Josephine’s Pantry

Loved this place. The fried chicken and greens were amazing. Ms. Marsha (the cook) gets up early to make the homemade dinner rolls. They are delicious. One of my favorite new spots.

visiting wichita from london uk to see friends and really wanted some good kansas bbq, i may be english but i know bbq and know when its good and when it sucks, went to hog wild the day before and found it pretty average, so after asking some friends and checking online heard this place did great bbq, and my god did they… the ribs were absolutely… a… maze…ing! fried okra was something special, awesome sauce and the lovely lady running the place was friendly and warming same goes for the guy im guessing was her son, so its in a more run down part of town, so its nothing to look at from the outside, and so what! this place is well worth it, im heading back tomorrow for more good food and brilliant friendly service… i honestly felt like i was eating in there home, loved it… and for those that say «well there must be something that didnt quite hit the spot, and for you people i say, the fries were average and not homemade, but hey the homemade sweet potato pie just set it all off! oh and did i mention this food made me wanna dance!

In my review of My Dad’s BBQ, I noted that while their wares were certainly pretty good, they were at a disadvantage because they were three minutes away from one of the best barbecue restaurants in town, Pig In Pig Out. Perhaps Melvin Watson came to this conclusion, too, and it’s why My Dad’s packed up and moved. While it may have put sufficient space between him and the hometown favorite, it doesn’t seem to be in a necessarily better location — 8^th and Mosley, just north of where Washington curves into Mosley and stuck in the space between neighborhoods — too far north to be considered Old Town, too far south to really be part of the Cargill industrial neighborhood. Probably why they’ve already been robbed once in their four months in business, but that’s neither here nor there.
I think the initial intent was to focus on more non-​barbecue items, like breakfast foods and sandwiches and stuff, but when you’re trying to choose between eggs and pancakes or a plate of ribs, the boring breakfast stuff doesn’t really have much of a chance, does it? It doesn’t help that in my visits to Dad’s or Josephine’s, there was never really any confidence that there was someone in back actually cooking. Not necessarily a bad thing for barbecue — after it’s been smoked, you just need to keep it warm — but disconcerting for anything else.
I really wanted to try something non-​barbecue to get a sense of what sets Josephine’s apart from Dad’s, honestly I did, but aside from some anemic breakfast offerings, I had to go for the rib special. Cheap, and as good as I remember — super smoky, and pulled off the bone clean with a moderate amount of give. Things like the homemade cornbread, buttered cabbage, and baked beans were worthy side dishes, and amounted to a big ol’ pile of food.
Despite their best intentions, the emphasis on barbecue just kinda crept back in there. Even the exterior of the building admits as much, with one side featuring a sign with the new Josephine’s logo, and the adjacent side hung with an old Dad’s BBQ banner. There might be a few new baked goodies to justify the change in focus, but don’t be fooled — this is just another outlet for Dad’s BBQ, for as long as the location will sustain them.

I am not sure of the history of Josephine’s other than I know Dad’s BBQ combined with them at this location from their old spot on 13^th Ave. But I definitely enjoyed this small family restaurant. It has the mom-​and-​pop feel and the food makes you feel like you are eating in their house on a holiday. First and foremost, the pork ribs were pretty amazing! They had smokey flavor, were nice and juicy, had meat falling off the bone, and had good sauces to go along on the side. I mixed the sweet and the spicy BBQ sauce on my plate to make the perfect blend. The ribs were a little on the fatty side but that is just how I like em and if you are looking for ribs, these are some great ones in Wichita! For sides, the sweet potatoes are great as are the collared greens mixed with pork.
There was a lot on the menu and I will definitely go back to try some more. I think that they do have beef ribs on occasion so I am going to try to figure out when they do and get back there. At Dad’s BBQ we had their pulled pork and their burnt ends and were really impressed. I’m not sure if these have transferred over to the new spot. Hopefully so.