Kansas City Barbecue | MIDWESTERN BELLE

I wasn’t sure what to think when I arrived at Zarda BBQ in Blue Springs last Saturday. Their online reviews are very mixed – people either love them or hate them. Some of the reviews are pretty harsh so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I am now convinced you can’t always trust online reviews (other than this one of course). I loved it!

The restaurant is located on 7 Highway in Blue Springs, about twenty minutes from downtown KC.

Once you step inside, the menu is posted above the counter where you place your order. If you’re like me, you’ll be completely overwhelmed when you look at it.

There was so much to choose from: sliced meat, ribs, sandwiches, burnt ends, pulled pork, combination meals… pretty much anything you could want at a BBQ restaurant. There were also quite a few available sides: bar-b-que beans, cheesy corn, potato salad, fries, fried okra…

Needless to say, it took me a few minutes to decide what I wanted!

Did I want the pulled pork? Or a sliced meat platter…

Cheesy corn or bar-b-que beans?

After much deliberation, I finally settled on the burnt ends sandwich ($6.25) and two sides: bar-b-que beans and waffle fries ($2.15 each). Oh, and a Dr. Pepper.

After ordering, I took a number and found an open booth. The restaurant was pretty busy as it was noon on a Saturday, but I didn’t have trouble finding a booth by a window. When my number was called, I grabbed my food from the counter. It looked like this:

Some of the reviews had warned their portions are small, but the only thing I thought was on the small side was the bar-b-que beans, but the flavor more than made up for the size. The waffle fries were great, too, and well-seasoned – which I love. And last but not least, the burnt ends sandwich was perfect: the burnt ends were just right and covered in Zarda’s sauce. There was also more sauce available on the table, but I didn’t need it.

Pros: Great food, friendly service, clean restaurant, affordable
Cons: None!

Zarda BBQ
214 NW State Route 7, Blue Springs, MO – (816) 229-9999 ‎

When you’re a (kind of) vegetarian, nothing makes more sense than beginning a year-long tour of Kansas City’s barbecue restaurants!

My first stop was McGuire’s Smokehouse in Olathe, KS.

I loved the inside of this restaurant: laid-back and very clean, but a down-to-earth feel well-suited to a barbecue place. I went in between lunch and dinner on a Saturday, so there were just a few groups of people here and there: some teenage boys, two women chatting and an older couple who seemed perfectly happy enjoying their food in silence.

I grabbed a menu and spent a few minutes looking deciding before I stepped up to the counter to order. McGuire’s has counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. I like counter service because you can get all of the ordering out of the way then go about the important business of eating without any interruptions.

My typical go-to meal at a BBQ place is a brisket sandwich and onion rings, but I decided to get a little crazy and order something different. I’d read a few reviews that said the ribs and burnt ends combination was good, so I went with that and learned it came with two sides so I went with onion rings and baked beans.

The portions were huge and my food came out in two large baskets. Right away I knew I’d have leftovers and would need a to-go box!

The beef was more like sliced brisket than burnt ends, but it was great and my favorite part of the meal.

In the other basket were the onion rings and baked beans. The onion rings were nice and crispy, and the baked beans included meat and several different types of beans.