Zarda Bar-B-Q

Zarda Bar-B-Q is a multi-generational, family-owned Kansas City barbecue institution founded by the Zarda brothers in Blue Springs, Missouri in 1976, known for Ozark-hickory-smoked meats and a nationally distributed line of baked beans.

Description

Zarda Bar-B-Q is a family-owned Kansas City barbecue restaurant and catering company, with its original and flagship location in Blue Springs, Missouri (this Registry pin) and a second long-running location in Lenexa, Kansas. It is frequently described as one of the few remaining original family-owned Kansas City barbecue businesses.

Since its 1976 founding the operation has smoked its meats exclusively over Ozark hickory, building a local reputation on ribs, burnt ends and sliced meats. Alongside the restaurants, Zarda runs a substantial catering arm and a retail/grocery line — most notably its baked beans, made from a longstanding family recipe and carried in groceries well beyond the metro.

The Blue Springs restaurant later moved to or expanded into a larger Missouri Highway 7 location with added square footage and banquet space, the address that serves as the primary pin for this entry.

Ownership and history

The Zarda barbecue story begins a generation before the restaurants. Norbert “Grandpa Norb” Zarda built Zarda Drive-Ins — a collection of hamburger stands across the Kansas City area in Merriam, Gladstone and Blue Springs — and instilled a strong work ethic in his three sons, Jerry, Mike and Steve.

In 1976, after time spent in Ozark-hills real estate development south of Kansas City, the brothers opened the first Zarda Bar-B-Q in Blue Springs, Missouri. (Official copy variously credits “Jerry and Mike” with opening the first location and names brothers Jerry, Mike and Steve as the founding trio; all three are part of the founding generation.) Drawing on Ozark hickory from their development days and on lessons learned watching their father smoke meat in a homemade block pit, they refined a smoking process whose ribs, burnt ends and sliced meats became local favorites. The Lenexa, Kansas location followed in June 1979, reportedly opening to a line wrapped around the building.

The business has carried into the next generation: the founders’ daughters Suzanne and Jennifer Zarda (the latter now Jennifer Zarda Binkley) are cited as inheriting the founding brothers’ work ethic. The legendary baked beans derive from a family matriarch’s recipe (“Grandma Lucy”).

Tier classification

Tier 1. Despite operating two locations, a catering arm and a retail/grocery line, Zarda is a textbook multi-generational, family-owned Kansas City barbecue institution — founded by KC-rooted brothers in 1976, traceable to a prior generation of local Zarda drive-ins, and carried forward by family. The two-location/retail footprint is modest, locally controlled and family-run rather than chain or outside ownership, so it does not dilute the Tier 1 character. The Blue Springs original is the heritage anchor.

Links

• Website: https://zarda.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zardabbqkc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ (linked via official site)

See also

• blue-springs
• lenexa
• kansas-city-barbecue
• gates-bar-b-q
• arthur-bryants-barbeque
• Registry

Sources

1. Zarda BBQ — official “About” page (Norbert “Grandpa Norb” Zarda, brothers Jerry/Mike/Steve, 1976 Blue Springs founding, June 1979 Lenexa opening, Ozark hickory, Grandma Lucy’s baked beans, next-generation daughters) — https://zarda.com/about/ — accessed 2026-05-30
2. Zarda BBQ — official “Grocery” page (baked beans + sauce retail line, grocery distribution, Smoker events) — https://zarda.com/grocery/ — accessed 2026-05-30
3. VisitKC, via Zarda — “Kansas City Barbecue: A Brief History” feature noting Zarda among original family-owned KC barbecue businesses — https://zarda.com/zarda-featured-in-visitkcs-kansas-city-barbecue-a-brief-history/ — accessed 2026-05-30
4. Yelp business listings — Blue Springs (214 N 7th Hwy) and Lenexa (11931 W 87th St Pkwy) location/address confirmation — https://www.yelp.com/biz/zarda-bar-b-q-and-catering-co-blue-springs — accessed 2026-05-30

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 4 sources (official + independent listings/VisitKC). Verified: 1976 Blue Springs founding, June 1979 Lenexa opening, Zarda family founders (Jerry/Mike/Steve) and prior-generation Norbert Zarda drive-ins, Ozark-hickory smoking, baked-beans retail line, both addresses. Flagged: exact present-day ownership/management split among Zarda family members; precise Facebook page URL not directly captured.