Slap's BBQ — Restaurant in Kansas City

Typing this as I eat these ribs in the jeep…..submitted as I finish my ribs for breakfast.

I up and moved to Olathe on a whim two weeks ago. I wanted good bbq. Coming from CO, after 9 years…smoked meats is what I lacked in my life. With that being said, these were the RUDEST set of employees (not the cashier, she was so cute and sweet) I’ve ever encountered. For clarity, I moved to KS specifically because I missed southern hospitality. Though this ain’t the south, I was oober impressed by how happy and welcoming the people are here in KS. Slap’s was the FIRST place I encountered rudeness. HOWEVER(!) This dang food is excellent!! I was fully prepared to be p’d off with the quality of food given how deadpan and generally unwelcoming the staff was. To note, I scoped out “hole in the wall” places on purpose. I still wore my good heels there… I say all that to say, if you’re going to be that dang sour 45 minutes before closing (sorry yall..I didn’t know the 7pm closing was legitimate) the food BETTER BE GOOD! And it is! The prices felt more than fair for the amount of food you get. I do believe I only spent $20 plus tax for the pound of brisket, two sides and bread. (Two days worth of food for me alone). I got brisket and ribs. Both meats were seasoned to PERFECTION and ultra moist. Meme moist. Lol Not super impressed by the quality of the brisket itself (brisket lovers will understand..the meat was just thin with no visible smoke ring and very minimal fat. Still juicy…which is a feat.), but I’d order it again. The ribs, however? I’d travel. I’d DoorDash the $96 in taxes for these.😅 Suggestion?..unsolicited… The cheesy corn just needs something. It’s mostly cheese with corn. Not corn with cheese. And, yes, there’s a difference. Throw some heavy cream, black pepper and smoked paprika in that thang! I’m partial to cold potato dishes, but the warm salad was tasty. Slap’s definitely delivered.

As the place was closing, we ordered and took our food to-go…so I can’t really speak towards the “environment” other than to say the place is quaint, cute and clean. Seemed very communal outside.

I’ll assume this was just an off day for staff. Smile? We won’t come in for burnt ends after six again, scout’s honor!😅 But I...

After all the praise I've heard about this place, I left very disappointed and won't be returning.

First the good - The line moves very quickly and the food is already prepared so you're served quickly. I love that they have the bar right when you enter the door so you can start having a beer while you finish your time in line. Great planning! They also have a great beer selection. The baked potato casserole was fantastic. I highly recommend it. The beef polish sausage was very good. The spicy sauce was very good, though not a standout.

The disappointing - My first clue that I wasn't going to enjoy the meal was the lack of smoke aroma in the air. This was reflected in the lack of smoke flavor in the meat, particularly the sliced brisket which was dry and had just a faint smoke ring and very bland flavor - almost like it was steamed. I didn't care for the brisket AT ALL. Slaps is also pretty stingy on the brisket. I got all of three slices. The burnt ends were ok, but nothing special. They were undercooked (they call them "burnt ends" for a reason) and needed the spicy sauce to make them better. At least there was more smoke flavor in those. The regular sauce is extremely sweet. Sickly sweet. I'm glad I tried it before pouring it on my meat. I can't believe this is what is normally served. Awful. Every time I get barbecue, I order beans as a side. This was the FIRST time I couldn't finish the beans. Just like the sauce, they were sickly sweet. I was able to manage eating half of them just because I hate wasting food, but really, I was done after two bites. The gal behind the counter taking orders skipped my wife and I and took the order of the person behind us. We let her know she skipped us, but that just confused the rest of the crew behind the counter and when we tried to explain what was going on, they acted like we were bothering them and didn't want to listen. Amazingly we did get what we ordered, as did the couple behind us, but not without much confusion on their part.

Perhaps I expected too much but between the nasty sweet sauce and beans, and the lack of smoke flavor I won't be returning. My wife was left equally...

(From the weekend) I am basically a sponge when I go to a new city. I try to ask everyone for recommendations and their favorite spots to eat and drink. While I am no stranger to Kansas City, and have tried a number of their BBQ offerings, I was so thankful that the front desk staff at my hotel was adamant that we go to Slap's BBQ while we were in town.

Once we got into town, we were relaxing in our hotel, we grabbed a drink by the pool, got situated in our room, and then decided to go get supper. We rolled up at 6:55 PM and we’re greeted in the parking lot with the staff member to tell us that they were out of food and not taking any more customers. while I was extraordinarily saddened, I was happy to hear they would be open at 11 AM on Sunday. Needless to say we went back…

When we got there the line was probably 12 people deep and I knew I was willing to stick it out, but I heard someone talking about ordering online. I hopped on their website, put in my order, and my mom and I went across the street to enjoy a local coffee shop until our food was ready. Something like 15 minutes later we were able to walk back across the street, go directly to the pick up window, grab our food, and snag a table to dig in!

I knew I wanted to try the burnt ends and when I saw that I could get that as a combo with an additional meat and two sides, my mind was made up. I opted for the brisket, even though I would have loved to have tried a number of them, and the staff member at the hotel said their potato salad was the best and for my final choice I went with cheesy corn. The burnt ends and the brisket were perfectly tender. You could taste the smoke, and those burnt ends, still retained so much moisture and flavor. She was definitely right about the potato salad… I don’t know what in the world is in this, but you have to try it. The cheesy corn for me was a different story… I certainly wasn’t a fan and wished I would have opted for something else. I know, I was surprised as well. There were just so many other good sides available that I wish I would have tried. There were two sauces and both were...