Gates Bar-B-Q

The sausage, the wings, the yammer pie, the beef on bun, the ribs, the seasoning and the BBQ Sauce. Finger licking god.

new years eve it’s 8:30pm second visit no wings hour ago tried call in they wouldn’t take order, drove across statelines & they’re out of everything. no ribs no wings just legs people have called in presidential plates & they don’t have sausage, why are they open c5 was no help

I need to give Gates another try but compared to Arthur Bryant’s, I preferred Gates and OK Joe’s sauces. That being said, this location is just a tad bit creepy if you hit it up at like 11 p.m. There is a security guard, which if you’re from out of town, can make things feel a little unsafe but we had no problems once inside. My hubby and I had no idea what to get and another customer ordered the wings and the cashier recommended them, so that’s what we got. They are good. They are really big and meaty. Kind of spicy. I’m not sure this is the best item to get if it’s one of your first times tasting through the menu. I recommend sampling more than one thing. Also, skip the sides. The fries are ok but I would have rather had more meat!

This is one of the more oddball Gates locations. Stopped in for lunch yesterday afternoon and the food (turkey sandwich /​fries) was phenomenal as per always. My only complaint with this location is that the booths were made for skinny people… because my slightly chubby self couldn’t fit comfortably within the confines of them lol. But the food and service are always great at Gates.

Staying in KS I wanted bbq and at night this was the closest place that was open. It’s a sketchy area and inside is the same, especially later at night, but it got me my bbq fix. I just got the turkey sandwich for something lighter but wanted the good Gates sauce to smother on it. I like the other Gates location in KC MO better, but this can do if you’re in a bind.

I was recommended to try Gates during my short trip to Kansas City, well, the locals always know best. I ordered a take out and flew back to NYC, we just loved it!

This facility must be the proverbial red-​headed step child of all of the Gates establishments. I’ve done an experiment, repeatedly where I have purchased the same food item, specifically the combination and a half sandwich from here and the Missouri restaurants and have found that you get a markedly smaller portion at the KCK facility for the same price. I don’t understand why that is. I live in Kansas but no longer patronize this establishment because of it. I just wait until I’m on the Missouri side, and get my Gates fix while I’m there. I know I can’t be the only person that has noticed this. I hope someone takes notice of the inconsistency and remedies it so that the portions are equivalent to the other restaurants. It also doesn’t help that this is the only one that sells wings, which are phenomenal when they aren’t dried out. In life, we all have to make sacrifices. Feast well (but not here) my friends!

Been going to this location since I was a kid in the 90’s. service is always good and I have learned The Wings are a must have!!! They’re juicy, flavorful and their fries with, their amazing sauce, makes it an perfect combination. And Missouri doesn’t sell their wings. I feel sorry for them because, they missing out!

I don’t find it amusing to be scolded and rushed along by lazy clerks with attitudes. I know that is the «culture» here, at least for the negative order experience, you would think the food be worth it… but it’s just plain fatty meat smothered in tangy bbq sauce (yuck) on a cold bun. Sides were alright. Atleast the chick that came to check on our table had an understanding of customer service. Still it was a waste of time and money. $ 30 for 2 sandwiches and 2 sides.
Still not impressed with any KC BBQ. I’ll take slow smoked, sultry, juicy Texas BBQ anyday.

The staff was super rude and kept rushing us to order with no other people in line. They seemed really annoyed to have to take our order and then we didn’t receive the correct food. I hope this is not the service for all the locations.

Gates is an old KC Classic Barbecue Place that is still a top and required destination for a true BBQ aficionado. I’ve been coming here for over 30 years and still love it, although newer, more consistently good places like Joe’s has siphoned off the majority of my BBQ restaurant visits. But the history and classic BBQ that Gates produces is still top notch. The sauce is still the best around in my opinion.
I’ve learned over time that the line and ordering process can be looked at two ways: a frustratingly inefficient mess that should have been reworked years ago, or a classic throwback to the past, accentuated by some of the most interesting people you’ll see in one place, both in the line and behind the counters. The employees are very friendly and helpful, even though they yell at you for your order when you walk in the door. Its amazing how they can remember the orders of people 10 – 15 deep in line. Some of the regular people in line make special off the menu requests that can be helpful to know (e.g. fries extra crispy or ask to see the slab of ribs you ordered). If you relax and enjoy your wait in line, its not so bad. Maybe you’ll get the receipt with the red star on it and win 5 bucks cash.
The beef (brisket) and fries sandwich is a good deal. Both are always very good, especially with the sauce. The rib experience can vary based on the cut you get, how they were cooked that day, etc, but when you hit them right, they are top notch. Maybe not the leanest you can find, but very good and lots of flavor. The Burnt End Sandwich is excellent and another good value for the money. The Turkey is the best I’ve had anywhere — its my wife’s favorite bbq item from anywhere. A Turkey and a half sandwich is a great sandwich to order take out and split with your spouse.
In short — its great food and a great experience. Just don’t expect it to be the most efficient place you’ve ever been to.

Been to the this location recently. Got the Beef plate with a side of fries. Really good, as usual.

Week 10 of «The Kansas City BBQ Tour.» The sandwich had great, what I would call, Kansas City flavor. They only offered sliced pork and it lacked the tenderness you would expect. But the sauces offered great support to the meat. The fries looked great, but really lacked flavor. There was no ranch available for dipping. Overall they received a 76%.

Disappointed KC BBQ experience
So we all know when you visit KC they are know for their BBQ. We asked around and got several suggestions on which spot to head to.
We opted for Gates due to location and rep from the people we asked.
When we walked in the door we saw a small line and then someone yelled «here or GO»
Obiv we wanted to dine in so we yelled «HERE»
Then we had to shout our order from the back
Ordeed the burnt ends and a sample platter
No bueno
I have had burnt ends better than this, they were very fatty and did not have much flavor. Save your time and disappointment and dont go here… Go to Oklahoma Joe’s and wait in the hour long line

Business Lunch Done Right
We each ordered the burnt end sandwich and fries. The meat was tender and the hoagie bun was fresh. Enough food to take home for dinner which was good considering the price. I would like to see the meat served a little leaner with fewer fatty pieces.
The best part of Gate’s is the SAUCE! Some of the best bbq sauce ever. It has a nice spicy kick and tasted amazing on the fries. Fries were thick steak fries… excellent with the sandwiches.
I will try Gate’s again… the cashier was pleasant and social as we waited for the food.
Good BBQ… not necessarily the best… but the sauce makes the trip worthwhile.

I’d heard so many good things about Gates and how it was one of the classic barbecue joints in KC. I ended up being totally unimpressed.
The actual interior of the restaurant was so-​so. It was very dark for the most part; the walls are dark wood paneling, which just made everything recede into shadow (there was not sufficient lighting to compensate). It seemed fairly clean; nothing to complain about there. It was a little confusing at first to figure out how the line was supposed to weave through the restaurant. We went just prior to the lunch rush, luckily for us, so while there was a bit of a line in front of us, it was nothing compared to the one that followed us in. Regardless of my take on the establishment, it is clearly very popular. The menu boards were not particularly easy to understand. I really didn’t have any clue how to order my food, which was a shame because there were several side dishes I would have liked to have tried but didn’t get the opportunity to order before I was shooed out of the way for the next customer.
The employees were all very rude. They were definitely just trying to herd everyone along as quickly as they could, which I’m sure was necessary during their busiest times, but it wouldn’t have killed them to do it with a smile. I spent my time as a fast food cashier; I know what it’s like and I also know it isn’t hard to pretend you take pride in your job. Instead, all the customers got was a standard greeting («Hi, may I help you?») in the most disinterested voice with potentially the worst attitude I’ve ever seen in customer service.
When my small group (three of us) got to the checkout with our order, they were waiting for it to get to the counter, so one of the girls with me tried to be helpful by gathering up some of the smaller items (presumably so there was less clutter on the counter/​more room for the next customer’s order), and the cashier scolds her with more attitude than I could even muster: «Ex-​CUSE me, I haven’t rung that up yet.» I was actually stunned; I had no idea what to do as the girl slapped buttons on her register, all the while rolling her eyes and scoffing like a teenager. Absolutely couldn’t believe this was real life.
When we got our food, I would have given it a 6 out of 10. The meat was pretty solid; everything else was super mediocre. Not really bad, just not great. Finally, the barbecue sauce was not at all what I expect from KC barbecue. It was just a sludge of conflicting spices that came together in an unpleasant cacophony of flavors.
Nope. I will never go here again. Not worth the time or the headache.

Went to KC for the American Royal BBQ event 10/​4/​2014-​took a judging class and hit some BBQ joints I wanted to check out-​4 days of BBQ bliss! Yeah Baby!
Gates has been on my list for a while… they have several locations. I wanted to go to their
Brooklyn Ave restaurant… but my jerk friend went here on State st because he will only go to
places on his GPS… he is such a moron… anyway…
The place is nice… clean. a priority for me. really nice people… and they start out with a gurl
screaming at me… at the top of her lungs… in a voice that could only belong to an air raid siren!
I was new here.
She was behind a high display case… and kept SCREAMING-«CAN I HELP
YOU!!“CAN I HELP YOU»…my god! That VOICE… I wanted to just run! But I was hungry!
Really…you can NOT believe how bad this SCREAMING is!!!
You order and have a cafeteria style. plate?Tray… you order… and they don’t have it… maybe
Tried to get ribs-OK.Tried to get some BBQ sausage-​OK.
Cole Slaw-OK.Potato salad-OK…peach pie-no.Apple pie-no.Cherry pie-no…they said they
were sold out of ALL of their pies… wait with my plate for the food and then pay for it.
We go to a table just at the end of the line… and start pigging out on some damn good BBQ!
Ribs were an 8 out of 9… KCBS grading system of 2 to 9… and that is damn good for a Saturday afternoon… deserted restaurant… only one other customer in the place…
Sausage was not bad…7 out of 9 on the same grading system.
Cole Slaw and potato salad were both great…
My guest had what they said was a «burnt ends» sandwich. And again it was like most
BBQ places who advertise these «burnt ends»…it was
was a plain chopped BBQ
sandwich that he was charged a premium for.
And then while I am sitting there…6ft from the cash register… I hear people-​ordering
peach pie (my favorite)…and no problem. They don’t say they are out of it like they told me.
There were 3 large pies in the cooler that the gurl was yelling at me from behind when I got there? A Sunday? Only people in the place?
The guy doing the busing of the tables seemed like a cool dude… I left him a nice tip.
He REALLY seemed to be a nice guy… I liked his work… he deserved it.
He just had this smile and attitude that ws cool. he came by and asked if we were cool… I liked that!
Oh…I almost forgot… the beans werer GREAT too… LOL

Worst food we had during a recent BBQ road trip.
We stopped at this place for dinner a few weeks ago, and we should have known from the chaos at the register that it wasn’t going to be a good meal. Upon entering the front door, there were 20 people crowding the entry. Two registers, each with two employees doing their best to ignore everyone that’s waiting. After 20 minutes we finally worked our way in front of one of the registers and got the attention of one of the girls. My wife and I split the Mixed Plate, with ribs, ham and brisket. During the wait the customer who ordered in front of us was asked at least 10 times what she had ordered. It was like a bad reproduction of «Who’s on First».
About 30 minutes after walking in the door, we finally had our food and drinks. We sat down at one of their filthy tables and tried to eat. The brisket was nothing special, not tender but not too tough either. The ham was dry despite being drenched in their awful sauce. The ribs seemed to have been sitting out for too long. They were overcooked, dry and inedible.

I was looking for some good, authentic BBQ in K. C while on a recent business trip. I trusted the concierge of our hotel and our taxi driver when they recommended this place for the best BBQ in KC.
Overall, it wasn’t what I was expecting — sort of a fast food type of BBQ place. The ambiance was lacking (there is a dining area where you can eat), but it was a bit dark and dirty. The staff were a bit indifferent towards their job, and kept on confusing orders. Overall the baby back ribs were good but not the best I’ve had. I didn’t want the BBQ sauce smeared all over (prefer a dry rub). Overall, 1 thumb up. Decent BBQ, but I don’t need to go back.

I will never claim to be a BBQ expert, but I don’t think you have to be to share what you like.
I had my first Gates BBQ experience about maybe 10 years ago at the original location. It was so amazing and flavorful and the smoke flavor was so full bodied and deep into the meat.
This location is no different and I think was a little better of a building maybe newer or more seating, not sure.
This visit came out of a «I feel cheated every time we go to KC and don’t get BBQ» argument with the wife.
Brought the twins and the 4 year old and they ate it up. And the wife thought it was in exact words «Melted in my mouth and was amazing, but not overly wow’ed by it».
I on the other hand love this BBQ and the sauce is amazing. It is so earthy and full of flavor. I had the «beef on bun» yeah that’s what it’s called and I was silly and was stumbling through trying to say I want the beef sandwich and was quickly corrected with, «you want the beef on bun?» I was like yes, yes I do.
The employees are really on top of their game and have so much going on. But I will warn you, you almost need to know what you are ordering before you get there. It seems like they are in a hurry by asking you like once you make it through the door «how may I help you.» It is a little off putting at first but once you understand the background it all makes since and is a really great experience.
I was surprised this time that the lady that took my order asked me to print my name on the back of my receipt. I was like sure why not, and then she handed me a $ 5 bill. I was like totally confused at first and then she said its a random thing that if your receipt has red stars on it you get $ 5. That is awesome!
I think for me this is the best KC BBQ. I hope you like it too.