Jack Stack Barbecue (Freight House)

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue is a third-generation, Fiorella-family-owned Kansas City barbecue institution dating to 1957; the Freight House location occupies a converted historic freight depot in the Crossroads Arts District.

Description

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue is one of Kansas City’s defining barbecue brands, owned and operated by the Fiorella family across multiple area locations. The operation traces to 1957, when family patriarch Russ Fiorella opened a barbecue restaurant on the south side of Kansas City; the modern “Jack Stack” name and gourmet, hickory-smoked menu emerged from son Jack Fiorella’s branch of the family business. The brand is known nationally for signature items including its crown prime beef rib, burnt ends, and hickory-wood-smoked meats, and operates a substantial nationwide catering and shipping business.¹²

The Freight House location sits at 101 W 22nd Street in the Crossroads Arts District, in a converted historic freight depot characterized by 25-foot ceilings, a fireplace lounge with full-service bar, and indoor and outdoor private dining. It is one of five Jack Stack restaurants in the Kansas City metro area.³⁴

The restaurant menu spans more than eleven smoked meats — from burnt ends to lamb ribs — and the brand has been cited as a top-rated barbecue destination in national rankings.³⁴

Ownership and history

Russ Fiorella (b. 1912), a son of Italian immigrants who grew up in a Kansas City Italian neighborhood and worked as a butcher, founded the original Smoke Stack Barbecue in 1957 at a former roadhouse (The Lucky Inn) on Hickman Mills Drive.¹² In 1974, his eldest son Jack Fiorella opened Smoke Stack Barbecue of Martin City with his wife Delores, cooking gourmet meats over hickory.

The business is today in its third generation of Fiorella-family ownership and operates five Kansas City-area restaurants plus a nationwide catering and shipping operation.¹²³

The exact year the Freight House location opened (described in base data as “2000s”) was not confirmed to a precise date in the sources reviewed.

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-23 · Source: Jack Stack official Freight House location page + Yelp Freight House menu listings · URL(s): https://www.jackstackbbq.com/locations/freight-house; https://www.yelp.com/menu/jack-stack-barbecue-freight-house-kansas-city-2 · Confidence: Medium (full-service dinner menu corroborated across official site + Yelp item pages; some prices sampled from aggregator listings rather than a fully machine-readable official menu — treat individual figures as representative)

Note — brand-shared menu. Jack Stack’s restaurant menu is brand-wide across its five KC-metro locations; the Freight House serves the same core hickory-smoked menu rather than a location-exclusive one. What distinguishes the Freight House is its full-service dinner format (converted historic freight depot, 25-foot ceilings, fireplace lounge with full-service bar, indoor/outdoor private dining) rather than a different menu. The canonical brand menu lives on the brand page jack-stack-barbecue; this section captures the menu as served at the Freight House and intentionally mirrors the brand.³⁵

Signature smoked meats

• Crown Prime Beef Rib — the brand’s flagship item; 10+ oz of hickory-smoked, fork-tender prime beef rib, available as one, two, or three ribs. ~$34 as a dinner entrée; can be added to combo plates.⁵⁶
• Beef Burnt Ends — tender, bark-encased brisket ends, hickory-smoked; a KC signature. Burnt Ends Dinner $24.80 (includes one side); also offered by the half-pound ($16) and as a side/appetizer.⁵⁶
• Beef Brisket — sliced brisket smoked low and slow over hickory; half-pound ~$15.⁵⁶
• Honey-Glazed Baby Back Ribs — Baby Back Ribs Dinner ~$28.35; 6-rib portion ~$16.⁵⁶
• Pork Spare Ribs Dinner ~$25.40; Beef Ribs Dinner ~$33.50; Lamb Ribs Dinner ~$37.80.⁶
• Additional hickory-smoked meats include smoked sausage, slow-smoked turkey breast, ham, pulled pork, and chicken — the menu spans more than eleven smoked meats.³⁵

Starters & shareables

• Burnt End Brussels Sprouts ~$14.75.⁶
• Beef Burnt End Stew — carrots, potatoes, beef burnt ends ~$11.80.⁶
• Onion rings and other shareables per the dinner starters menu.⁵

Combination dinners

• Burnt End Combo (feeds 2) ~$49.00.⁶
• Taste of Kansas City (sampler combo platter, incl. beef brisket) ~$79.10.⁶

Sandwiches

• The Stack — smoked sausage, beef brisket, pepper jack, onion ring, honey-chipotle BBQ sauce; includes one side ~$20.95.⁶
• French Dip — slow-roasted thin-sliced prime rib, smoked provolone, caramelized onions, au jus ~$26.00.⁶
• Other hickory-smoked sandwiches served with fries.⁵

Signature sides

• Cheesy Corn Bake and Hickory Pit Beans — Jack Stack’s two best-known signature sides.⁵⁶
• Additional sides: cheesy potato bake, loaded baked potato, creamy coleslaw, potato salad, French fries, broccoli with roasted garlic butter (sides roughly $5–9 depending on size/menu).⁶

Entrées beyond BBQ (full-service dinner)

• Wood-Fired Duroc Pork Chop ~$23; Honey-Chipotle Chicken ~$19; plus salads and desserts on the full dinner menu.⁵⁶

Prices are representative and sampled from the official location page and Yelp menu listings as of 2026-06-23; Jack Stack adjusts menu and pricing periodically and individual figures should be treated as approximate. Price tier: Medium-High (full-service BBQ dinner; signature Crown Prime Beef Rib and combos run higher).

Tier classification

Tier 2. Jack Stack is unambiguously a deeply rooted KC institution — Fiorella family, KC-founded in 1957, now third-generation and still family-owned, which are strong Tier 1 signals. However, it is also a large multi-location brand (five area restaurants plus national catering, shipping, and Goldbelly delivery), which is the standing qualifier that places it at Tier 2 rather than Tier 1: the local-rootedness is genuine, but the operation has scaled into a regional/national brand. This is the same multi-market-group reasoning applied elsewhere; the founding-family continuity keeps it firmly above Tier 3.

Sources

1. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue — Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorella’s_Jack_Stack_Barbecue — accessed 2026-05-30
2. “From Smoke Stack to Jack Stack – The Fiorella Story” — Martin City Telegraph — https://martincitytelegraph.com/2017/01/27/from-smoke-stack-to-jack-stack-the-fiorella-story/ — accessed 2026-05-30
3. Jack Stack Barbecue official — Freight House location page — https://www.jackstackbbq.com/locations/freight-house — accessed 2026-05-30
4. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue at the Freight House — Visit KC — https://www.visitkc.com/listings/fiorellas-jack-stack-barbecue-at-the-freight-house/ — accessed 2026-05-30
5. Jack Stack Barbecue official — Freight House location / dinner menu — https://www.jackstackbbq.com/locations/freight-house — accessed 2026-06-23
6. Jack Stack Barbecue — Freight House — Yelp menu listings (item pages: crown prime beef rib, burnt ends, ribs, brisket, The Stack, French dip, sides) — https://www.yelp.com/menu/jack-stack-barbecue-freight-house-kansas-city-2 — accessed 2026-06-23

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 4 independent sources (official site, Wikipedia, Martin City Telegraph, Visit KC). Brand founding (1957), Fiorella-family third-generation ownership, Freight House address and Crossroads setting, and signature items are well-corroborated. The precise Freight House opening date is unconfirmed and flagged.

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorella%27s_Jack_Stack_Barbecue — Founding 1957 (Russ Fiorella), 1974 Martin City branch (Jack Fiorella), third generation, five KC restaurants + national catering. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Martin City Telegraph — “From Smoke Stack to Jack Stack – The Fiorella Story.” https://martincitytelegraph.com/2017/01/27/from-smoke-stack-to-jack-stack-the-fiorella-story/ — Founder narrative, Smoke Stack/Jack Stack naming, family lineage. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Jack Stack official Freight House location page — https://www.jackstackbbq.com/locations/freight-house — Address, Crossroads setting, converted freight depot, menu (crown prime beef rib, burnt ends, 11+ meats). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. Visit KC listing — https://www.visitkc.com/listings/fiorellas-jack-stack-barbecue-at-the-freight-house/ — Freight House location confirmation, Crossroads Arts District. ↩ ↩²

5. Jack Stack official Freight House location/dinner menu — https://www.jackstackbbq.com/locations/freight-house — Brand-wide menu as served at Freight House: Crown Prime Beef Rib, burnt ends, brisket, ribs (baby back, spare, beef, lamb), smoked sausage/turkey/ham/pulled pork, 11+ smoked meats, combo plates, sandwiches served with fries, signature sides (cheesy corn bake, hickory pit beans), non-BBQ dinner entrées (duroc pork chop, honey-chipotle chicken). Full-service dinner format. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

6. Yelp — Jack Stack Barbecue Freight House menu (item pages) — https://www.yelp.com/menu/jack-stack-barbecue-freight-house-kansas-city-2 — Representative dinner prices: Crown Prime Beef Rib ~$34, Burnt Ends Dinner ~$24.80, Beef Brisket 1/2# ~$15, Baby Back Ribs Dinner ~$28.35, Pork Spare Ribs ~$25.40, Beef Ribs ~$33.50, Lamb Ribs ~$37.80, Burnt End Brussels Sprouts ~$14.75, Beef Burnt End Stew ~$11.80, Burnt End Combo (feeds 2) ~$49, Taste of Kansas City ~$79.10, The Stack ~$20.95, French Dip ~$26, sides ~$5–9. Prices representative, accessed 2026-06-23. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴