We can’t think of a more fitting place for the world’s first barbecue museum to open: right here in KC.
The Museum of BBQ will hold its grand opening on Saturday, April 12 on the second floor of the shops at Crown Center (2450 Grand Blvd, Suite 231, KCMO).
“The Museum of BBQ is a feast for your senses,” says founder Jonathan Bender, an Emmy Award-winning writer who has covered the barbecue scene for more than 15 years. “Get ready to immerse yourself in the smoke and sizzle of the world of barbecue.”
Alex Pope, chef and owner of the Local Pig, is also a partner in the Museum of BBQ.
Recently named one of Time Out’s best new things to do in the world, the highly anticipated immersive Museum of BBQ walks visitors through the elements of barbecue and the main American regions of barbecue. An oversized door resembling a Southern Pride smoker door begins the journey into the Museum of BBQ.
The first five installations (meat, rub, wood & fire, smoke, sauce) show visitors how meat becomes barbecue through interactive activities and exhibits:
- Identify butcher cuts by putting together the pig puzzle, pose with a butcher’s apron or get tips and tricks at a listening station featuring Prairie Fresh ambassadors in the Meat room.
- There’s a spice guessing game in the Rub room before checking out different types of smokers and wood in the Wood & Fire room.
- Play the smoke ring toss in the Smoke room before you get ‘Lost in the Sauce’ in a room brought to you by Kansas City-based Sike Style.
In the final five installations (Carolinas, Memphis, Bean Pit, Texas, and Kansas City), visitors get to travel across America to experience the wide world of barbecue variations. Each regional room has a host of information about the history, culture and barbecue style that define a given place.
There’s no shortage of photo-perfect moments. Visitors can pose with a championship mustard belt, a nod to the mustard-based sauce featured in central South Carolina, in the Carolinas room before getting your ribs tickled with barbecue-themed dad jokes in Memphis. Or, guests can take a dip in the Bean Pit before learning how to order brisket in Texas and the legend of burnt ends in Kansas City.
As always, the museum’s gift shop is stocked with a curated selection of barbecue sauces and rubs from across the country with a special emphasis on the four featured regions (Memphis, Carolinas, Texas, and Kansas City). The Museum of BBQ also carries meat spritzes, brines, injections, butcher paper for wrapping brisket and more.
“Kansas City has such a rich history of barbecue,” says Bender. “This is the perfect place to bring the world’s first barbecue museum to life.”
Read Kansas City magazine’s Best KC Barbecue list here.
