KC Food Wars: Ribs Part 4

Last Sunday, we decided to go try our fourth stop on our rib wars, which was the Rub in Olathe. The judges were myself, Jessica and Adam. We loaded up in the car and drove waaaaaaaaay out there to the restaurant. The restaurant is located in a newer-looking strip center in the middle of nowhere. So, we should have known this was not going to turn out good.

We go inside and see a big poster advertising the ribs promotion. Ok, they know about it! I eagerly place my order of ribs. The server says, "Oh, we're actually out of ribs."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????


We drove all the way out there for nothing! I was so disappointed! A REAL barbecue place does not run out of ribs! A REAL barbecue place isn't in some suburban strip mall! A REAL barbecue place does not participate in a contest and then not have the food ready!

We decided to stay and eat anyways since we were out there. I got the pulled pork and fries.

The meal was fine but I seriously think they just use KC Masterpiece as their sauce and put it in their own bottles. The atmosphere was so generic and bland. I mean, if you want barbecue you want to go to some hole-in-the-wall. This place was almost too clean, and just no character whatsoever.

It really makes me question the integrity of KC magazine, who is doing this contest. I CANNOT BELIEVE that this place was in their Top 5 ribs in Kansas City.

Overall, just a complete disappointment! We should have known better based on the location alone. As Adam put it, "Suburan barbecue is a little risky." So, don't go to the Rub in Olathe, there's DOZENS of better barbecue choices out there, this is the BARBECUE CAPTIAL OF THE WORLD.

We've got one more stop to go...let's hope it does better...Laura

KC Food Wars: Ribs Parts 2 & 3

Last week, we ventured out to City Market for Ribs Stop Number 2 at Winslow's. Our first impression was not a good one because there was not a customer or worker to be found! We did go on a Tuesday night, but you still don't expect to be the only people there. We eventually did find a server and sat out on the "debatable" city's largest patio.

Once again, our server knew nothing about Rib Wars and after about a ten minute wait while she asked her manager, we were finally offered buy one ribs, get the second half off. Not the deal we were originally promised, but we did it anyway.

Here we go!

Scoring:

Tenderness of meat- 16
Flavor- 18
Value- 9
Ambiance- 13
Sauce- 9

Grand Total- 65 out of a possible 100 points

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed these ribs because of the flavor. The menu boasted that the ribs stood on their own without the sauce and it was true, in my opinion. Which was also a good thing, because as Judge Jessica pointed out, "the sauce is a little too vinegar based for this KC girl."

Judge Dan commented that he "really enjoyed the patio. Sauce-wise, I also prefer a thicker molasses based sauce. I don't like the sauce to drip off my ribs."

So, besides being the only people there and the waitress not knowing about the promotion, I thought these were above-average ribs because of how flavorable they were. At $12.99 for a half slab of ribs, it's a lot of meat, but again, no sides come with it. So far, these ribs were better than Zarda's because they more consistently tender and much better flavor. However, none of us liked the sauce as well.


Third Stop: Johnny's (not the bar but the bbq place in Mission, KS).

So, our BOGO ribs promotion only lasts this month and we're kinda running out of time to hit up all the spots. We decided to get our third ribs to go and take them over to Bree's house for our weekly Bachlorette party. Jessica picked up the ribs and thought the place was pretty cool. It seemed fairly new, nice and clean. The best part was the staff actually knew about Rib Wars and was excited about it!

Scoring:

Tenderness of meat- 16.5
Flavor- 15.5
Value- 17
Ambiance- 16
Sauce- 12.5

Grand Total- 77.5 out of a possible 100 points


The value at $9.99 was by far the best we've had. Again, no sides but a much more reasonable price. These ribs were also beef which made them have a completely different flavor than that other two. They were the most tender we've had. Still a little fatty, though.  Overall, we all agreed they were the best so far based on flavor and tenderness.

We also got yummy fried macaroni bites, which were good. But basically, the ambiance and friendliness of the staff really set it apart.

Well, we've still two more stops to go! Can't wait! Laura

It's back- KC Food Wars: Ribs Part 1

We're back for another month of gaining weight, also known as KC Food Wars. This time, it's a pretty big challenge. Who has KC's best RIBS? I mean, we're talking barbecue, and this is serious.

Our first stop was Zarda's. Now, I've been to Zarda's in Blue Springs before and it's always been one of my favorites because I really like their sauce. Barbecue is judged by people in different ways. Some judge it by the meat. I judge it by the sauce. Zarda's has GREAT sauce. It's sweet with a kick of tang.

We decided to hit up Zarda's second location in Lenexa. Both restaurants are similar in that it's casual and family friendly. You order at the counter and then pick up your tray of food yourself. I asked my co-judge, Jessica, what she thought about that and she made a good point by saying it's a good method for a fast meal or if the restaurant is busy. Instead of waiting on service, you get your order in right away. Good point, JJ!

So, we are scoring the ribs much like how we scored the burgers. We have five categories and each judge will score on a 1-5 point basis. 5 being the ultimate best and couldn't be any better, 3 being average and 1 being awful. Our categories are: Tenderness of Meat, Flavor of Ribs, Sauce, Ambiance of restaurant and Value.

Since it was just the two of us today, we doubled our scores. For our remaining judging, hopefully we will have four judges.

So, at Zarda's the special was buy one rack of ribs and get a sandwich free for participating in Food Wars. So we ordered a full rack of short end ribs with a beef brisket sandwich. Please note, no sides were included, so we also ordered some fried pickles. Okay, actually I wanted those!

Right away, one negative thing was the cashier didn't know about the Food Wars special and had to ask a manager. Come on people, tell your staff what's going on!

Zarda's uses only locally sourced pigs for their ribs (bonus) and cooks them 17 hours over Ozark hickory smoked wood (another bonus)!

Here we go! (The Best score a category can get is 20).

Tenderness of Meat- 12
Flavor of ribs- 12
Sauce- 14
Ambiance- 14
Value- 12

Grand total: 64 out of a possible 100.

Ok, so tenderness. The cashier told us the short ends were less meat, but more tender. We scored these on the average side, because the tenderness was hit and miss. Some bites were truly tender and fell right off the bone. Then, you would get a bite that was really tough. JJ concluded that it was cooked well, but probably hadn't been the best quality of meat.

Another big factor that I did not like, were the chunks of fat located throughout the ribs. It was a huge turnoff for me to take a nice bite of the meat, only to have to spit out these gross fat bits.

Flavor. This again was judged average because it was good, but fairly smokey flavor.

Sauce. As I noted before, I love Zarda's sauce but JJ thinks it's a bit spicy.

Ambiance. Typical barbecue joint. Casual but nice, even partly rustic with nice wood paneling. The best part was the smell as you drove by. It just entices you to come inside. The biggest downside, to me, is the mere fact that it only has two locations, one in Blue Springs and one in Lenexa. So, neither is very convenient for us and let's face it, I hate Lenexa.

Value. A rack of ribs was $13.95. Now, you got a lot of ribs but it doesn't include any sides, which is disappointing. To get sides, you would have to order a platter which was around $20. That's on the high-end for a casual restaurant, in my opinion. However, I do disclaim that I'm not too familiar with the costs of ribs.

Here's our fried pickles (they were pretty good) and the brisket sandwich.

So, overall, the ribs were good because of the flavor and sauce but overall somewhat disappointing because of the inconsistency of the tenderness and the chunks of fat within the meat. I would definitely go back to Zarda's because of the sauce, but I would stick with brisket, ham or pork.

Our next try is coming soon...can't wait!!

I'm also tacking on another fountain that I found this week. It's number 93!

Behind UMB Bank at 49th and Main.

 Okay, it may not technically be a fountain but I'm still counting it!

More adventures to come! Laura

Celebration at the Station

Last weekend I enjoyed a really cool Kansas City tradition- Celebration at the Station! Every Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend, for the past ten years, the KC Symphony plays a free concert in front of Union Station and everyone sits on the big hill at Liberty Memorial. People listen to the music, bring a picnic and just have a great time!

I love stuff like this and had so much fun!

Then it gets dark and out come an awesome fireworks show! Who doesn't love a good round of fireworks?!?

I had a very busy week (like usual!) and ended the week going to my first First Fridays in the Crossroads district. All the art galleries stay open and all kinds of cool people walk around, checking it all out! On our walk, we discovered the old Kansas City Star building at 18th and Grand. And right out front, a beautiful fountain!

No. 92- 18th and Grand, KC Star building





A little KC Star history. First of all, let it be noted that I look at their website kansascity.com every day and check out what's going on. The Star began publishing in 1880 and has won 8 Pulitzer Prizes. One of its claims to fame is Harry S. Truman once worked in the mailroom for two whole weeks. The other claim to fame is it employed Ernest Hemingway as a reporter for a short time.

Another busy week ahead for me...and more adventures to come! Laura