Jones Bar-B-Q (Kansas City)

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Coordinates: 39°05′20″N 94°44′03″W / 39.08889°N 94.73405°W / 39.08889; -94.73405
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Jones Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas, owned and operated by Deborah and Mary Jones.

History[edit]

Deborah "Little" and Mary "Shorty" Jones are the daughters of Leavy and Juanita Jones, two of eight siblings raised in Kansas City.[1]: 120 [2][3] Leavy Jones quit school after the 7th grade, worked as an electrician, and moonlighted as a pitmaster at an African-American owned barbecue restaurant, Hezekiah's, on 10th Street in Kansas City.[1]: 120 [2][4] The sisters helped out part-time making their family's sausage recipe "since they were old enough to stand on a milk crate and help crank out links."[2] The sisters and their siblings worked at Hezekiah's on weekends growing up, and their brother Daniel eventually purchased it.[2] Deborah continued to work with her brother as an adult while also working full-time for the US Postal service. When Daniel died in the 1980s, Mary, then working full-time as a nurse, joined her, and they ran the business together.[2] They stayed on 10th Street until 2003, moved to 6th Street and stayed there until 2009, then downsized to a food cart on 12th Street[2] so they could focus on caregiving for their father, who had been injured in an automobile accident.[5]

In 2015, after their father died,[5] the sisters opened the restaurant at the current location, a former taco stand in a parking lot on Kaw Drive in an industrial section of Kansas City near railroad tracks.[2] The wood-fired smoker sits outside behind the stand.[2] Customers form a line outside to place their orders at a window.[2] The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 3 pm or until sold out;[3][6] they usually sell out by noon.[4]

As of 2016 The Kansas City Star considered them possibly the only Kansas City barbecue owned and operated by women pitmasters.[7][8][9] The sisters do not participate in the barbecue competition circuit.[10]

In 2018 they appeared on an episode of Steve Harvey's Steve in a segment titled "The Queens of Barbecue".[11][12]

In March 2019 the sisters and the barbecue were featured on the third season of American television series Queer Eye,[4] which was filmed in and near Kansas City.[13] They were nominated by Deborah's daughter, Izora, who told the show they had reopened a restaurant after having downsized to a food cart to help her pay for college.[13] Both they and the restaurant received a makeover, and they started bottling their sauce.[4] In the aftermath they had to put in a second barbecue pit to handle demand.[10] As of March 2019 they had not added staff, as they worried about hiring someone and then having to lay them off if demand fell.[10]

Offerings[edit]

Jones Bar-B-Q sells ribs, turkey, burnt ends, brisket, sausage, and sauce made with their father's secret recipe.[1]: 120 [2][14] They hand-grind and stuff the sausage, which as of 2001 was their top seller.[1]: 120  All meat is cooked pit-style over hickory logs.[10][15] When the Queer Eye show was renovating their restaurant, the sisters told them not to bother putting in an oven.[10]

Sauce[edit]

In the 2010s customers purchased the sauce informally from the restaurant until the sisters became overwhelmed by demand and production and stopped offering it as a separate item.[4] During the episode of the Queer Eye show, they were put into contact with a local bottler so they could sell and distribute their sauce.[4][16] The show appeared on March 15, and by March 28 they were reporting they had sold over 70,000 bottles.[10]

Reception[edit]

In 2001 Doug Worgul featured them in the afterword of The Grand Barbecue: A Celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of Kansas City Barbecue.[1]: 120  Worgul said the sisters' barbecue "represent[ed] an artisan approach that cannot be replicated in higher-volume barbecue restaurants" and calls the former taco stand, "the jointiest joint I've ever seen".[2] In 2016 Ardie Davis called it "old school", saying the barbecue is straightforward, not oversmoked, and not overtrimmed.[2][17]

In 2019 Jones Bar-B-Q's Coconut Pineapple sauce was named by Bloomberg News as one of their five favorite barbecue sauces.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Worgul, Doug (2001). The Grand Barbecue: A Celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of Kansas City Barbecue. Kansas City Star Books. ISBN 978-0-9709131-2-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wendholt Silva, Jill (August 30, 2016). "True pitmasters: The Jones sisters are rare gems in man's world". KansasCity.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Lu, Kathy (April 23, 2019). "What has life after 'Queer Eye' brought to Jones Bar-B-Q sisters? Business, fame, love". KansasCity.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Morabito, Greg (March 18, 2019). "'Queer Eye' Sends Jones Bar-B-Q Sauce Sales Through the Roof". Eater. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Terrell, Kenneth. "Barbecue Pitmaster Shares Tips on Being an Entrepreneur". AARP. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  6. ^ "Visit The Restaurant". Jones Bar-B-Q. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  7. ^ Silva, Jill (August 30, 2016). "Why female barbecue pitmasters are still a rarity in KC and beyond". Kansas City Star. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  8. ^ "You Can Now Buy The BBQ Sauce From The Jones Sisters As Seen On Netflix's 'Queer Eye'". Essence. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  9. ^ Williams, Corey (March 19, 2019). "This BBQ Sauce Is Flying off Shelves After 'Queer Eye' Made It Famous". Food & Wine. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Lynn, Samara (March 28, 2019). "Life after "Queer Eye": Interview with Deborah Jones, Co-Owner of Jones BBQ". Black Enterprise. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  11. ^ Midkiff, Sarah (March 17, 2019). "The Jones Sisters Got The Queer Eye Glow Up This Weekend & Sold Out Of Their Famous BBQ Sauce". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "Secrets of the 'Queens of BBQ' Kansas City Smoke Sisters". IMDb. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Bradley, Laura (March 20, 2019). "Queer Eye Update: The Jones Sisters' Barbecue Business Is Booming". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Glor, Jeff (October 15, 2018). "Pitmaster sisters smoking out the competition in Kansas City's barbecue scene". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  15. ^ Shively, Lindsay (March 15, 2019). "Jones BBQ featured in new season of Netflix's 'Queer Eye'". KSHB. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  16. ^ LaConte, Stephen. "The Jones Sisters From "Queer Eye" Are Selling Their BBQ Sauce, And Here's Where You Can Buy It". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  17. ^ Harrison, Olivia (March 15, 2019). "The Jones Sisters From Queer Eye Bottle Their Famous BBQ Sauce — Here's How To Buy It". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  18. ^ Kronsberg, Matthew (June 18, 2019). "Five Barbecue Sauces That Will Test Your Regional Allegiances". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.

External links[edit]

39°05′20″N 94°44′03″W / 39.08889°N 94.73405°W / 39.08889; -94.73405

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