Photo of the Day
That’s taken inside Aurthur Bryant’s Barbecue, a Kansas City, Missouri mainstay where we happened to go while the Chiefs were playing. Delicious food. The walls are filled with pictures of famous folks who’ve eaten there before: Jimmy Carter, Sarah Palin and John McCain, Steven Spielberg.
In that restaurant, the neighborhood that surrounds it, and several other places in the city, there is an empty feeling, as though you’re walking around a place that is past its prime. There are a lot of vacant buildings, a lot of available space, not so many people out on the streets. You’ll know someone who lives in a converted Nabisco factory, or down in the West Bottoms, where there used to be brokerage houses and meat packing, but now there are huge abandoned structures that host an occasional craft fair and a haunted house at Halloween.
Later today I’ll post some photos from Kansas City, Kansas, a far more desolate cityscape, and interesting in its own way.
This Missouri boy congratulates you for partaking of one of our state’s true treasures!
From the photo, it looks like you went to the original location, which is of course the right thing to do. :) That area has had its problems for decades. But Kansas City and Kansas City, Kansas are no where near as bad a some of the other cities of their size. They certainly win in competition with St. Louis and East St. Louis.
The West Bottoms is pretty bad, though, and the various downtown rejuvenation schemes that have been tried over the years have fared about as badly as one has come to expect from such things. The big new arena still hasn’t attracted an NBA or NHL team, which isn’t surprising.
But that empty feeling you sensed might have been mostly a result of being there on a Chiefs game day. The “past its prime” assessment is definitely accurate there. Same for my beloved Royals. :(
— Ethan C. · Dec 9, 12:16 AM · #
I was in Kansas City for work one day; I had about two free hours before I needed to head out to the airport, and chose to spend my time at the original Arthur Bryant’s. Great food! However, I agree with your overall assessment of the area. I walked around a bit after lunch, stopped in the Jazz Museum, et., and just came away with a sense that I missed the neighborhood’s relevance by severeal decades…
— Jeremiah · Dec 9, 02:49 AM · #
Great Picture!
— Scentsy Candles · Dec 9, 05:05 AM · #
Bryant’s has great BBQ. Their two-meat combo sandwiches easily have enough meat for three fat sandwiches. Plus I’m partial to their sauce with its vinegar bite.
But judging KC by the area around Bryant’s (or the West Bottoms, for that matter), however, only provides a glimpse of two of the most-blighted parts of town.
In fact, the restaurant is near the poorest, most crime-ridden section of the city. Go a couple or three miles south and west and it’s whole other city — not so “Omega Man” meets “Escape from New York.”
— PV · Dec 9, 06:44 AM · #
Well played, Scentsy Candles.
— Freddie · Dec 10, 04:59 AM · #
great Shot!
— torpedo gratis · Dec 16, 03:18 PM · #