Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
At first glace, the first thing that someone notices is the gas station that is attached to this restaurant. It is common for restaurants to be attached to gas stations in the Midwest, especially Kansas City. But this story about Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que does not begin with the first gas station that sold barbecue. This story begins with a couple, Jeff and Joy Stehney finding their passion about making their own barbecue. The Stehney attended a barbecue convention in 1990, and bought a competition-style smoker and afterwards, they gathered a few friends who formed a team. This team is called "Slaughterhouse Five".
The Slaughterhouse five begin winning several different competitions by selling smoked meats. After a few competitions, they developed a good reputation about making a certain style of barbecue that was favored over others. Once they built this reputation, they began catering to special events such as weddings, retirements, and sporting events.
The restaurant idea took off after a competition in 1995, when they met an owner of Oklahoma's Joe's Smoker Company. After meeting the owner, Joe Don Davidson, the three decided to move towards a direction and the Joe's Barbecue and Catering opened in the mid-1995. A few months later, a new opportunity presented itself to Stehneys. Down from their house on 47th Avenue and Mission Road in Kansas City, an old gas station and convenience store was closing. The couple enjoyed the idea of buying this old store and opening their business in this old convenient store because how close it was to home.
