And this little piggy squealed all the way home….

S.L.A.P.’s BBQ, which is an acronym for Squeal Like A Pig, is in downtown  Kansas City, KS.   They are located where the old Sophie’s Catering & Deli was at 5th & Central Avenue, and has only been open a few months.  They have counter service with a small number of tables to eat at, or you can get it to go.

This is a bright, clean restaurant with very helpful and nice people working there.  They have a small parking lot, along with street parking.  There is a sign on the door that states they are open Monday through Saturday from 11 AM–until they run out.  Their telephone message states they usually have food until about 1:30 in the afternoon. 

We got there on a Thursday about 12:15 PM, and they appeared to still have everything.  From what we understand, they do sell out of food quite often, so it would be smart to show up there right at 11 AM, especially on busier days.

The meats that could be purchased by the pound were sausage, beef brisket, turkey and pork.  The pork was $12.95 lb, and the beef brisket was $17.95 lb.  The sausage and turkey price per pound fell in between those two.

Three of our family members tried their food, and we got the sampler platter for $19.99.  It included turkey, pulled pork, beef brisket and sausage chunks.  Also included were six slices of Wonder bread, and two of their large sides, which amounted to about one cup.  We chose baked beans and coleslaw for our side items.

For an additional $3.50, we added three pork ribs, which were really, really small.   We also added burnt ends, which consisted of ten pieces, for another $3.50.  They did have chicken, but only leg quarters.  Those can only be purchased as part of a meal.  The chicken is not offered à la carte, so we could not try that.

Since one of us is gluten intolerant, we questioned the people about the food’s gluten content, as well as, other allergens that are also a problem.  The staff was knowledgeable about what their products contained, and doubled checked on items to make sure.

Of course, the Wonder bread could not be eaten by anyone with a gluten problem.  We asked them not to put the bread on the food, which they were careful not to do, so there were no cross contamination issues with gluten on the meat.

Our allergic family member did not eat any of the sides.  She ate all the meats we purchased, except the sausage (she doesn’t eat that), without any allergic reactions, so that gives the restaurant extra kudos in our book.

In honor of the S.L.A.P.’s acronym, which we think is very clever, this review will rate things using a squeals scale of one to five squeals with five squeals being the best barbeque in town, and one squeal being nothing special.

This is what we thought:

The burnt ends gets five squeals.  In this town, burnt ends normally look like little chunks of meat.  These were unique in that these actually looked like the ends of a brisket that have been pulled off.  They were very good, tender and tasty.  It didn’t appear that the burnt ends could be purchased by the pound.

The turkey gets five loud squeals.  It was moist, and very tasty, but we only got three small slices with our order.  We thought it was the best turkey we had ever gotten at a BBQ place.

The sauce is five squeals.  It is a sweet sauce, that is very thin with a mild bit of a kick.  We liked it a lot.

The pork ribs gets four squeals but are VERY tiny. If they weren’t so little, they would have gotten five squeals.  They were almost the size of baby back ribs, just slightly bigger.  They were surprisingly meaty, especially for a rib that size.  They are $1.00 each or $21 for an entire slab.

The pulled pork received four squeals.  It was good, but not five squeals good.

The beef brisket is one squeal.  It was cut into very thick slices, and was dry.  Brisket is normally served in very thin slices, and we like it better that way.  But the big problem with it was how dry it was.

The coleslaw gets three squeals.  It is very creamy and had lots of sauce.  It was good, but was lacking something.  Everyone agreed it needed something else, not sure what that was–but it needed it.

The beans get three squeals.  They did not have any meat in them.  They were sweet, which we liked, but we really wanted some meat, even just a small amount for flavor.  One person did not like them at all.  The other thought they “weren’t too bad,” and would give them three squeals.

The sausage chunks get one squeal.  They were dry, and seemed over cooked.

The thing that makes you squeal the most, unfortunately, is the price.  We think they are on the expensive side.  Kansas City is all about barbeque, so prices in town do vary.  But, in our opinion, this one is on the higher end of the price scale.   But if you want to try a new barbeque joint, give this one a shot. We highly recommend the turkey, burnt ends and ribs.  Just know you will have to fork over some dough.

Overall, we would rate S.L.A.P.’s BBQ with four 1/2 squeals.

S.L.A.P.’s BBQ — Squeal Like a Pig BBQ 

553 Central Ave, Kansas City, KS 66101 

913-213-3736

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