Consistent, delicious food! Great menu, and my kids ask to come back again and again.read more

A few days before Father's Day, I found myself in the comments section of a Meat Mitch post…read morefeaturing their annual crawfish boil. Someone from the restaurant replied to a comment I had made, rattling off menu recommendations and encouraging me to stop by. It worked. By the time Father's Day rolled around, Meat Mitch had become the destination. When we arrived, the place looked exactly like the kind of barbecue joint people hope to discover. The patio was alive. Kids chased each other through the crowd. Cornhole bags flew through the air. Families lingered around picnic tables while smoke drifted through the summer air. We were quoted an hour-and-a-half to two-hour wait. No problem. It was Father's Day. Barbecue and patience have always gone hand in hand. So we made an afternoon of it. My son found other kids to play with. My wife ducked into Billie's Grocery for a coffee and a snack. We wandered the Plaza, killed time, and enjoyed the day. Frankly, Meat Mitch seemed worth waiting for. A 90-to-120-minute wait eventually became three hours. That's when the story changed. At one point we sat near the expo window because the Toast waitlist showed we were next in line for a table. From there, we watched the operation for over an hour. The bottleneck appeared to be the expo station. Food runners stood ready while plates piled up in the window and tickets were worked one at a time. The entire process moved at a pace that would make the DMV ask if everything was okay. Meanwhile, managers were making rounds apologizing to guests, comping checks, and handing out gift cards. Every few minutes another table looked confused, frustrated, or defeated. As I listened to conversations around me, a pattern emerged. Multiple tables said they had already waited 45 minutes to an hour for food after being seated. That's when it clicked. The Toast waitlist showed we were next in line for a table. We weren't next to eat. We were next to sit. By this point my son was having a better Father's Day than I was. He'd made friends, played games, and explored the Plaza. I spent mine watching plates age in the expo window like they were being dry-aged alongside the brisket. What really broke my brain was watching carryout orders continue to leave the building while the dining room was drowning. If your quoted wait has turned into three hours, managers are comping meals, and guests are openly frustrated, maybe it's time to stop accepting new problems and start solving the ones already sitting in your restaurant. Then there was the expo station. For over an hour, I watched the same pair of gloves touch faces, clothing, equipment, tickets, and food. By the end they were shiny with grease, stretched loose from overuse, and inspiring absolutely zero confidence. I've seen cast-iron skillets retired sooner than those gloves. I've worked in restaurants long enough to know everyone has bad days. Father's Day is chaos. People call out. Equipment breaks. Tickets stack up. It happens. But after three hours--already an hour longer than the maximum wait we were quoted--I never got to try the barbecue that brought me there in the first place. Unfortunately, I can't review the food. The only thing I got to sample was my patience. And that's a shame. Because everything about Meat Mitch made me want to like Meat Mitch. The patio was great. The atmosphere was great. The energy was great. It felt like the kind of place where you could spend an entire afternoon with people you enjoy being around. In a way, that's what made the experience so frustrating. The promise of a great Father's Day was sitting right in front of me. I just never made it to the table. Update: After sharing my experience with management, Meat Mitch reached out, accepted responsibility for what happened, and invited me back. I appreciate the professionalism and plan to give them another opportunity.

I went on a two month long hot dog adventure that ended with stop #20 at Fritz's Meat and Superior…read moreSausage Company. Fritz's takes a blue ribbon for its $3 made and smoked in-house hot dog. Free sauerkraut, mustard, Dijon, BBQ sauce, and ketchup are available at the condiment table and other toppings are available for purchase, I added jalapeños and slivered onions for $1. A masterpiece on a soft but durable bun. I also bought a $5 pint of sausage "burnt ends" that I ate plain and mixed into a scrambled egg dish. The $8 whole smoked chicken was my wife and I's favorite chicken we've ever had. I'm sad that in Fritz's has been in operation 99 years and that I have never been in before this weekend. If you buy rotisserie chickens from the store, stop it and head to Fritz's.

We don't go here on a regular basis, only special occasions, but they always knock it out of the…read morepark! While during most of the year, they do sell lunch, that's just not why most people go to Fritz's. They're renowned for their smoked meats. Around holidays they sell smoked turkeys, gravy, and- most importantly- their 3 sausage stuffing, which is a must for our holiday meals. It is delicious! It can get busy some mornings with people picking up, but I always see people getting helped fast, the line goes quickly. Pro tip: you don't have to be there right in the morning. Wait a couple hours and come in, you'll be fine. Year round, we're a fan of their breakfast burrito mix of meats- just cook it up with eggs and you have yourself a filling meal. Then there's the dog bones.... Altogether, this is a simple and unassuming place, a bit old fashioned, but very much solid.

Clean store with friendly service, good meats, lots of groceries. We're visiting for a party and…read moreneeded fresh meat and went to a few places in the city and finally found this place to meet our needs.

I came here to buy baklava for an event I hosted. The people working were very friendly! They…read moreanswered all of my questions about which to buy, other treats I could serve, etc. i received rave reviews about the Baklava! Everyone loved it!

It's always a great Saturday at Bichelmeyers. We came for the tacos that are only served on…read moreSaturday. I got one pastor taco, one taco here is the equivalent to about three at a normal shop, order accordingly! We also picked up some chorizo and brisket, can't go wrong.

Best beef in KC! Had the pleasure of dealing with Joe and Jim Bichelmeyer, great service from two…read morebrothers who make you feel more like family than a customer.

Good food and service! Grabbed four different flavors of sausage and some smoked pork chops to go…read moretoo!

This is I hidden gem that is a MUST to visit! Just please don't buy all of the jerky especially the…read morepork kind.. it goes fast!

Dirty, dirty, dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty dirty!!!…read moreTheir frozen meat is old. Very very old. We had to throw it away after it was defrosted. Disgusting

I went in to grab lunch, got a brisket sandwich which came with a free drink as well. The sandwich…read morehad a lot of meat which was a good cut and had good flavor. The bbq sauce they put on it was also really good.