So, I know my restaurant reviews tend to be on the positive side. I am sorry; I just really like food. I have definitely had my share of less than great restaurant experiences, but I try to focus on the positive. I know that does not always make for exciting reading, but I feel it’s important to try to find the good in even a bad experience. Even if for no other reason than to feel better about the money I just spent. I thought I had a good “bad” one, though. I tried out a place called “A Little BBQ Joint.” I mean, already it was ripe for some great material about how generic the name is. A name like that can have one of two effects. If the restaurant has plenty of character of its own, it can add to the character by assigning a generic name to a unique experience. Or, it can just make a forgettable restaurant even more forgettable. I was all ready to write about how A Little BBQ Joint in Independence, MO falls into the latter category. Thankfully, though, and perhaps unfortunately for the “exciting factor” of my blog, there is much more to the story of my experience with this place.
The first time I went to Independence’s “A Little BBQ Joint,” it was during the COVID shutdown, so they were just doing curbside pickup. Mind you, the place’s curb was about thirty minutes from my curb. I got there to pick up my order and saw they had outdoor seating. I can be a bit of an idiot sometimes, though and stuck to my initial plan to take it back home with me. It was just me, as the family was out of town. This may have played into my poor decision, as I always feel a little self continuous eating alone at a restaurant. That is on me.
So, I got the food home and went to dig in. I had ordered the two meat combo plate. If you know me at all, you know what two meats I chose: some sliced brisket and burnt ends. These two options are typically a good way to get to know a barbecue joint real fast. Brisket is hard to pull off well, as it is high risk, high reward. It is so easy to screw up a brisket; I do it all the time. So, it is a quick litmus test for a bbq joint. If they do it well, then you have found something special. On the other hand, burnt ends are easy to get at least passable. They are sort of the bottom end of the test. If a place cannot pull off decent burnt ends, then you need to move on.
A Little BBQ Joint did not pass either end of the test. Both the brisket and burnt ends were dry and completely lacking in any smoke flavor. The bark on the burnt ends may have had good flavor at one time, but they were so dry they were almost impossible to eat. The brisket’s juices were completely gone and the meat fell apart as I picked it up. Brisket needs to keep its form, because that is how it keeps in its favor. That is why I typically do not condone chopping brisket. Here, it was not chopped but may as well have been.
Fortunately, the sides held up better during the drive home, which kept the trip from being a total bust. I went with three sides: bbq egg rolls, cheesy corn, and warm potato salad. Two of the three were pretty great and the third was terrible. I will start with the good stuff. The bbq egg rolls came with a wonton dipping sauce. It was a delicious, creamy concoction that helped balance the heavy flavor of the rolls themselves. Inside the rolls was a sauce called “Mad Housewife.” I am not a fan of the sauce’s name, but it gave the filling some kick and the meat kept it from being too runny. I would have liked a better veggie sauce balance, but there were some peppers and onions in there. Overall, they were a great side that showed some creativity.
The potato salad was the highlight, though. I have had warm, German style potato salad before, but this was nothing like that. This was more like the typical salad you would get with bbq, except that it was hot. It was thick and creamy with a heavy, rich flavor. It was comfort food at its most comforting and made the trip down to Independence worth it, all on its own. Which is good, because the final side I tried was an absolute disappointment.
Since moving to Kansas City, I have fallen in love with cheesy corn. Anytime it is on the menu (and it is on the menu at pretty much every barbecue restaurant in KC) I have to try it. Though there has definitely been a wide range in the quality of the dish from restaurant to restaurant, I have never not liked it. Until I had the cheesy corn at A Little BBQ Joint, that is. I knew something was amiss as soon as I laid eyes on it. It was completely white, except for the yellow of the kernels. To me, this made it clear there was little in the way of added flavor, so it was just cheese and corn. One bite confirmed this; no flavor outside of the cheese itself. I took a few more bites to give it its due shot, but each one was bland and I moved on.
Overall, this was a big miss. Perfect fodder for a negative food blog. Time to move on. As I said, though, that is not the end of my experience with A Little BBQ Joint. I could not help but feel I had not given them a fair chance. After all, barbecue is meant to be enjoyed fresh off the heat source. As soon as you remove it from the heat it starts to lose everything that makes it great. So, when a co-worker from independence suggested that this hometown bbq spot was actually a really great place to eat, I decided I had to give it another shot before rendering a verdict. So, I waited for a good opportunity.
That opportunity came months later. Things had started opening back up and dine in was a thing again. My wife and I were checking out a flea market in the south part of Kansas City and were getting hungry. I started to look at restaurants nearby, but nothing was jumping out at me. Then, I remembered A Little BBQ Joint. Independence was not far from where we were and if you squinted at Google Maps, it was sort of on the way home, so we decided it was time for me to give this spot a second try. Two things could have come of this and either way it would have made for a good story. Either the second experience would not be any better than the first and I would have a good negative review in the hopper, if I felt my blog was becoming too positive. Or, we would have ourselves a redemption story.
You can probably surmise from the title of this blog and my opening comments how it went. The second time was the charm in this situation. The big difference was actually being able to eat at the restaurant. The difference was immediately obvious upon stepping foot inside the building. The joint had a great, small town vibe to it with lots of local sports memorabilia and some truly interesting art. Tbe light fixtures above each booth were converted old spray paint guns. The only downside to eating there was the aging booth seats. They could go for a refresh in that department. Everything else about being inside the building was a great experience.
It was when we got the food, though, that the true difference really hit home. Now, I made a conscious decision to not do a direct comparison, so I did not order the exact same thing. This time I went with a sandwich instead of a meat tray and I stayed well clear of the cheesy corn. I definitely had to get that potato salad again, but this time I paired it with a more traditional bbq side: cole slaw. The slaw, however, like the potato salad, was hardly traditional. It was a red cabbage, vinegar based slaw with some serious kick. At first, I was disappointed as I typically like my cabbage salad thick and creamy. However, the flavor was so on point, the minimalism of this dish worked. I also got the bbq egg rolls again because I really wanted my wife to try them. So, we chowed down on the rolls, while we waited for the entrees to come.
The sandwich that I went with was called the Mad Hog. It jumped off the menu at me immediately when I saw it had “Smoked and grilled pork loin.” Pork loin is not something I typically associate with bbq, but it was basically like really thick cut bacon, much like pork belly bacon, but much less fatty. It was spiced and cooked so well though that it was still saturated with flavor and juices. Putting it back on the grill after smoking it was a brilliant move, as it gave the slices a beautiful crisp to the outside and trapped in the awesome smoke flavor, which for me is a requisite for any good barbecue. This along with the horseradish cheese and aioli made for a delicious sandwich that was the polar opposite of the meat combo from my previous trip.
I would like to tell you what my wife ordered, but to be honest I do not remember. I also do not remember how she felt about the bbq egg rolls. I feel like maybe this is an indicator I need to pay a little more attention to her when we are on dates; I don’t know. When I have some good bbq in front of me, though, it is hard to focus on other things. Marital insights aside, this second trip was a complete success. It would not give me the negative review I thought I needed, but it made for a fantastic redemption story. I do not know how often I will make the trek back down to Independence just for some barbecue, when we have Jousting Pigs ten minutes away. However, I am glad that I did give them another shot. If you are ever near Independence and are beginning to get a bit hungry, you should definitely try them out. Just make sure you have the time to sit down and enjoy it and whatever you do, do not take it to go.
The “B”eer Side.
On my first trip to A Little BBQ Joint, I also stopped off at an Independence brewery called Apex Aleworks. I had been wanting to try them for a while and took the opportunity. Beer keeps on a car trip much better than barbecue does. I grabbed a six pack of their Voodoo U Double Wit Beer; an 8.3 percenter that turned out to pack a mean punch. It gave me a great first impression of Apex and I have been back several times since. On my second trip to the Independence barbecue spot, though, I got to sample what they had on hand. It was actually a pretty impressive selection and I had trouble choosing just one. I went with a hazy IPA from an Independence brewery called “3 Trails”. It was a good barbecue beer as it had plenty of hops and some fruity notes up front. I always appreciate a local spot carrying the local breweries on their beer list. Also, as far as breweries go, Independence, MO is two for two with me; so good job there!
Eatin' to Know You, KC 