Wabash BBQ

Wabash BBQ is a barbecue restaurant, full-service bar and outdoor live-blues venue occupying the 1927 Wabash Railway passenger station and the adjoining former dairy building in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.

Description

Wabash BBQ occupies the former Wabash Railway passenger station at 646 S. Kansas City Ave. in Excelsior Springs, a red-brick Mission-style depot built in 1927.¹ The restaurant serves smoked meats, ribs and chicken from a dining room built inside the station’s original passenger waiting room, with the adjacent former dairy building absorbed into the operation.¹²

The menu is organized around railroad naming: starters appear under “All Aboard,” sandwiches under “Conductor’s Favorites” (the Iron Horse, Roundhouse, Depot, Wabash, Golden Spike, Steamer and Train Track Tenderloin), plates under “Engineer’s Entrees,” and sides under “Signals & Switches.”³ Ribs are sold as long-end, short-end, half-slab baby-back, full-slab spare and full-slab baby-back dinners.³ A rotating weekday discount plate runs Monday through Friday.³

Beyond the dining room, the business runs a full-service bar and the Ice House Blues Garden, an outdoor stage hosting live blues on Saturdays from June through September.² It also caters groups from six to 600 people and sells its barbecue sauce as a retail product.²⁴

Ownership and history

The 1927 depot served passenger rail until 9 September 1933, when the last train arrived.¹ The building was afterward taken over by the Quality Milk Company, which ran a dairy there in the late 1930s, then by a printing company, and it stood vacant on more than one occasion.¹

In February 1997, Jim and Cheri McCullough together with Mitch and Malinda Dickey purchased the building and renovated it into Wabash BBQ.¹ The business marks its 29th anniversary in August 2026 and remains under the same ownership group.¹ Cheri McCullough and Mitch Dickey have been recognized by the Kauffman Foundation for their entrepreneurial work in Excelsior Springs.¹

Links

• Website: https://wabashbbq.com/

Menu

Prices below are from the restaurant’s own online menu, retrieved 2026-08-26.³

Daily discount fares (Mon–Fri): brisket chunks on a hoagie with fries $13.49 (Mon); smoked long-end ribs with fries $14.99 (Tue); quarter chicken and ribs with fries $14.99 (Wed); pulled pork plate with two sides $12.49 (Thu); hand-breaded catfish with corn nuggets and fries $11.99 (Fri).

All Aboard (starters): fried pickles $11.49; sweet corn nuggets $10.99; fried zucchini $11.49; fried mushrooms $12.99; BBQ nacho platter $14.99; onion strings $11.99; fried sweet potatoes $11.49; chicken wings $14.99; chicken strips $12.49; white cheddar cheese curds $11.49.

Salads: side salad $4.99; large dinner salad $12.49; fried chicken salad $12.49.

Conductor’s Favorites (sandwiches): Iron Horse $11.99; Roundhouse $12.99; Depot $13.99; Wabash $14.99; Golden Spike $12.49; Steamer $13.99; Train Track Tenderloin $13.99.

Engineer’s Entrees: chicken strip dinner $12.99; Wabash Blend $13.99; Engine Catfish $13.99; Shrimp Express $14.99; Sidecar Chicken $15.99; Fireman’s Favorite $17.99; Short Stack $14.99; Smokey Stacks $17.99; Piggyback Combo $33.99.

Railroad Rib Dinners: long end $17.99; short end $18.99; half-slab baby-back $19.99; full-slab spare ribs $30.99; full-slab baby-back $31.99.

Signals & Switches (sides): french fries, potato salad, cole slaw, BBQ beans — $3.99 each.

The Little Passengers (12 and under): rib dinner $7.99; chicken strip dinner $6.99; corndog $5.99.

Dessert: coconut meringue pie $4.99.

Sources

Footnotes

1. “Our Story,” Wabash BBQ official website. Retrieved 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. “Wabash BBQ & Blues Garden,” Visit Excelsior Springs (Excelsior Springs tourism office). Retrieved 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. “Our Menu,” Wabash BBQ official website. Retrieved 2026-08-26. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. “BBQ Sauce,” Wabash BBQ official website. URL — page listed in site navigation but not independently retrieved. ↩