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LC’S BAR-B-Q
The KC Barbecue Tour
Welcome to Travel and Photo Today’s KC Barbecue Tour!
(If you are new to this series about Kansas City BBQ you can visit the Frst Stop on the KC Barbecue Tour at KC BBQ 1st Stop for a bit of history and background.)
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Today’s Tour Stop – LC’S BAR-B-Q
LC’s Bar-B-Q has become a local favorite since it opened in 1986. It has a loyal following in the barbecue world with some sources saying it ranks within the top 5 of barbecue establishments in the Greater Kansas City area.
LC’s BBQ – Located In Eastern Kansas City Metro Area
LC’s BBQ is located on the eastern side of the KC Metro Area at 5800 Blue Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri. That’s a short, 5 minute drive from the stadium complex for the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, LC’s does a big carry-out business for KC sports fans heading out to cheer on the team. LC’s is open Monday through Saturday but again, to help out those hungry KC sports fans, it is also open on Sundays when KC teams have home games.
LC’s BBQ Front Entrance
LC’s is a BBQ joint in the true tradition of bbq joints. It’s small, basic and a bit nondescript. Parking is at a premium and, since the place tends to be popular, many folks end up parking all over the place – in the tiny lot in front, along the side of or behind the building, or along the street.
LC’s BBQ Interior Seating
The “small and basic” theme continues on the interior of LC’s. There are only eight tables available. It’s a bit cramped. Again, it seems much of their business is of the “take away” variety.
Customers line up around the small interior to place their order at the counter. There is no table service.
LC’s – The Line Up at the Counter
Two employees handle all the tasks in the restaurant – taking orders, preparing orders, cooking fries and rings, and handling the payment transactions. They are busy and they don’t have much time to chat – that’s for sure. The wait for your food can get a bit long.
LC’s BBQ tends to be a bit of a “do it yourself” type of place with many of the dining related tasks being left to the customers. When your order is ready you’ll hear your name. Step up get your food at the same counter. Food is served on white styrofoam type plates. Grab your own plastic utensils and get your drink out of the cooler or dispenser at the side of the room. Then, if dining in, find a table (or share if necessary) and dig in. When you are finished with your meal – clean up your own table and deposit the trash in the bins at the periphery of the room. If you have a bit of bbq left over and would like to take it home – again it’s “DIY.” Grab a styrofoam box (they are next to the plastic dining utensils) and pack it up.
LC’s Staff of Two – Counter Service For Everything
LC’s BBQ serves up their bbq with a huge amount of sauce poured over the top. Now, truth be told, I always enjoy a “generous pour” when I’m ordering a fine single malt scotch. But when it comes to bbq – we a generous pour of bbq sauce is not my idea of good eating. In fact, I generally try to order my bbq “dry,” with the sauce on the side, so I can get a sense of the taste of the meat “straight up.” Unfortunately I forgot to do this at LC’s. The meat in our order was drenched in sauce. The sauce is good, tending to be a bit sweet. But there was so much! My advice – remember to order your “Q” dry with the sauce on the side.
The Burnt Ends were lacking in flavor, were quite fatty and at the same time the meat tended to be rather tough.
Burnt Ends – $9.99
The Mixed Plate with Fries ($21.99) includes 5 ribs, 2 meats and an order of fries. Did I mention – unless you speak up, your order will come with sauce – lots and lots of sauce? The ribs served on our visit were not the best. While the taste was OK they tended to be overly fatty compare with the amount of meat. The sliced turkey and ham were similarly OK in taste. It’s hard to say that they were dry, considering the amount of sauce on top. But the edges of the meats tended to be a bit over cooked.
Mixed Plate Ribs
Mixed Plate Meats – Ham & Turkey
Mixed Plate Fries
As mentioned at the top, LC’s BBQ is frequently recommended as a top place to visit for good KC BBQ. That said, I have to say we were a bit disappointed during our visit. Meats had shortcomings already mentioned. Even the soda dispenser let us down. It seemed to be out of adjustment, offering up drinks which were overly “watery” and lacking in taste. If you order a soft drink I suggest you opt to grab your drink in a can or bottle from the cooler rather than using a cup and trying the drink dispenser. Of everything ordered we enjoyed the fries the most – they were delicious. Maybe we just caught LC’s on a bad day – we all have them. We”l have to stop by again for a second visit when we get a chance.
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CHECK OUT LC’S BBQ …………………… AND ENJOY THE ADVENTURE!
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