BB's Lawnside Blues & BBQ

BB’s Lawnside Blues & BBQ is a working roadhouse at 1205 E 85th St in south Kansas City where live blues and slow-smoked barbecue have shared one room since 1990 — hickory smoke from a granite pit built in 1950 out of paving stones pulled from downtown KC streets, and a band calendar that runs most of the week. Founded by KC blues broadcaster Lindsay Shannon and his wife Jo, it passed in 2022 to the Nickle brothers, who started there as high-school employees three decades earlier.

| Notable features | 1950 granite BBQ pit (downtown paving stones); live blues Wed–Sun; Mama Ray’s Saturday blues jam (no cover); featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives ||

Description

BB’s is one of the few rooms in Kansas City where the city’s two signature exports — barbecue and live music — are the same night out. The building was the Silver Moon roadhouse before Lindsay Shannon bought it in 1990 and named it “Lawnside” as a joke (no lawn; a big parking lot).¹ The pit is the thing of legend: granite paving stones ripped out of downtown streets in 1950, hickory-fired, no thermostats.² The music calendar runs Wednesday through Sunday, anchored by Mama Ray’s no-cover Saturday-afternoon blues jam.³

Menu

Last verified: 2026-07-25 · Source: official online-ordering menu (SpotOn storefront linked from bbslawnsidebbq.com/order-online), rendered via Firecrawl⁴; item descriptions per official menu⁵ · Confidence: High (full priced menu captured from the restaurant’s own first-party ordering platform). Kansas City barbecue with New Orleans-Louisiana crossovers.

Kansas City barbecue with New Orleans-Louisiana crossovers: hickory-smoked ribs and beef burnt ends, pulled pork, smoked catfish, plus gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice.⁵

Appetizers

• BBQ Nachos — tortilla chips, pulled pork, pit beans, chili cheese dip, sour cream, chives — $13.95⁴
• Irish BBQ Nachos — seasoned skillet fries version — $14.25⁴
• Slow Smoked Wings — hickory-smoked, fried to order and tossed — $13.25 (1 lb) / $24.95 (2 lb)⁴
• Hand Breaded Chicken Basket — jumbo tenders with choice of sauces — $12.95⁴
• Tater Kegs — stuffed potato nuggets with cheddar, bacon, chives, chipotle cream ranch — $12.95⁴
• Pepper Jack Mac-N-Cheese Bites — $12.95⁴
• Big Bertha’s Onion Rings — sweet Spanish onion, draft-beer batter — $11.39⁴
• Cornbread Basket — six pieces with butter cups — $11.95⁴
• Chips and Dip — chili cheese dip with chips — $9.99⁴

Salads, Soup & Chili

• BBQ Brisket Chili — brisket and ground beef chili — $12.49⁴
• Fried or Smoked Chicken Salad — romaine, cheddar, egg, tomato, fried onions, croutons — $14.50⁴
• Large House Salad — $10.95⁴
• Side Salad — $6.95⁴
• Burnt End Soup — seasonal⁵

Sandwiches

• The Original — pit-smoked pulled pork, ham, sausage, or turkey — $10.49⁴
• Big Walter’s Mixed Meat Sandwich — chopped beef, ham, turkey, pulled pork, sausage, burnt ends in sweet BBQ sauce — $11.95⁴
• The Big One — pit-smoked meat on a bun — $12.95⁴
• The Big Sweet — pulled pork, smoked Italian sausage, onion straws, sweet-heat peach BBQ, skillet fries — $12.95⁴
• Sweet/Hot Mama’s Fried Chicken Sandwich — hand-battered chicken, sauce options, mozzarella — $12.95⁴
• BB’s BBQ Philly — half-pound chopped brisket, turkey, or chicken, peppers, onions, chili cheese dip on a hoagie — $15.95⁴
• 1/2 BBQ Philly (Brisket / Chicken / Turkey) — $7.95⁴
• Pulled Pork Meal Deal — 6 oz pulled pork sandwich with chips — $10.50⁴
• Hot Dog Meal — $10.50⁴
• Grilled Cheese — $7.75⁴

BBQ Plates & Ribs

Smoked over a hickory wood fire.

• Rib Snacks — pork rib misfits with skillet fries — $12.95⁴
• Full Slab (carry-out) — $29.95⁴
• Smoked Catfish — farm-raised whole smoked catfish with slaw, cornbread, fries⁵
• BBQ Sundae — pit beans, cole slaw, pulled pork in a mason jar — $12.75⁴
• BBQ Meatloaf — smoked brisket and ground beef with green beans, cornbread, skillet fries⁵
• Half Chicken Dinner — bone-in half chicken with two sides⁵
• Burnt End Dinner — half-pound beef burnt ends with pit beans and fries⁵

Combo BBQ Trays

• Yardbird Combo — quarter chicken, three pork spare ribs, skillet fries — $18.99⁴
• 1 Pound Hickory Smoked Meat Platter — two meats, two sides, pickles, bread — $27.95⁴
• BB’s King Combo Platter — four ribs, Italian sausage, one meat, fries, pit beans — $38.95⁴
• The Super King — double the King Combo, four sides — $77.95⁴

Louisiana Favorites

• Smokey Jo’s Gumbo — tomato-based stew with smoked chicken, ham, turkey, sausage — $5.35 (cup) / $9.95 (bowl)⁴
• Red Beans & Rice — smoked ham hocks, onions, celery, peppers over rice — $5.35 (cup) / $9.95 (bowl)⁴
• Dirty Red’s Jambalaya — ham, sausage, chicken, seasoned rice — $5.35 (cup) / $8.75 (bowl)⁴
• BB’s Cajun Sundae — three Louisiana favorites in a mason jar, jalapeño cheddar sausage — $11.65⁴

Sides

• Skillet Fried Potatoes — $5.25⁴
• Side Onion Rings — $5.95⁴
• 1/4 lb Beef Burnt Ends (add-on) — $6.75⁴
• Cornbread (2 pc) — $4.95⁴
• Single Rib — $3.95⁴
• Pit Beans · Potato Salad · Pasta Salad · Home Style Cole Slaw · Green Beans · Applesauce — $4.95 each⁴

Beverages

• Fountain sodas, Iced Tea, Lemonade — $2.75⁴
• Flavored Lemonade or Tea (Kiwi, Peach, Raspberry, Strawberry) — $3.49⁴

Kids Menu — $9.95 each

Each served with one side: BBQ Sandwich, Chicken Tenders, Rib Plate, Grilled Cheese, All Beef Hot Dog.⁴

Dessert

• Bread Pudding — scratch-made with vanilla, raisins, bourbon glaze — $7.95⁴
• Deep Fried Bread Pudding — funnel-cake style with bourbon glaze — $7.95⁴
• Jess’s Oreo Heaven — crushed Oreo, whipped topping, chocolate pudding, cream cheese — $7.95⁴
• Jumbo Chocolate Chunk Cookie — house-baked quarter-pound — $3.29⁴

Catering & By the Pound (carry-out)

• Smoked meats by the pound: Pulled Pork $20.95/lb ($10.95 half), Ham / Turkey / Sausage $23.95/lb ($12.49 half)⁴
• Sides by the pint/quart — $9.50 / $18.50; Gumbo, Jambalaya, Red Beans & Rice — $23.00/quart, $65.00/half-pan⁴
• BB’s BBQ Sauce (Mild / Hot / Peach) — $6.99 retail bottle, $8.50 pint, $16.00 quart⁴
• Express catering packages: Express 5 (feeds 5) $92.50 · Express 10 $185.00 · Express 15 $277.50 · Express 25 $462.50 · Express 50 $925.00⁴

Ownership and history

Period	Owner / operator
1990 → 2022	Lindsay & Jo Shannon — Lindsay: founding member of the Kansas City Blues Society (1980), host of “The Kansas City Blues Show” on 101 The Fox, Blues Foundation “Keeping the Blues Alive” honoree (1992). Jo ran the kitchen; her Louisiana recipes shaped the menu. Jo died in 2021.267
June 2022 → present	The Nickle brothers (Jimmy, Mike, Kenneth) — hired as high-schoolers around 1992; Mike trained under Jo as pitmaster, Jimmy learned operations and band booking from Lindsay; they ran the KCBS Grand Champion NICKLEBOYSBBQ competition team. Lindsay sold to them after Jo’s death.82
April 2025	Mike Nickle died after 30+ years at BB’s — the only job he ever held (appeared on No Reservations, PBS’s Burnt Legend, DDD). New pitmaster: Reggie Davis.910

Lindsay Shannon sold the restaurant after Jo’s 2021 death and is treated as living in 2025 press (no obituary found).⁸ The About page still describes Lindsay handling marketing/advertising/entertainment language in legacy form — operational ownership is the Nickle brothers; Jimmy books the bands.²⁸

Music note (2025): shows typically start ~7pm with a $5–10 cover; Mama Ray’s Saturday open jam 2–5pm remains no cover; Sundays no cover unless a special event.⁸

Links

• Website: https://bbslawnsidebbq.com
• Instagram: @bbslawnsidebbq
• Music calendar: https://bbslawnsidebbq.com/calendar/

See also

• Registry · kansas-city-music-scene

Sources

Footnotes

1. The Pitch, “Roadhouse Blues.” — 1990 purchase, naming, building history. ↩

2. BB’s Lawnside — About page — founding year, Silver Moon history, 1950 granite pit, Shannon and Nickle biographies, hours. (Re-checked 2026-08-10.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. BB’s Lawnside — live music calendar ↩

4. BB’s Lawnside Blues & BBQ — official online-ordering menu (SpotOn) — full priced menu rendered via Firecrawl and captured 2026-07-25. First-party prices (not a delivery aggregator). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰ ↩⁴¹ ↩⁴² ↩⁴³ ↩⁴⁴ ↩⁴⁵ ↩⁴⁶ ↩⁴⁷ ↩⁴⁸ ↩⁴⁹ ↩⁵⁰ ↩⁵¹ ↩⁵²

5. BB’s Lawnside Blues & BBQ — official menu (accessed 2026-07-13). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

6. Blues Foundation — Keeping the Blues Alive award, The Kansas City Blues Show ↩

7. Dignity Memorial — Jo Shannon obituary (2021) ↩

8. The Pitch, “Q the music with BB’s Lawnside Blues & BBQ” (2025-07-04) — asserts: 2022 sale to Nickle brothers after Jo’s 2021 death; Jimmy as owner/GM and booker; Mike’s 2025 death; Reggie Davis as new pitmaster; cover $5–10, Mama Ray jam no cover, ~75% local acts. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Dignity Memorial — Michael Nickle obituary (April 25, 2025) ↩

10. BB’s Lawnside — news page (Reggie Davis as pitmaster) ↩