The country’s first ever barbecue museum made its home at Crown Center in Kansas City on April 12.
Kansas City has been an epicenter of barbecue for many years, dating back to the 1900s. There has been a generational debate over which restaurant has the best barbecue in Kansas City, names like Gates, Q39, Arthur Bryant and many more may come to mind.
In this interactive and self lead tour, viewers learn about the history of barbecue in Kansas City and other places that influenced the creation of barbecue.
“There’s so many people that barbecue is a huge, important part of their life,” Jonathan Bender, the museum’s founder, said. “I thought Kansas City made a ton of sense as the place to host this because it had this rich tradition.”
Kansas City holding the first and currently only spot for having a barbecue museum reflects greatly on how Missouri has had a significant impact in the world of barbecue.
This museum highlights many influences across the country such as Memphis and Texas, showing that some of the barbecue restaurants in these cities got a lot of their methods and spices from people immigrating from across the world to Kansas City.
This highlights how Kansas City’s culture is a rich patchwork of diverse communities. Even locals visiting the museum can agree, it serves as a major hub for barbecue history and knowledge.
Terry McBride, a citizen visiting the museum as well said “[The museum] gives insight on why the BBQ is so big over here. There’s no other place in the world where you can get information like this.”
This museum will continue to lengthen Kansas City’s legacy of barbecue by educating people on its roots and where barbecue is headed in the future.
The tickets to Museum of BBQ is located at 2450 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108. Tickets are $11 before taxes.
Swrh5@umsystem.edu
