Restaurant Guide and "Pigging Out and About" Blog

Pigging Out and About - Blog

About Us - Chris and Mike

We both have a deep love for all things pork, have day jobs and work as Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) judges. We also work with the Kansas Pork Association to find out what restaurants in Kansas have the best pork dishes. For the skeptics: Yes, the Kansas Pork Association does pay for our efforts. Each meal we eat on the road is paid for by Kansas Pork Producers and their checkoff. We won't get rich off this gig anytime soon but we love pork and that's why we do it. On that note, we invite you to ride along. We have a lot of pork to eat and if you’re lucky, one of these places will be close to your house! For more info about us, check out our first blog post "About the Authors."

Newton- Le Jay's

Posted 1/31/12


Not where I'd expect to find great BBQ. How about you?

Earlier this fall, while in Newton visiting some friends, Icame across some high quality BBQ where I least expected it-so I thought Ishould share! We ended up at “Le J’s Bar-B-Que”, located in the Chisolm TrailShopping Center on the south edge of Newton. If you’re not familiar with theshopping center, it is west side of I-135 on the far south side of Newton, nearthe exit for 36th street.

Once inside Le Jays, you will likely find an engaging,outgoing guy behind the counter serving up some of the best KC style BBQ I’vefound in that region! The guy behind the counter is none other than the ownerof the place, Jeffery Love. Jeff has a hand in nearly all the food you eat atLe J’s, as he comes in at 4:00 A.M. each work day day to start the meat smokingand to make the beans, potato salad, cole slaw, and of course the sauce allfrom scratch before he opens for business.

Seriously? How did this get here?

Le J’s is BBQ dining in its simplest form, which I like.There is a fridge with bottled drinks and a menu that is basic enough to notconfuse you, but gets you everything you need and/or want! I had pork ribs,pulled pork, and beans while there and thought that all three were very good!My final judgment of an eatery usually comes down to me asking myself if I’d goback again, and in this case I can most definitely say yes to that! 

- Mike

Hoxie- Indian Country Cafe

Posted 12/09/11



Western Kansas is whatfellow blogger Mike and I jokingly refer to as a “barbecue desert.” This is afictitious term relating to an actual term “food desert.” The term technically meansanyplace more than ten miles from a grocery store.

Cheese! More to come, I promise.
In the case of good barbecue, the desert is much larger inwestern Kansas. In fact the distance is probably closer to one hundred milesthan it is to ten miles. One rare barbecue oasis can be found in the small townof Hoxie, Kansason the high plains of Sheridan County.

My friends Clint and Jessica Milliman introduced me to the Indian Country Café and a pork lovers delight, the PorkyFries! Porky Fries are a dish not for the weak of heart – literally. I fear tothink how many delicious calories are in this dish, in fact, I would suggestyou bring a friend because this is a dish certainly big enough for two!

The best thing since sliced bread. 

Porky fries start out as a delicious bed of perfectlyseasoned french fries. Next they add a layer of smoked pulled pork and then thewhole thing is topped off with a generous amount of melted cheese. As if thatisn’t enough, you get your choice of additional toppings including plenty ofbarbecue sauce, hot sauce and sour cream.

Finger lickin' good. 

The restaurant, which takes its name from the local highschool mascot, is located in an old grocery store building, so seating isplentiful and hometown pride is evident. If you ever find yourself lost and wandering in the western Kansas barbecue desert,just point your taste buds towards the Indian Country Café. Your hunger willcertainly be quenched with an order of Porky Fries!

Until next time- Swine and Dine!

Chris

Kansas City- Johnny's BBQ

Posted 11/30/11


Johnny’s BBQis one of those places in Kansas City I think is a bit underrated- to say theleast. When a person asks the question “so where’s the best BBQ in KC?” usuallythe answers involve the old stand-bys of KC BBQ such as “Gates” or “ArthurBryant’s”. Johnny’s usually doesn’t come up until further down the list, butthat’s really not how it should as far I’m concerned!


Johnny’s is growing fast in popularity these days,somewhat thanks to being featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives”on Food Network, but mostly because simple word of mouth carries a lot ofweight.

Johnny’s is serving up some of the best BBQ in all ofKansas City, and has two locations to serve you. The original one is located at5959 Broadmoor Street in Mission, KS (east on Johnson Drive from I-35) and the second,newer location is out in western Olathe at 1375 W Highway 56 (just west on oldHwy. 56 from KS Hwy 7).


On my most recent trip, I had a 2 meat sandwich with porksausage and pulled pork with some of Johnny’s ever-popular seasoned fries.There is not much I can say about the quality of the meat in the sandwich, orthe quality of their smoked meats in general, except that they rank among thebest in all of Kansas City! The pulled pork has lots of “bark” in it, so youreally get the smoke flavor, and the meat is as tender as it can be. Thesausage is smoky, lean, and juicy, and the ribs are out-of-this-world tendertoo! The sides are 2nd to none, and the atmosphere and service areexcellent too.

If you really want to experience the upper crust of KCBBQ and don’t want to fight the crowds at some of the bigger name places, butstill want a nice, clean place to sit down and have some BBQ, then Johnny’sshould be on your radar any time you are in or around the Johnson County area.

- Mike