Kansas City - Woodyard Bar-B-Que

I feel like I’d be doing you a disservice if I talked about unique places to dine on barbecued pork and didn’t mention “Woodyard Bar-B-Que” in Kansas City, KS. Woodyard is the consummate KC BBQ place as far as I am concerned. Woodyard is located on Merriam Lane, which on the map is just north of the I-35 and Lamar Ave. interchange, so it’s pretty easy to get to, and well worth your time.

Welcome friends.

Woodyard happens to be inside an old house of all places, with large brick smokers outside (pretty much in what used to be the front yard) that do all the cooking. In my mind, it is bare bones BBQ at its finest. I find it’s best to go when the weather is nice, because the majority of the seating is outdoors, but there are a few places to sit inside if need be. They actually happen to be in the living/dining room of the old house!

Come on in and take a seat.

 The place has really grown in popularity lately, as it was featured in 2010 on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” hosted by Guy Fieti. From a humble beginning in the 1950s as nothing more than a place that sold smoking wood, Woodyard slowly turned into a place that also used the wood to smoke meat and sell it too over the years! These days, with the publicity the TV show brought, and a recent concerted effort to cater to the “happy hour” crowd, this unique family-run eatery has really had an upswing in business.

I wish I could include aroma in these pictures. 

On my last trip there, I had the #1 rib platter, with came with two pork ribs, some of the best smoked pork sausage I have ever eaten, a side, and a couple other meats that we won’t discuss right now! The ribs were very tender, and have an outstanding rub on them that is as unique as the restaurant itself is. The sausage, like I said, was some of the best I have ever had. It was lean, but not chewy, and had good moisture without being greasy.

The real deal.

At Woodyard you walk in and order, and they bring the food to you at the table when it is ready, but otherwise this place is all self serve regarding your drinks and sauce needs. There is a roll of paper towels on the table and that’s about it! Just about the way Kansas City Barbecue was meant to be served I would say! If you’re heading down I-35 in Kansas City and are in the mood for something a chain restaurant can’t even begin to offer, make your way to “Woodyard Bar-B-Que” and step back in time for a taste of Kansas City Barbecue’s glory days! 


-Mike