Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue

Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue is hands down the most unique place we've visited on our BBQ tour. When you think of BBQ, you don't think fine dining, but Jack Stack turns this idea on its head. This is one well run operation.

They have 4 locations around the Kansas City area and chose their downtown location. Normally, we are turned off by places with more than one location because it often translates to inconsistency quality between locations but given it's rock solid reputation, I disregard my own preconceived notions.

Simply, the food was amazing. We ordered the sampler plate called Jack’s Best which featured one crown prime beef rib, baby back ribs, and beef burnt ends. To that we added, lamb ribs, pulled pork, cheesy corn and baked beans. Because we didn't fully understand what a crown prime beef rib was, we asked for a second for Nick. Picture this - a 10 to 12 oz piece of prime rib on a bone and that is what you are getting. It's huge!

All their meats are made using 90% hickory wood and 10% oak so the smoky flavor is unbelievable. The hickory gives the meat a sweet, smoky flavor, while the oak tempers the sweetness of the hickory. If you love hickory, you will enjoy every bite.

The lamb ribs that were divine.

Told you it was huge. It's a rib bigger than Nick's fist.

We got a tour of the whole operation from the kitchen manager, Meghan. She showed us the huge pit ovens they use and explained the cooking process. It was interesting to hear how they put the brisket, the fattiest of the meats, on the top shelf and let the juices drip and flavor the other meats. It was also fascinating to learn that from the moment the meat is taken out of the freezer, it takes 24 hrs of thawing and smoking until it finds your plate. Getting the tour was definitely the highlight of the evening, and Meghan was great!

The staff at Jack Stack are amazing - everyone from Missy our lovely waitress; James the other friendly waiter who just stopped by to chat; to Meghan, the kitchen manager who let us take up her time while she walked us through the whole operation.

Ratings:

Lamb Ribs - 9 - these were just "Wow" - only thing I can say is just get them.

Crown Prime Beef Ribs - 8.5 - unbelievably good, meat fell off the bone and smoky flavor made through 12 oz . all the way to the bone

Baby Back Ribs - 5 - a little dry and didn't match up to their cousins.

Burnt Ends - 6 - tasty, great smoky flavor, our batch included too many burnt bits.

Pulled Pork - 7.5 - great sweet BBQ taste, smoky flavor, best of all not overly saucy

Cheesy Corn - 6 - If you love cheese, you will LOVE this. Nick and I LIKE cheese but don't LOVE cheese so this didn't score highly with us.

Baked Beans - 4 - way too sweet for our liking.

Sauces - mild & hot sauces were amazing, sweet sauce was a little too sweet

Ambiance - 1 - It had white table cloths. This was NOT a hole-in-the-wall.

Overall - 7.5 - good food and even better service made for a great evening.

Quote:

Nick: "So when you and Anthony decided to do this, you should have thought about investing in shares of PEPTO. With the amount of BBQ you guys have eaten, their stock is going to soar."