Hawg Jaw Que & Brew

Silvio brothers (Sam + Nick) BBQ operation; acquired the longtime “Hawg Jaw Fritz” KC BBQ joint when its owner sought to sell; moved from Riverside to North Kansas City in 2017; Pitch “Best New BBQ” 2012. Plaza Provisions vendor (per plaza-provisions) anchoring the BBQ slot.

Description

Hawg Jaw Que & Brew is operated by brothers Sam and Nick Silvio. The Silvio family has been part of the Kansas City restaurant scene for a long time — they own Em Chamas Brazilian Grill and helped open Piropos in Parkville.¹² Nick Silvio served on the Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD) — the Pitch feature on him is framed as “carries the flames from serving on KCFD to the Hawg Jaw Que & Brew smoker.”¹

The operation’s origin is unusual: the Silvios were originally looking for a meal-prep kitchen for a different business when they encountered the owner of the longtime BBQ joint “Hawg Jaw Fritz” looking to sell. Hawg Jaw Fritz had too much of a loyal following to simply shutter, so the Silvios acquired it, adjusted the menu, and kept it operating under the similar moniker “Hawg Jaw Que & Brew.”² The restaurant was originally based in Riverside before the Silvios moved it to North Kansas City in 2017.²

The cuisine is competition-quality BBQ: cherrywood-smoked up to 12 hours; 21-day-aged Sterling Silver Choice Beef; family recipes passed down through generations. The operation won the Kansas City Pitch “Kansas City’s Best New BBQ” in 2012.

The Plaza Provisions food hall (opened Aug 2025) features Hawg Jaw as the BBQ vendor anchor — extending the Silvio operation’s reach into the Plaza/Cascade Hotel-adjacent dining market.

Tier classification

Tier 1 — Silvio-family KC operation; KCFD-veteran-founder + multi-business KC restaurant lineage.

Criterion match: family-operated (Silvio brothers); KC-resident operators continuously (Silvio family in KC restaurant scene “for a long time” per the Pitch); independent (not chain; not corporate); North Kansas City address (in scope per Geographic-Scope); meaningful KC civic-service background (Nick’s KCFD years).

Sources

Footnotes

1. The Pitch KC — “Nick Silvio carries the flames from serving on KCFD to the Hawg Jaw Que & Brew smoker.” https://www.thepitchkc.com/nick-silvio-carries-the-flames-from-serving-on-kcfd-to-the-hawg-jaw-que-brew-smoker/. ↩ ↩²

2. Hawg Jaw Que & Brew — official About + Story pages. https://hawgjaw.com/about-us/ + https://hawgjaw.com/story. Source for Hawg Jaw Fritz acquisition story; Riverside origin; 2017 NKC move; cherrywood + Sterling Silver beef + family-recipe details; 2012 Pitch recognition. ↩ ↩² ↩³