The UT Tyler
Parliamentary Debate Team (the nerdy thing that Carver and I are a part of) consists of a group of hardworking students, constantly pushing to improve our craft and
be successful in the national circuit in which we compete. With the amount of dedication we give to
the event, we often feel we deserve a reward, generally in the form
of ridiculously good culinary experiences.
We travel to various places in the US, such as Kansas City, St. Louis,
San Diego, Portland, and many others, and they all have different restaurants
with amazing food for us to try. After each tournament, I will dedicate a blog
post to detailing the food tours from various cities. The first city is Kansas City, Missouri.
From July 7th
to the 13th, our debate team took part in the Midwest Parliamentary Debate Cooperative, hosted by UT Tyler’s own Patrick Muenks. If you do not know, Kansas City sports a huge
array of restaurants that specialize in different things, all of which are
worth trying at least once. Preferably,
however, they should be enjoyed multiple times.
Our first stop was
Arthur Bryant’s, one of the original joints to make Kansas City famous for its
BBQ. Known to be the “King of Ribs” in
Kansas City, Arthur Bryant’s has become one of most nationally recognized
restaurants for BBQ enthusiasts. Renowned
author Calvin Trillin called it “…the single best restaurant in the world…” A
bold statement, but perhaps accurate to what it offers its customers. There is even an episode of Food Wars dedicated to the ribs at Arthur Bryant's. I personally had the burnt ends the first
night I was in Kansas City, and they were outrageously delicious. Definitely, a good start to the KC debate
team food tour.
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| Chicken Spiedini with Garozzo and Diabolo Sauce |
The next night, we
decided to go for Italian food, another famous genre of food in Kansas
City. The best restaurant in town for
Italian is Garozzo’s, located in the Columbus Park neighborhood in Kansas
City. The restaurant carries with it a
feeling that Frank Sinatra hangs out with the staff, showing the Italian
heritage of both the restaurant and the entire neighborhood. Their chicken Spiedini dish is well known to
culinary enthusiasts, which the prestigious Zagat National Restaurant Survey
called …”among the best dishes in town.”
This place is a regular stopping point for the UT Tyler debate team
every time we visit the city.
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| Gates' Spicy Sausage |
The next restaurant on
the food tour is Gates, another famous barbecue joint in Kansas City. Out of all the restaurants we visited, this
place definitely provides the best service to its customers. The moment you walk in the door, counter
personnel call for your order, even if a dozen other people are in front of
you. They receive special training with
the cooks and other workers to keep track of each order without missing a
beat. The only thing more impressive
than the service is the spicy sausage, the burnt ends, and the ridiculously
good barbecue sauces they offer. Another
must have for the Kansas City barbecue tour.
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| Oklahoma Joe's Burnt Ends and Beef Brisket Plate |
Out of all of the food joints
in Kansas City, top prize goes to Oklahoma Joe’s. There is often a debate over which barbecue
joint reigns supreme in Kansas City, but OK Joes is the undisputed champion of
consistently strong barbecue goodness.
Famous for their ribs, burnt ends, and beef brisket, Oklahoma Joe’s
makes the other barbecue restaurants in the city seem obsolete. You do not have to take my word for it
either. Anthony Bourdain, host of the
Travel Channel’s No Reservations,
named Oklahoma Joe’s one of the 13 places you should eat at before you die. It is the recipient of dozens of national
barbecue awards, and barbecue fanatics consider it across the entire
country. Watch them make the burnt ends
here; it is amazing!
Kansas City is
obviously a favorite tournament location for the UT Tyler debate team, because
the food spread is phenomenal. Next trip
to KC will be in September, and these places will hopefully be revisited!
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