The sampling tour kicked off Sunday--Mother's Day--at RJ's Bob-Be-Que in Mission, Kansas.
Overall, I'd give RJ's ****** (six out of 10 stars). Not terrible, not the best thing I've ever had.
Off the bat, I was disappointed when getting these salad dressing packets. Want to get on my good side? Give me a side of good, tasty, not-too-thick foodservice Ranch. TFitch and I often comment on a restaurant's ranch. ("Mmm, this is good ranch.") I realize how fat this is, but it's the truth. While the Marzetti's dressing was just fine, it didn't add any stars to RJ's review. However, the salad itself was pretty delicious.. Craisins and dill pickles were included. Random, but pretty delicious. It actually inspired TFitch and I to add Craisins to our salad tonight at home.
In terms of atmosphere, I'd say 7. I like dive BBQ joints (but am a little leery of one place my bro and his GF want to take us to. They swear it has delicious food but they were shut down temporarily because of rat poop in the smoker. Ew.) RJs was a good environment. Few things, though:
1. We went on Mother's Day. We waited about 10 minutes for our table, which wasn't horrible. However, we wanted to sit on the nice, big patio, but they insisted it was full. Funny thing was no one was out there.
2. It was a little warm in the place. Naturally cold-blooded, I'm not often warm. I guess those smokers and grills do kick out some heat.
3. It was a bit smoky in the restaurant. Not nasty Marlboro smokey, but BBQ smoke smoky. I just wanted to open a window to cool down and air out the place. Overall, not terrible but enough for me to notice.
4. Just a little cramped. As much as I am sure the table next to us was full of nice people and I was fascinated trying to figure out their family dynamics, I did not want to spend Mother's Day with them.
I ordered the Memphis Po Boy with Chicken for my main meal. TFich ordered it with pork. I thought it was decent. I had to eat it with a fork because the cole slaw made the bun too soggy. (But you could tell it was a good tasting bun.) The chicken was pretty good, some parts were a little burned, but good chicken overall. I substituted cheesy corn bake for the french fries. It was weird but good. It was essentially Velveeta cheese with corn with chunks of ham in it (which were little morsels of deliciousness). Didn't taste much "baked," though. Feedback on the cheesy corn bake was mixed, but it didn't keep me from eating my condiment cup of it. I'd give my meal a 6.
My brother got the three meat sammich and couldn't stop raving about the chicken. His girlfriend got the pork butt burger (true story--what they're known for). We all took a pull of it. It was okay. Kind of weird, but it was exactly what you'd think it would be. Ground pork butt formed into a hamburger patty. She wasn't a fan of this for her main meal.
We ordered a slab of ribs for the table for everyone to try. I was not impressed with the ribs. They were burned and dry. TFitch makes much better ribs in his smoker at home. I have two ribs a try but just wasn't impressed. I'd give the ribs a 2.
Our bill for two people came to nearly $50, which I thought was a little expensive. This is with Diet Cokes to drink (no alcohol). However, we put the ribs on our ticket, which was $15.
One selling point for RJs is they sell Bernadette's Cupcakes and Cookies (and if you're a mom you got one free Sunday! Sucks for me.) Bernadette made my friend Rachel's wedding cake and I hired her for a cupcake order some years ago for my grandma's 80th birthday party. They're tasty.
So, that's my review of RJ's BBQ in Mission, Kansas. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, so be sure and check out Guy Fieri's review. And check back soon for a review from another infamous KC BBQ joint.
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