I had lunch today at the recently opened Dickey's Barbecue Pit located at the new Tiffany Springs shopping complex in Kansas City North. Dickey's is out of Dallas, TX and was founded in 1941. According to their website, they have been franchising out for the last 8 years and have doubled their size since then. There is another location in Overland Park, KS and one coming soon to Parkville, MO. As you can see by the photo, it's not a huge place and they probably have about 25 to 30 tables.
They offer 4 different sizes of barbecue sandwiches with your choice of pulled pork, sliced or chopped brisket, ham, turkey breast, chicken breast, polish sausage or hot links. Pork ribs are available as well. Prices range from $3.99 to $6.59 per sandwich. There are also meat plates available ranging from $4.25 to $7.50.
Sides are extra or can be purchased in a combo deal with your sandwich or plate. Sides offered are waffle fries, coleslaw, caesar salad, fried onion tanglers, grean beans, potato salad, bbq beans, jalapeno beans, fried okra, mac & cheese and baked potato casserole.
The restaurant is new and is decorated with your typical wood and metal decor. When you enter you line up, place your order and move down to pay and pick up your order. It is similar to the process at Oklahoma Joe's but was a little slower. It looked like they were still trying to work out their ordering kinks. I noticed all the meat was stored in a glass door warmer wrapped in plastic wrap. As you place your order, they remove the meat from the warmer and slice/chop to order. You then step to your right and order your sides. Then a final step to your right to choose your drink size and pay. This whole process took about 10 to 12 minutes from door to seat. I will say I was there in the heart of the lunch hour at 12:25pm.
I ordered the sliced brisket on bun, side of bbq beans and a large drink. The total was $7.85. After paying, I walked over to the condiment counter where they offered 3 different sauces (Hot & Spicy, Original and Sweet.) I took a sample of all 3 to try.
The brisket was tender and sliced fairly thin. It had a smoke flavor but I really didn't notice much of a smoke ring. There was not a lot of noticeable bark on the meat but that could be due to the thin slices and that there wasn't a lot of surface for the bark to adhere to once sliced.
The bbq beans were average. They were not sweet as most places sell them here. There was a hint of smoke flavor to them though.
All 3 sauces were thin and sweet. I think I like the Hot & Spicy the best. You can taste the sweet and tangy and then the bite of the heat hits you. I usually like my sauce just a little thicker than this but I still enjoyed it. As for the other two, the Original had the same sweet and tangy taste without the heat. I found the Sweet to be pretty similar to the Original. All 3 sauces were kept in warmers on the counter.
Overall, I thought the food was good and I will return to try the ribs and pulled pork before I make a final decision. The staff was friendly and the restaurant was very clean. The options of eating barbecue in the Northland are somewhat limited but I would place Dickey's in the upper part of my list.
BBQ at Kaufman Stadium
The Royal's had their employee picnic last night at the Stadium. I was expecting hotdogs but was surprised that we were served barbecue.
In the Outfield Experience, they sell barbecue which is actually smoked on the premises (I still need to verify this) by Aramark. I have been tempted a couple of times to go out there on my break and buy some. The high price has deterred me this season so far.
Before a rousing game of softball on the playing field, they served us ribs and chicken along with sides. The ribs were okay and were slathered in a sweet, mild sauce. The chicken had very little smoke or spice flavor. I was not impressed. Too bad Gates is no longer in the stadium. I guess I'll save my money and not buy any barbecue out there this year.
