American Way Smokehouse - Kansas City BBQ — Restaurant in Independence

We went today, and honestly, this was the second worst BBQ I’ve ever had—and I’ve had a LOT. This is also not Kansas City BBQ, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find it here.

The beans had an odd flavor and were lukewarm. My “toasted” bread was cold. The potato salad was just bad. My husband’s chicken was so dry it was not edible. It’s disappointing, because we love good BBQ and we love this antique mall—so we were hopeful this would become our go-to spot when visiting. Sadly, we won’t be back for the food.

One more thing—while reading reviews, I noticed what seems like a suspicious 5-star review from Annalyn Keith. All of her other reviews are in Arizona, where this company is based, and she claimed the meal was “life changing.” 🤣 Come on—it’s not even close. If you’re going to post reviews, at least make them believable. It feels dishonest to pad ratings with fake feedback.

UPDATE: reply to owner

Since the owner has replied to my review and there’s no way to reply to them, I am updating my review.

First off, I was not “offended” by anyone or anything. I simply did not like the food. I, as well as my husband did not like the food, at all.

This isn’t personal and just to set the record straight, I do NOT own a restaurant, and am not friends with or affiliated with anyone that does. I do however eat out at least 1-2 times a day (yes, a LOT) so my review comes from my experience eating out and comparing it to other BBQ joints. The food simply wasn’t good. When they brought our food to the table, the chicken looked like white meat, it was really white and dry. We even asked the guy who brought the chicken if they gave him white by mistake. He looked puzzled and said he didn’t think so. He was a blonde hair guy. The guy who took our order had short curly hair and looked like he might be biracial. Not 100% sure. Just sharing this to “prove” we were actual customers. We even shopped at the mall right after and the lady checking us out asked if we had tried the bbq and I told her yes, she asked if we liked it, and I told her not really. My husband also had a photo of his food. It wouldn’t let him upload it when posting the review.

As for the whole conservative thing, I have no idea why that was even mentioned lol. Since when does the word “American” mean any particular party. That’s just funny. All political parties are American. So trying to turn this into something political is really weird.

Anyhow, hopefully the owner sees this reply. I’m sorry but the food just wasn’t good. And that is 100% my truth and our experience eating there on Sat. Oh by the way just another point to “prove” we were there, the antique appraisal guy was there sitting under the St Joe Stockyard sign that’s in the corner. I can also show my bank statements showing the $40 we spent there and the $30 we spent at the mall. We visit the mall several times a month and have spent $100s there. We are REAL actual customers and my review was based on our actual experience there and my thoughts...

Overall this is a must try. Their sauces are house, spicy, and xtra spicy. They are a little on the sweet side for me but still enjoyable. Each has its own distinct flavor profile. They have a wide variety of bottled sodas from Polly Pop, IBC, and Sprecher and a self serve soda fountain with the normal selections available. They also have limited bottled and canned beer available as well. They even offer hand made desserts to go along with their regular menu items. We tried the 3 meat plate and added an extra side of coleslaw. We ordered brisket, sausage, and burnt ends. The Sausage was a kielbasa and very flavorful and even still juicy after being sliced into 1/2-1/4” coins. The brisket was very tender yet not too fatty or moist and had a fair amount of bark with excellent smoke flavor served in a competition style thick slice. The burnt ends were a similar experience cut into about 1.5” squares. All three meats were served with no sauce. The mac and cheese was very good with what appeared and tasted to be a white cheddar cheese. The beans were good as well, not the normal syrup thick style you see a-lot around town but a more soupy mix of beans and various meats. Slaw was not a traditional slaw either as it has a pink tone sauce that was very surprising as much as it was tasty. We also sampled the all beef jalapeño sausage afterwards which was also very tasty with a good kick of spice. The chocolate chip cookies were soft and thin about the size of a softball round and very good, reminded me of my grandmas. The portions and price points are very good. They also have a sauce bar of various sauces including their own bbq selections. Pickles (dill coins, dill spears, buttered coins), onions (raw and pickled), and pickled jalapeños were also self serve at the sauce bar. Tables and eating area swept and kept well clean. Everything was very good and it was an enjoyable experience overall. Not to mention it’s attached to the Merchant Square Antique mall as well so go check that stuff out too if you need to walk off some of the yummy food afterwards! Plenty of parking available and the staff were very nice and helpful. If anything is wrong they will fix it no problem and they welcome...

First and last time here. The food is NOT good. I got the smoked chicken with baked beans and chips. I asked for dark meat chicken but got white meat. The toasted bread was cold. The chicken was very dry and cold. The beans were cold and didn’t taste good at all. But lucky for me the bag of chips were great. I wanted the 2 meat plate but my options were chicken, pulled pork and sausage. I don’t like pulled pork or sausage. If I wanted brisket, burnt ends or ribs it was an additional charge. That’s frustrating. Overall not at all impressed with this place. Over priced for the poor quality food.

Update: the owner replied and I can’t reply to them so I’ll do it here. I have a picture of the food you served me. If that’s dark meat then you really overcooked it and dried it out because it’s white. But regardless it was DRY and bad flavor. You said you don’t remember seeing me..? There are over 500,000 people in KCMO I don’t see how you’d remember me lol But I can send you the picture and proof of purchase if you need that. My order was for dine in and I don’t remember seeing you either. Just posting my experience with your company and food. I’m not bashing just stating an opinion based on my experience. And thanks for the chicken sandwich offer but no thanks. It wasn’t just the chicken that was bad. The entire COLD...