Day 1: Dinner from Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue is a Kansas City-based barbecue restaurant that dates back to 1957. During the bustling growth of barbecue in Kansas City during the 1970s, Jack Fiorella and his wife started smoking their meat over a hickory wood and developing a wide-variety of dishes for their menu. Today, Jack Stack is a prominent barbecue restaurant in the Kansas City area, and they also have a service that delivers frozen goods to people across the nation.

Similar to the rest, as one of the participating restaurants in Kansas City Restaurant Week, Jack Stack Barbecue offers a lunch and dinner menu that offers a selection of different courses that come from their original menu. Both the lunch and dinner menus serve two courses. 

Click here to check out the Kansas City Restaurant Week menus at Jack Stack Barbecue. Menus may vary based on location.

Location: 9520 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66212

For this restaurant, I decided to order take out instead of dining in.

Course 1: Honey-glazed Baby Back Rib Slab with Hickory Pit Beans, Cheesy Cornbake & Creamy Coleslaw

Rating: 5/5

For my main course, I decided to go with the ribs because I have enjoyed eating ribs. Jack Stack is known for its savory, smoked ribs so choosing the ribs was an easy decision. At first glance, the ribs seemed a little on the drier side—I blame that on carryout. However, after cutting and biting into a rib, I realized that it is the opposite. The ribs had a slight chewiness to it, but overall, the meat was tender. As for the flavor, as the name suggests, the ribs had a hint of

sweetness that I found was the perfect touch to the smoky flavor of the ribs. Even though the dish came with a side of their infamous barbecue sauce, I felt that the ribs could stand alone without the sauce. However, the sauce does enhance the flavor of the ribs. Overall, Jack Stack’s barbecue ribs never fail to impress me; it will always be my favorite.

In addition, the ribs were served with a side of their famous beans, cheesy corn, and coleslaw. I’ve had Jack Stack’s sides before, but I will never fail to be amazed by the flavor each time I eat it. Whether it is the cornbake or the beans, all of the sides complement the smokey barbecue well with each of their unique tastes. While the beans were on the more savory side, the cornbake and the coleslaw were more creamy and had hints of sweetness in them. There couldn’t have been any better sides than the ones that were given with this course.

Course 2: Mom’s Carrot Cake

Rating: 4/5

For dessert, I chose the carrot cake because it is usually my go-to dessert at restaurants. The dish features a small circular carrot cake topped with a generous layer of cream cheese frosting. Since I ordered take out, the cake was cold and the frosting wasn’t melted, so I decided to heat it up before I ate it. After heating it a little, the frosting softened and the cake was softened, making each spoonful enjoyable. However, I felt as if there was a little too much frosting, so I ended up pushing some of it off the cake. Despite this, the carrot cake was an amazing way to end the savory dinner. 

Overall Rating: 4/5

Even though I was eating Jack Stack at home through carryout, I enjoyed the two-course dinner that was served. Jack Stack has a seamless process for people to pick up carryout with minimal contact, making the experience of getting barbecue safe. While my experiences were different compared to previous years, Jack Stack still managed to impress me with the dinner.