RJ’s Bob-Be-Que Shack

Good, solid, divey BBQ joint. The ribs and the brisket are both great choices. Out of the sauces (original, hot, texas southern, & super hot), I think the hot is the best; just the right amount of kick. Having eaten here a few times, the breakfast offered on the weekends is really quite good. Not a huge fan of the décor and the wait staff tends to be a little on the eccentric side, but all in all, a great place to stop and grab a bbq sandwich or ribs.

Excellent barbecue! I especially like the St. Louis ribs. If you combine the barbecue with the service, then I would give RJ’s 6 stars. The staff is both friendly and helpful, which makes for a great experience.

This old time place was promoting pet adoptions the day I tried it… that was so admirable, but what I ordered was not. Since there was a NOLA vibe, I ordered a crab cake to go… when I opened the box it was so burned on the bottom, and the poor thing was naked in there… meaning not much for the price The corn side was delivered in the smallest container I’ve ever seen… I swear it held about 2 tablespoons and the flavor was disappointing to me… sorry on this one!

First visit and outstanding! Friendly, great food and convenient. I will definitely return.
Not sure what else to say and no reason to say more. Thanks!

Man the awesome bbq aroma hits you in the face as soon as you open the door.
Ordered ribs, sausage, and brisket. All great. for my sides I ordered the cheesy corn back. Amazing. Also got the beans which did not disappoint. Loved every sauce I sampled but the meat did not require it.

Being from Ohio, I asked many a local Where’s the place for Bar– b-​q? Monumental task in K.C., and never got the same answer twice. Having said that, I read multiple reviews on Unilocal,and ended up here.
Apparently I looked «non local» or the wait staff we’re sincerely concerned about my experience at RJ’s…
It was definitely the latter… Can not say enough about the people who work at RJ’s! They we’re absolutely the best! Friendly, Knowledgeable, maybe the difference in a Big City with Big competition and I truly felt welcomed. So… as to not write a book…
I ordered the «Burnt Ends with Cheesy Corn Bake and Cole Slaw»… MMMmmm Mmm Good! Corona Light draught was Ice cold as well! This would be enough…
Except, the owner came out and introduced himself and after some conversation suggested I try the «Lamb Ribs»… except I dislike lamb… nonetheless, he brought a sample for me to try and… OMG! UNBELIEVABLE! Tender, fall off the bone, smoky goodness, that… Well, hard to explain… Awesome I guess, would come close.
I have never experienced a place that tried so hard, and succeeded in satisfying a customer, that may only patronize them 1 or 2 times a year if that!
KC, you are lucky to have RJ’s! I am envious!
Thanks RJ’s, it was a pleasure!
P. S. All of the sauces were amazing! Vinegar based, and Delicious! The Habanero was… if I could only have one… my fave! Thanks Guys! Will see you again!

I have patronized RJs twice, and waited for my 2^nd visit to post a review. If anyone has read my reviews, they know I am truthful and forthcoming.
RJ my advice to you is retrain your cooks and your manager. I blame them for the quality of the food. I ordered the sampler plate with 4x ribs, burnt ends and wings. None of the meat items were good… not even average. The ribs and burnt ends were super dry, barky, tough to chew and tasted old. Any manager could look at the food and tell it was not moist and not to standard to serve to customers. The cook knew when he put the food on the plate how long it has been in the warmer.
The spinach was GREAT! but the meat was subpar. I don’t like writing reviews like this but the food was average the first time and wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt so I tried you again and is was bad.
Ribs– 1
Burnt ends– 1
wings– 3
Spinach– 9

I recently moved to Johnson County and have been wanting to try RJ’s. I came here with my boyfriend and my mom. The atmosphere is very Midwestern and charming. The service was very friendly.
We shared the bison empanadas. They were pretty good, but not outstanding enough to order them again. I ordered a jumbo sandwich with sausage and brisket and a side of sweet potato fries. It was delicious! My mom and boyfriend both got ribs and enjoyed them.
RJ’s is less expensive than other BBQ places, pretty darn good, and very relaxed. I will definitely be back!

I found the lunch service to be stellar (friendly, helpful, and attentive). My jumbo sandwich had plenty of my two meat selections (delicious brisket and pulled pork). The brisket was especially lean, and tasty. The beans were also very good, with meat mixed in. How can you not like a place that has a wall honoring John Wayne?

RJ’s was recommended to me by a friend so I decided to try it. The burnt ends are pretty good, as are the ribs. Their sweet potato fries are awesome! After all that, only one dish really blew me away, and that is the brisket gumbo. It is such a unique idea, and they do it to perfection! I will go back probably solely for that dish. Not too salty and filled with tons of brisket that soaks up the flavor from the rest of the gumbo.
The traditional BBQ dishes are probably slightly above average for Kansas City… which means they are absolutely outstanding anywhere else in the world. RJ’s is a solid restaurant in a great BBQ town, so they often get lost in the shuffle. Still, it is worth a visit.

This is hands down the best BBQ in Kansas City! We have been to all the famous ones, bunches of the little guys (Wyandotte BBQ holds a special place in my heart) and RJ’s comes out on top. Sauce is good, menu has tons of choices. We recommend this to anyone wanting great BBQ and of course out of towners hear the same 3 or 4 suggestions and we have never, never heard anyone pick one of the big guys over RJ’s. Go there! Get food! Be happy!

Just updated parking lot, black top, great for motorcycles and scooters, now!
Still my go to spot.
Unbelievable salad. More in it than you’d expect at a BBQ joint.
Bob is truly a master chef!
Ribs for lunch, meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth.

I’ve been here 3 – 4 times, always playing gigs out in the back so I get to see the entire staff working for up for four hours at a time. Get this straight: whoever is running this place, they’ve hired first-​rate people really interested in providing first-​rate service. I can’t speak highly enough about the wait and bar staff. They’re really the best and other KC restaurants would do well to experience the service provided.
The food… well, it’s good enough, but in the oversized world of BBQ it’s pretty middle of the road. Standard fare: ribs, BBQ beef and pork sandwiches, fairly interesting sides like cheese/​corn nuggets, sweet potato fries, etc. Some specials, like a blackened salmon from a few days ago was just OK (dry).
Overall, a really nice experience the back patio. Maybe I’ll make it upstairs some day but the patio in the back is really a fine place to hang out and either play or listen to music. Hope to be back soon.

During my recent KC trip I went to several BBQ joints as a kind of BBQ mini-​tour. Stopped by RJ’s to meet one of my buddies from the KC area. Ordered the brisket with a side of ribs. Our server was great– joshing with us, suggesting menu items, and checking on us regularly if we needed anything. The barbeque was as good as I remembered it to be, it really hit the spot! It was a dry rubbed bbq, we had to add as much sauce as necessary– my favorite kind! I had enough to take a lot back as leftovers. Price was reasonable for the amount of food given. RJ’s is a good choice for bbq in the KC area, and someplace to repeat when I’m back in KC. Repeat and recommend!

Great experience at RJ’s. Our server was a sweetheart and gave us the perfect amount of attention without feeling like a helicopter.
We took my parents here when they visited from Minneapolis, and they loved it as well. Great food, fun atmosphere, and we all left thoroughly stuffed on some solid KC «Bob-​Be-​Que.» RJ’s may not get the same hype as some of the other places, but it is awesome food at great prices.

Sadly, it took 90 minutes and two trips to this place to get everything right. Seriously. So, you’re probably wondering why. Well, I go in to place a carry out order. It took 10 minutes tops. Drive all the way back home and realize my 3 rib and one meat dinner only had one meat and bread. Really?!
To make a longer story short, the error was blamed on the new staff that were training. Which is fine. I get it. Mistakes happen. But, the issue that I had was that the trainer was working with the new hire side by side. My order was checked twice when it came to the window. The first check, BBQ beans were missing during the second check, everything appeared to be okay so, he bagged my orders and sent me on my way. Since the order was double checked, I didn’t feel the need to triple check it. Okay, so this is turning out to be a long story lol. I asked the guy so, you checked it twice how did you miss the fact that the order was incomplete? Apparently, he was checking for sides because that has been an issue. (Sigh) Sounds like an opportunity for a process improvement but, anyways… what did the food taste like?
Dry, dry, dry. Chicken wings were dry, pulled pork was DRY! The ribs were pretty good. Their veggie of the day was zucchini, roasted red peppers and carrots. That was good too. I didn’t try the beans but, they were highly recommended by the bag checker.

OH BOY! Brunch… finding ourselves in Mission at an in-​between time (10:15am on a Saturday) I suggested trying a BBQ brunch (half joking). My wife said check it out, so I called and confirmed that RJ’s serves brunch from 8am on the weekends.
On our way…
Inside you can have booth seating or counter, we chose the latter. Nice people to chat (wait staff and other patrons) with and attentive service make this a good choice for us.
I’ll start with my wife’s choice: Burnt Ends Hash which she chose to have served with poached eggs! {Sorry Joe, Gates, Jack}…some of the very best burnt ends I’ve ever tasted!!! Great meal with for her a Mimosa.
For me, a house infused bacon-​vodka Bloody Mary with a rasher of smoked crispy bacon included!
My meal choice was the Farm hand platter. It was a deal, but for me – way too much food!
Included are your choice of eggs, two large pieces of smoked ham steak, two big grill smoked sausage links, house made crumbly biscuit covered with sausage gravy and a nice piece of cantaloupe melon.
Needless to say, we came away with breakfast meats for another day (they were used the next day) and great memories of convivial people and a great brunch.
Highly recommended. See YOU there??? (Yes nice people who do speak to each other at the counter about non-​political issues and enjoy each other’s company!)

I came in on a Sunday and the wait was 31 people deep. I poked my head in the door and spotted a seat at the small bar. I grabbed it immediately.
Johnny PROMPTLY greeted me and pumped out my bloody mary with lightning speed. He got my order, it came out exactly as I ordered it, and everything I needed was there when I wanted it as Johnny also anticipated my needs as my dining experience progressed.
As I voiced in other reviews, the breakfast here is extraordinarily superb. Once again I got the beef burnt end hash w/​2 eggs over medium and dry wheat toast. I spotted their habanero BBQ sauce and made the dish really sparkle with it. I throughly enjoyed it.
MANAGEMENT: give Johnny a raise and all the good shifts. The guy is a shining star in your restaurant. Thanks for the great food and great service this Sunday! I left fat and happy.

Burnt ends weren’t real burnt ends… It was just beef brisket that was cubed up…
Meat had no flavor and it was a coin flip as to if the meat was tough or tender…
Mac and cheese was cold and had no flavor
Service was great, food was not.

We went there early enough to get some of the happy hour menu. The smoke chicken wing is fabulous! You gotta try it. They gave us the Buffalo sauce on the side but you don’t need the sauce, it is tasty with all the spices used.
We ordered Cajun crab cake and it has a good flavor and kick to it. We also have the jalapeño sausage and to me, I didn’t like it as much but my hubby did. I’m not big on sausage so my opinion can’t really count.
The last we had the ribs with cheesy corn bake. The corn bake was good. The rib was ok, I prefer ribs with more rubs on the top but this is not one of those. They are moist and the variety of bbq sauce they have really helped to make the rib very very tasty. The Texas habanero sauce is indeed very spicy. That’s my favorite sauce with that molasses as part of the base.
The service was great and fast. I’d recommend trying them if you are in town for some good food and beer. I’ll update my review once I get around to try their burnt ends and breakfast.

You can’t trust a «Guy» wearing flames on his shirt and believes it’s cool to wear glasses on the back of your head. Nonetheless, unimpressed. Rj’s smoker must be located in the morgue because the brisket and pulled pork were deathly cold. And the sides, how does a place screw up French fries? No salt? To get any flavor I had to wipe the fries across the concrete outside. Not sold on the sauces either. More watery than a colloquial baby. If you ever get invited to join your friends at RJ’s, do yourself a favor, skip it, make an excuse, perhaps your grandmother has asked you to play Bingo or you have dysentary. If you don’t have it now, you will after your meal.
Sincerely, Microwavable Lloyd’s BBQ

RJ’s isn’t the best barbecue in town. It really isn’t. Probably not even in the top ten. But it’s close to home and the service is fast and friendly and this is where I found my favorite barbecue sauce which is a fairly spicy habanero barbecue sauce, so I gotta give ‘em props for that.
There are some non-​barbecue items on their menu that are standouts as well. Their sweet potato fries have a really nice flavor and come out hot and crispy. I love them with the aforementioned habanero barbecue sauce. The sauteed spinach greens are nicely done with a great flavor and they go very well with ribs.
We’ve tried their burnt ends and they had a really nice smoky flavor, but they were a bit tough and dry. The lamb ribs are nice, but not quite as amazing as Jack Stack’s lamb ribs, however it’s great that a little neighborhood joint like RJ’s carries them.
While I haven’t checked out either, they do have a Happy Hour and they serve breakfast on weekends. RJ’s is definitely on the list of places that we’ll check out fairly regularly.

Can’t say anything bad about RJ’s — this is quality BBQ in the heart of Mission. The lunch and dinner options are awesome but what has really gotten our attention lately is their breakfast on the weekends. It’s not a spot that I would typically try for breakfast, but it’s a hidden gem that deserves some credits. The burnt end hash is incredible, cinnamon rolls are sweet and sticky, and the pit ham and eggs rivals any other ham and eggs around the city.
The BBQ is the prize here, however. The award winning ribs, brisket, and other meats are sure to please. Servers are always friendly and you feel like your at some down home joint when you’re really in the middle of the burbs.
RJ’s also offers a great happy hour with three dollar apps and drinks. Definitely worth many more trips drizzled in their sweet sauces and finger licking good times.

Just a quick little up date.
I love RJ’s and I don’t think that will ever change, but what did change was I made a slight little tweak on what sauce I use when I’m eating. Granted, their normal sauce is good, but it’s super thick and super sweet, almost like jelly. At times it can be a little overpowering. So, recently when I stopped in I asked the gentleman behind the counter if they had anything with a little more kick. His reply? «Oh yeah, we have a sauce with habeneros.»
O_​o
Challenge accepted. It’s good, but I will say it has a serious serious kick. I sprinkled some on my ribs and let it soak it. Boy, it was good, but they key with this one is moderation. Thankfully the gentleman gave me a small container of regular hot sauce that is a little more moderate and coating. I’ve made it my new go to when I’m in the area.

Pretty good.
The beans were real «earthy» Cheesy Corn was the low point. Brisket was very dry. Sauces were very interesting (in a good way). Spicy sauce had a kick and sweet sauce was not overly so.