KANSAS CITY, MO — As Cincinnati Bengals fans make their way to Kansas City, Missouri for Sunday night’s AFC Championship game against the Chiefs, there will be plenty of places for fans to get food, especially good barbecue.
>>PHOTOS: Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que
News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis spend Friday at Joe’s Kansas City BBQ where it’s a popular spot at lunch time. It’s even busier with Bengals fans in town.
“Last year, we were super surprised,” said Eric Tadda, Marketing Director of Joe’s. “We thought the red and the orange would mix, but there was a lot orange. They travel really well. The ‘Who Dey Nation’ as they say came out.”
Lewis was at the original Joe’s location which is known for being in a gas station but also tasty BBQ-like chicken and ribs.
One of the most popular items on the menu, the Z-Man. It’s slow-smoked beef brisket with smoked provolone cheese and onion rings on a toasted Kaiser bun.
“On a weekend where we have Bengals fans, we’re probably going to sell 300-500 at each location,” said Tadda. “Over the course of the year, we’re going to sell over a quarter million sandwiches.
>>‘We got a team we can believe in;’ Several local fans heading to KC for Bengals playoff game
He tells Lewis people come to Kansas City to expect good barbecue and Bengals fans last year were excited to be there but not expecting to beat the Chiefs.
“Last year was more a party vibe,” he said. “Now that they beat the Chiefs three times, I feel like they’re coming here with the expectation to go to the Super Bowl.”
He feels Bengals fans are traveling with the expectation that they are pitstop to Arizona.
Who does Tadda think will win?
“I think it’s going to be a close game,” he said. “I can’t go against Patrick Mahomes.”
>>PHOTOS: Smoke N Seoul Food Truck
Lewis also visited the Smoke N Seoul food truck in Kansas City.
“What we do is Kansas City BBQ, so that’s like the smoke part and then the ‘Seoul’ is Korean food,” said Greg Stears, Smoke N Seoul food truck owner. “So it’s kind of a story of my wife and I through food. So my wife’s Korean so we get a lot of Korean flavors infused into all of our dishes.”
Some of their most sought after BBQ are their brisket and ribs.
“Our ribs, what we do is we smoke them in an offset smoker, all of our smoking is in an offset smoker and then smoke them and then bring them in the truck,” he told Lewis. “Then we saw them to order and then we grill them so they got this nice char on them so there’s two different sauces: one’s spicier and one’s sweet.”
This is a city where you don’t go hungry if this is the type of food you are looking for.
“Kansas City is BBQ,” said Stears. “So, like you come here and that’s what you got to get.”
Cincinnati and Kansas City will play Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake.
>>News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis is with Bengals to cover AFC Championship game in Kansas City
News Center 7 will have coverage of the Bengals and Chiefs leading up to kickoff.
This includes the Orange Zone on Sunday morning, Jan. 29, at 11:30 a.m. with John Bedell and Larry Hansgen.
Lewis will also provide live coverage from Kansas City.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The winner advances to Super Bowl XLVII to play either San Francisco or Philadelphia on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
©2023 Cox Media Group
