charred pieces of brisket. («But isn’t that the definition of a burnt end?» you might be asking, and if you are asking that, well, I can’t explain. Hit every barbecue joint in Kansas City and try their burnt ends, then you’ll understand.) I would still get them again, and it seemed like it might just have been that particular portion, but still, good but not the top.
Sides: The old Smokestack was famous for its beans, and they have the old recipe here. Highly recommend them – amazing. They also have the same fries that the old Smokestack had – big thick planks of potatoes, that look like something a pirate might make a captive walk. The slaw was respectable, though more «good» rather than «amazing.» The Texas toast was, well, Texas toast – it’s thick slices of bread, so it’s good, but, you know, toast. The other sides looked pretty good, but I can’t report on how they taste.
Overall, it isn’t the Smokestack of my childhood (for one thing, it’s clean – yeah, the old 71 Highway location was, well, yeah…), but it certainly brings back the taste. Highly recommend it!

It’s not bad. Prices are good. Meat is inconsistent. My last order was kinda dry.

I haven’t had anything there that I really liked. In fact I haven’t finished any dish from The Shack. I would not recommend this restaurant.

I wish I could give zero stars, some of the worst BBQ I’ve had in KC. Hands down worst burnt end sandwich I’ve ever had. Ribs were dry frys were cold. Living in KC I will never go back with somany actual good places to eat BBQ in this amazing town.

Couldn’t decide between 3 or 4
The good
Food tastes good, inside is nice roomy clean, nice staff, prices are fair
The bad
I wasn’t in the back when the food was made but I’m pretty sure the meat was microwaved, as it came out steaming. It was still good but I prefer fresh sliced. The portions could be bigger. They have subscription radio that has loud annoying commercials, idk why they don’t just pay the 10 a month to have music

The sandwich was very good, it was served with the sauce already on it. I would be curious to try the meat without the sauce. The sandwich still had great color and taste. The fries looked great and we’re not bad tasting, I just wish they were a bit more crispy. The total score was 91%.

We found this place by accident, and what a happy mlstake! Great service and super food. We ordered the Tuesday rib special. This plate comes with ribs, fries, beans, and a drink. I asked for spicy sauce, and it was perfect. The price was around $ 12.00 and totally worth the price. We will be back!

Wow, another great KC barbecue joint. We had the dinner for 2 ($ 27.95) and it was worth every penny. It includes ribs and then 3 additional meats. Plus, you get any 3 sides you want. Every single item was delicious. Plus, the service was great. We’ll definitely be back.

Food is good but not outstanding. The meats need salt or seasoning but are smoked well. I had three pieces of gristle, however – two in sandwich and one in beans. Not appetizing. The sauce, unfortunately, tastes like cheap ketchup to me – I don’t care for it – and also needs a pump-​up of seasoning and salt. The beans are thick and nicly sweet. Loved their sweet potato fries! Regular fries are also good. The place is clean and the staff nice. Prices are good. I would not avoid the place, but it won’t survive without improvement.

Decent BBQ. it is a bit pricey and slow for a BBQ place. Stop by here if you need to, otherwise there are plenty of other great BBQ spots in KC

This place has a neat and clean dining area. The service was great. The dinner for 2 fed not only my husband and I, but also our 3 kids (ages 6, 4, and 2). We also tried the jalapeño poppers wrapped in bacon. Yum, I love that they aren’t breaded and use fresh jalapeños. We will be returning!

Kansas City has the best BBQ in the world. Wanna know how I know? Our second-​tier places are better than a lot of other cities’ best. Our second-​tier BBQ places are still 5-​star joints.
…not to say this is a bad restaurant by any means. In fact, it was amazing. I just don’t know if I can put it in my top 5 KC BBQ yet. And the fact that it can be amazing but not top-​5 is what makes our BBQ supreme.
I put this over Gates on my list, though.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into why this place deserves your shot.
1) Their BBQ beans are the best in the city.
2) They have an interesting menu full of the traditional fare, as well as new ideas. The menu had a couple of sandwiches with multiple non-​meat ingredients (which seems to be a rarity in KC BBQ), including a Big Mac clone with brisket in place of hamburger.
3) Service. It’s nice not to get yelled at for walking in the door. Actually, they’re really friendly and attentive.
4) The «dinner for two» is amazing. It’s $ 28 and is your choice of 3 meats plus ribs plus your choice of 3 sides plus bread. They say it feeds two, but those would have to be a couple of robust individuals. You could feed a party of four with it pretty comfortably.
Do you need any more reasons to go?!? It’s delicious BBQ that does a few things better than anyone else in the city. It’s almost as good as Joe’s but you won’t have to wait in line and you can actually find a table!
(That said, their sauce kind of sucks and you might want to bring a bottle of your favorite with you)

Just went here for the first time tonight. YUMMY!
My husband and I had the dinner for 2, so we were able to try all of the meats, coleslaw, fries, and beans… and a lot to take home! Super clean and cute! We watched college basketball, listened to blues music and experienced great customer service from everyone there! We will definitely be back… probably next week! AWESOMENESS!

Whilst on my mission to try every bbq restaurant on KC, I was pointed to The Stack. It is supposed to be as good or better than the old version of the restaurant.
I ordered the burnt ends, half pound, as I was only interested in trying the bbq. Very likely the most perfectly cooked burnt ends that I have had but the flavor was, at times, revolting. It tasted like greasy fat (clarified butter). The burnt ends were cut in cubes three-​quarter of an inch in side length which was also perfect. I feel like they need to check on their rub recipe or buy someone else’s rub. For bbq this perfectly cooked and juicy, it should taste better.
They had an excellent combination of fat and meat on the burnt ends. I prefer some fat.
Now the bbq sauce, is totally useless. No point reviewing or trying it it. Just toss it out of the window and use some salt in its place or bring your own sauce.
Friday night at 6 pm, only two people seated at the restaurant. Great seating for groups and very clean place though. Ambience was a lot nicer than most bbq restaurants.

Tried this place for the first time tonight and we have just found our new bbq place! We had the «Dinner for Two» which is basically a sampler platter of all their dishes: ribs & your choice of 3 other meats + 3 side dishes. We chose the sliced beef, pulled pork and burnt ends + beans, fries and cheesy corn. All this for $ 24.99 (Wednesday night special) including 2 drinks in cups that could easily accomodate at least a liter of soda!
The décor is clearly new and clean and while it may not be trendy or hip (more of a country-​western type theme) it seems to fit this place to a tee! Our server was very sweet and friendly and greeted us immediately.
Sports on the wall mounted flat screen tv’s, blues music on the stereo and great tasting food, what more can you ask for in bbq joint?

This BBQ place is the closest one to my apartment, so I’m not sure why it took me this long to try! It is in Waldo, but not directly near all the other bars & restaurants. It is in a little strip with a few other things. But the sign is big enough that it is pretty easy to find.
I walked in, and noticed a decent amount of seating. It is very casual but does have waitress service. When I was looking at a menu on the wall deciding what I wanted, the waitress said, «Placing a to-​go order?» And handed me a menu to look at. She was very quick to notice me walking in.
I ordered the Goob to-​go, which is their burnt-​end sandwich, which comes with fries. It was around $ 10. I waited somewhere between 5 – 10 minutes, which I thought was pretty quick. I drove a few minutes home and dug in.
The sandwich was very good. I think this is the first time I really understood what «smokey flavor» really meant. It had a very distinct smokey flavor. The meat did not have BBQ sauce on it, but it came with sauce on the side. The sauce was very ketchupy. I did not mind, but I would understand if other people may not like it. The meat was a bit on the dry side, but definitely not one of the «burnt-​end-​horror-​stories» I’ve read in other reviews. This was the first time I’ve had burnt ends, so I’m honestly not sure what they’re supposed to taste like. The fries were thick and clearly hand-​made, which was appreciated.
Overall I really enjoyed my meal and I will definitely be back!

Another example of why Kansas City is a great BBQ destination in the U.S. This small smoke & protein venue is located in a tiny strip mall in an area of town that doesn’t have much going on in terms of retail or night life. But we all know, location has nothing to do with good BBQ or other foods for that matter. Long a BBQ joint, the Stack to my memory was formerly a part of the Jack Stack group of BBQ restaurants in town but this one broke off and the new owners kept part of the name.
Three of us who dine weekly at different KC BBQ destinations opted for two orders of burnt ends and the other the pork sandwich. The burnt ends were appropriately crispy, blackened and gnarly fat mixed with meat. Plenty of good smoke and maybe a tad too much chew to go five stars, but still a satisfying meal. The sauce has a bit of sweetness but not cloyingly as some, hints of smoke, celery seed. They opt for steak fries here and our guess was they’re probably off the Cisco truck. The waitress said they’re a favorite of the regulars and they get yelled at if they attempt to change over to something new. No problems there, we understand! Texas toast came with the meal, something I personally don’t touch. White bread is fine, and tradition of course.
Kudos for offering red cream soda! But wait, they actually come around with a pitcher of the stuff and refill you for free. There’s something about red cream soda and BBQ. It’s like that dish your mom made for you when you were a little kid that you swear is the best thing you ever ate in your life.
The service here couldn’t be finer. The ladies working on our visit were hustling and there were no issues with water kept filled or other requests. They even brought us a free side of fries in a more traditional shape and chatted about how we liked them compared to the steak fries.
Been awhile since I last visited here but I’d have no problem returning here any time the opportunity presents itself. Kansas City BBQ — how lucky we are.

Improved vs the old Stack. Food and service were great. Meat tasted better. Had the pulled pork and burnt ends.
Dining room set up better. TVs for sports games and such.
Don’t expect mood lighting and such that resembles more of a chain restaurant rather than a barbecue joint. That’s not real Kansas City barbecue where the food is the focus, not ceiling lighting rigs and tiled walls.
Niece spilled her drink. Staff was really friendly and swooped in like a NASCAR pit team to clean the table and floor.