LCs The tub and Hayes I still get my fix at. I'm so old I remember when Marty's BBQ was the only real game North of the River. All the KC Mafia bosses lived over in the Little Village area and would frequent Marty's. Civela and Bonadonna's other dead men's names I can't remember now. Marty would pull that participant and close them off. Rumor was that high-stakes poker games were going on. It was a good BBQ but always uneasy wondering if there was going to be a pipe bomb tossed in. Bobby Bell opened his BBQ off N. Oak and about 71st it's now Margaritas. Bobby and his wife were so nice Bobby would try visit with everyone when it was off-season. It was a clone of Gates. Even the sauce was the Gates taste just a little thinner. Rumor was Ollie didn't want to open a Gates in KC North and suggested to Bobby and helped him to get it up and running. Smokehouse somewhere along the line opened on North Oak and the end of Marty's and Bobby Bells BBQ was soon out.

LC's

I have vivid and fond memories of Marty’s BBQ as a kid. I remember loving the food, but more than anything I remember just how ****ing dark it was inside that restaurant. The goal was absolutely as little natural daylight inside as possible. Smokehouse was an ok consolation after Marty’s closed but I was always more partial to the former as a kid.

I live downtown and there were a lot of places open on Thanksgiving day. Not sure about Christmas Eve, but I don’t think the 23rd will be an issue at all. If you’re looking for great restaurants I would recommend The Town Company, Farina, Grunauer, and Lula Southern Cookhouse. But, there’s a ton of great options down here.

P&L is fine. It’s okay to stop by and look around, but the restaurants are pretty average. However, 801 Chophouse and Blue Sushi Sake Grill are great.

I don’t have any memory of Marty’s, but I do remember going to Bobby Bell’s place quite often. I was pretty young though, so I don’t remember the food. I do remember meeting Bobby and my dad would tell me how awesome of a player he was. Smokehouse was definitely our regular place as I got older, though my dad was a Bryant’s guy so we’d head into the city for that quite often too.

If you go East on 152 about 3 miles (From zona rosa Smokehouse), there is a liquor store on North Oak Trafficway called "Cloud" or maybe "Cloud 9".

If you go further south on N.Oak trafficway another 2-3 miles, there is IMO the best liquor store in town called "Bubbles".

They used to call that area where the Civilla's and others lived little Italy.

There was a bowling alley in one of their basements.

1st stop Smokehouse
Why?? It was still open
We had ribs brisket with beans and cheesy corn
Burnt ends with sausage fries and beans
Burnt ends pulled pork with mac and cheese and beans

Beans where ok I make as good at home
Cheesy corn still on the fence here they are .. different
Mac and cheese. Exceptionally meh Idahochief owns a restaurant he says it definitely comes in a bag.
Brisket was decent would have been better if not drenched in original bbq sauce. Their spicy sauce is better but not exceptional.
Burnt ends were the best of the bunch.
Ribs were not bad but see brisket

Ya know for a sports bar Johnny's has pretty good food. Obviously unrelated to someone wanting a special experience for the holidays but your last paragraph got me thinking about how they always do a good job.

Love living downtown.

Smokehouse had a restaurant in Shawnee but it's closed now. I thought it was average at best. They only lasted a couple of years before shuttering the place. I know they poured a heck of a lot of money into building, equipment and furnishings.

Smokehouse shouldn’t count as a KC BBQ experience. Don’t let it taint your overall view. It’s basically just precooked meat lathered in their sauce.

My vote for you is still to go try Harp. It’s close to independence and the stadium. But if not their, definitely make it to one of the 3 most popular spots.

This is an accurate description of last night's dinner

I like the Crispy (Chopped Brisket Sandwich) from Smokehouse, but I'd much rather Burnt ends or ribs from one of the top rated places in town.

I'm wondering about burnt ends at
Harp
Q39
And Joe's I like burnt ends but not candied burnt ends if you get what I'm saying. When the sauce is cooked into meat and it's basically candied.
I think we are hitting Harp after the stadium tour so if you have recs for Harp send em

All true.

That sandwich my go-to as well, but I'd say I still only eat at that Smokehouse maybe once a year and it's like a mile from me. And I order sauce on the side to avoid the explosion in those pictures. I like their beans.

The Smokehouse on North Oak is considerably better IMO but when you land at 830 at night you aren't gonna have many options.