Take a sauce-fueled road trip through the Carolinas, experience the Super Bowl of Swine, plan your next big cookout, and more.
“Kansas City feels like a hug,” says Heidi Gardner. And she would know: The comedian, actress, and native Kansas Citian is a proud booster for her hometown.
She sings the city’s praises early and often, even going viral for transforming her annual birthday celebration into a showcase of KC culture. “I’m just so proud of what we have,” Gardner says. One year she surprised guests with a performance by the legendary kid’s marching band, the Marching Cobras, a local staple you can hear coming from a mile away. Another time, the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders brought their particular spirit to Gardner’s party, and most recently, she arranged for the Kansas City Ballet to perform in the streets, recreating her childhood memories of watching ballet in the park with her mom.
But nothing can compare with Gardner’s love of KC barbecue. “If you’re born here, you’re brought up to love it,” she says. “I was eating all this meat growing up, sometimes it was like, ‘This is the only food in this city.’ But you don’t really appreciate the craft of it until you’re an adult.”
Kansas City barbecue famously embraces a wide range of meats: Pork ribs, beef brisket, sausage, even turkey. But the heart, according to Gardner, is a dialed-in seasoning or rub. “Our barbecue spots are legendary for their sauces, but they live and die on their rubs,” she says.
Gardner’s ideal bite features smoke balanced by the texture of a good char, which honors meat that has been cooking for hours, if not days. “I prefer a bit more chew with my barbecue,” she says. “Fall-off-the-bone can start to feel like stew meat or short rib.”
Sweet-savory barbecue sauce is also a key feature of KC barbecue, but according to Gardner, “if your food is seasoned perfectly, you could ignore the sauce.” She prefers hers on the side, to dip to her heart’s content. “I do like a supplementary dip of sauce for certain places, but I also love it for fries and onion rings,” she says.
When it comes to experiencing the city’s finest barbecue, Gardner has strong opinions. “Barbecue is a food that takes patience, and the people who work day-to-day in these hard jobs against the elements—like smoke and fire—they deserve our appreciation,” says Gardner. We sat down with her to get the scoop on who rocks the best ribs, which spot serves her bucket-list-favorite sandwich, and more.
Ribs get a hearty dose of smoke at LC’s Bar-B-Q.David Robert Elliott
