Pigging Out and About has moved!

Hello All!  We're excited to announce that Pigging Out and About is relocating and upgrading!  Our new restaurant guide, called In Pursuit of Pork, can be found at http://inpursuitofpork.com/.  Please follow us over there and check out all the great stuff we have in store for you.  There will be new restaurants, awesome giveaways, guest posts, and more, all in a new user-friendly format.  All of the information on this blog will also be transferred over, so you won't lose any of the great stuff we've already posted.

Please join us on the other side, and thank you so much for following along!

Newton- Le Jay's

Not where I'd expect to find great BBQ. How about you?

Earlier this fall, while in Newton visiting some friends, I came across some high quality BBQ where I least expected it-so I thought I should share! We ended up at “Le J’s Bar-B-Que”, located in the Chisolm Trail Shopping Center on the south edge of Newton. If you’re not familiar with the shopping center, it is west side of I-135 on the far south side of Newton, near the exit for 36^th street.

Once inside Le Jays, you will likely find an engaging, outgoing guy behind the counter serving up some of the best KC style BBQ I’ve found in that region! The guy behind the counter is none other than the owner of the place, Jeffery Love. Jeff has a hand in nearly all the food you eat at Le J’s, as he comes in at 4:00 A.M. each work day day to start the meat smoking and to make the beans, potato salad, cole slaw, and of course the sauce all from scratch before he opens for business.

Seriously? How did this get here?

Le J’s is BBQ dining in its simplest form, which I like. There is a fridge with bottled drinks and a menu that is basic enough to not confuse you, but gets you everything you need and/or want! I had pork ribs, pulled pork, and beans while there and thought that all three were very good! My final judgment of an eatery usually comes down to me asking myself if I’d go back again, and in this case I can most definitely say yes to that! 

- Mike

Hoxie- Indian Country Cafe

Western Kansas is what fellow blogger Mike and I jokingly refer to as a “barbecue desert.” This is a fictitious term relating to an actual term “food desert.” The term technically means anyplace more than ten miles from a grocery store.

Cheese! More to come, I promise.

In the case of good barbecue, the desert is much larger in western Kansas. In fact the distance is probably closer to one hundred miles than it is to ten miles. One rare barbecue oasis can be found in the small town of Hoxie, Kansas on the high plains of Sheridan County.

My friends Clint and Jessica Milliman introduced me to the Indian Country Café and a pork lovers delight, the Porky Fries! Porky Fries are a dish not for the weak of heart – literally. I fear to think how many delicious calories are in this dish, in fact, I would suggest you bring a friend because this is a dish certainly big enough for two!

The best thing since sliced bread. 

Porky fries start out as a delicious bed of perfectly seasoned french fries. Next they add a layer of smoked pulled pork and then the whole thing is topped off with a generous amount of melted cheese. As if that isn’t enough, you get your choice of additional toppings including plenty of barbecue sauce, hot sauce and sour cream.

Finger lickin' good. 

The restaurant, which takes its name from the local high school mascot, is located in an old grocery store building, so seating is plentiful and hometown pride is evident. If you ever find yourself lost and wandering in the western Kansas barbecue desert, just point your taste buds towards the Indian Country Café. Your hunger will certainly be quenched with an order of Porky Fries!

Until next time- Swine and Dine!

Chris

Kansas City- Johnny's BBQ

Johnny’s BBQ is one of those places in Kansas City I think is a bit underrated- to say the least. When a person asks the question “so where’s the best BBQ in KC?” usually the answers involve the old stand-bys of KC BBQ such as “Gates” or “Arthur Bryant’s”. Johnny’s usually doesn’t come up until further down the list, but that’s really not how it should as far I’m concerned!

Johnny’s is growing fast in popularity these days, somewhat thanks to being featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” on Food Network, but mostly because simple word of mouth carries a lot of weight.

Johnny’s is serving up some of the best BBQ in all of Kansas City, and has two locations to serve you. The original one is located at 5959 Broadmoor Street in Mission, KS (east on Johnson Drive from I-35) and the second, newer location is out in western Olathe at 1375 W Highway 56 (just west on old Hwy. 56 from KS Hwy 7).

On my most recent trip, I had a 2 meat sandwich with pork sausage and pulled pork with some of Johnny’s ever-popular seasoned fries. There is not much I can say about the quality of the meat in the sandwich, or the quality of their smoked meats in general, except that they rank among the best in all of Kansas City! The pulled pork has lots of “bark” in it, so you really get the smoke flavor, and the meat is as tender as it can be. The sausage is smoky, lean, and juicy, and the ribs are out-of-this-world tender too! The sides are 2^nd to none, and the atmosphere and service are excellent too.

If you really want to experience the upper crust of KC BBQ and don’t want to fight the crowds at some of the bigger name places, but still want a nice, clean place to sit down and have some BBQ, then Johnny’s should be on your radar any time you are in or around the Johnson County area.

- Mike

Kansas City- Arthur Bryant's BBQ

On a recent business trip to Kansas City, I found myself unable to pass up the opportunity to visit Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. After all, this place is one of the reasons that Kansas City is famous for barbeque. In fact, the Bryant family can trace their barbecue roots back to Henry Perry, the father of KC barbeque.  According to barbecue history, Arthur Bryant’s brother Charlie was an employee of Henry Perry. The family then opened their own restaurant which Arthur eventually took over.

Look for this sign.

The original headquarters is on the Missouri side of the border but there is a relatively new location on the Kansas side, at the Legends Outlets shopping area in Wyandotte County. I imagine the atmosphere is better at the original location, or at least more of what I would traditionally expect a barbeque restaurant to look like, however, I didn’t go for the atmosphere. I went for the famous food.

You might see this truck too.

At first I thought the price of my ham and pulled pork combo meal plus fries was a bit large, and then the server gave me my amazingly large portions of food and it was worth it. It was certainly more than enough for me, and I’m not little! The fries were plentiful and hot and the ham was acceptable. I’ve noticed a lot of bragging about their vinegar based sauce (sweet tomato based sauces are more the norm around here) so I’ll just be nice and say I must have had some out of a bad batch.  I prefer a sweet tomato sauce.

Get sauced.

For a good one, you might try Hillsdale Bank Barbecue’s “The Sauce”. That being said, Arthur Bryant’s also has sweet and spicy varieties that are more like what I would expect to find in Kansas City.

Eat and be merry.

Now, let’s talk about the pulled pork. If had to describe this stuff with one word, it would be “wow!”  This was some of the best pulled pork I have ever eaten. I shoveled it down as quickly as I could and then found myself wishing for more. Arthur Bryant’s is certainly one of Kansas City’s most famous eateries and their pulled pork has got to be one of the reasons why! I can’t wait to try the original location and their nearest rival, Gates Bar B-Q, on my next trip to Kansas City!

Until next time- Swine and Dine!

Chris

Olathe- The Rub

After catching word of a new BBQ place called The Rub Bar-B-Que & Catering opening here in Olathe, the question was when, not if I would go try it. Last week I finally got that chance and I figured I should spread the word on the place now that I’ve been! “The Rub” began merely as a dream of a local competitive BBQ team. A dream they continually discussed, but never got around to following up on, until 2010 when they finally got some much needed backing from a few investors. They next found the perfect location to move into, and the rest is a tasty (and short to this point) history that based on the early returns, will be around for awhile.

If you see this place. You might want to stop.

The Rub” is located in northwestern Olathe, just south of the intersection of Ridgeview Rd. and KS Hwy. 10 on the west side of Ridgeview. It is a new twist on an old Kansas City specialty. The food is just as you would expect in a KC BBQ joint, but it is a trendier, more modern version that mimics some of the “assembly line” burrito eateries that are popular these days. You walk up and order, and watch through the glass as your order is put together right before your eyes. It’s a fast-food environment that serves up “slow food” for the masses. The location and clientele demand such a fast-paced environment however, as the surrounding area contains many large offices that send workers out looking for lunch under time constraints.

While on my first visit to “The Rub” I tried the “2 meats and 2 sides platter”, and I chose pulled pork and sausage as the meats. The pulled pork was very high quality. It had no large hunks of fat, and was not at all greasy. It was nothing but delicious, smoky pork shoulder. The sausage was a little different than anything I’d ever had at a BBQ place. It had undertones of spicy Italian sausage, as it had fennel and red pepper flakes in it, but it managed to not stray too far from what you’d normally find in served in a KC BBQ eatery. The sausage looks and tastes very much like something homemade (which is a good thing) and it hardly needs sauce with all those flavors it has going on. For my sides, I had onion straws and beans, which were both very good as well.

It's got really good stuff like this- fast. 

On the whole, I was really impressed with “The Rub Bar-B-Que & Catering” and it’s fast-paced style of serving up an old-school meal. The environment is not going to impress everyone I realize, but if you like the general type of food, you can’t go wrong with it. I can confidently say that it won’t rub you the wrong way if you just give a try!

-Mike

Glenn Elder - Lakeside Convenience

Normally, when you think of convenience store food, old hotdogs on rollers and cheap low quality microwave burritos come to mind. Rarely do convenience stores and good barbeque go hand in hand. Except for when you're talking about Lakeside Convenience, overlooking Waconda Lake in Glenn Elder, Kansas- it's one of those rare treats.

This place looks like a typical gas station. In fact, nothing outside the building indicates the delicious food available inside. Had it not been for a tip from Kansas State University Extension Agent Sarah Molzahn, who covers this area of North Central Kansas, I would have never known about this hidden gem.

Don't let this disguise fool you- this is some good grub!

Lakeside Convenience carries a good selection of barbecue supplies including smoking woods and delicious Head County sauces. These are the same sauces served with their pulled pork sandwiches.The also sell Luther’s Smokehouse jerky, the same good stuff covered by fellow blogger Mike.

They have a limited barbecue menu that includes wonderful pulled pork sandwiches seasoned with a homemade blend of spices and served on a butter toasted bun.During my recent visit, I chose seasoned fries for a side and was not disappointed.

Trust me. It's good. 

If you're looking for something different or just something handy while out at the lake, you owe it to yourself to stop in. Just look for the fish out front.

Nice fish.

Until next time, swine and dine!

Chris