Jeff & Joy Stehney

Jeff and Joy Stehney are the husband-and-wife founders of Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que — the celebrated barbecue restaurant, born inside a Kansas City, Kansas gas station, that grew from a competition-circuit hobby into one of the most acclaimed barbecue joints in America.

Biography

In 1990, Jeff and Joy Stehney attended their first barbecue contest at a friend’s invitation. Jeff: “I loved everything about it. The smoke. The smell of it. The camaraderie… I knew then and there this was something I had to do.” They soon bought a smoker and, with a few friends, formed the competition team Slaughterhouse Five, which went on to win the American Royal Open Grand Championship (1993), the American Royal Invitational Grand Championship (1995) and the KCBS Team-of-the-Year title for 1993.¹

On the competition circuit they befriended Joe Davidson of Oklahoma Joe’s Smoker Company, and together opened Oklahoma Joe’s — including a Kansas City, Kansas location in August 1996, famously set inside a former gas station at 47th & Mission Road.² After Davidson sold his smoker company and left in 1997, the Stehneys bought out his stake and took full control of the Kansas operation.²

In 2014 they rebranded the restaurant Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.² Its Z-Man sandwich and its burnt ends earned national fame, and the gas-station original became a pilgrimage site for barbecue lovers worldwide. The sandwich dates to 1997, when Mike Zarrick — a regular customer who went on to launch a sports-talk program on 1510 AM — approached the Stehneys about advertising the restaurant on his station; the sandwich took his on-air name.³

Legacy

The Stehneys helped define modern Kansas City barbecue, proving that competition-honed craft could power a beloved, nationally ranked restaurant — all from one of the most unlikely addresses in American dining.

See also

• joes-kansas-city-bar-b-que

Sources

Footnotes

1. “Our Story — The Full History of Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que,” Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que — “This is the story of Jeff and Joy Stehney and their company”; their first barbecue contest in 1990 at a friend’s invitation and Jeff’s account of being hooked; buying a smoker and forming Slaughterhouse Five with a few friends; the awards list including Grand Champion American Royal Open 1993, Grand Champion American Royal Invitational 1995, Reserve Grand Champion American Royal Invitational 1996, and KCBS Team-of-the-Year 1993. ↩

2. “Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que,” Wikipedia — the August 1996 opening of the first Kansas City-area location inside a gas station at 47th Avenue and Mission Road, KCK, formerly the fried-chicken-and-liquor-store operation One Fast Chick-n; the partnership with Joe Davidson of Oklahoma Joe’s Smoker Company and the 1997 buyout of his stake; the 2014 rename from Oklahoma Joe’s to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. “The Legend of the Z-Man,” Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que — “In 1997, not long after Jeff and Joy Stehney opened their original gas-station barbecue joint at the corner of 47th & Mission Road in Kansas City, Kansas, they were approached by Mike Zarrick — a man who would soon go on to launch his own sports talk radio program, 1510 AM”; Jeff Stehney: “I recognized the guy. He was a regular customer.” ↩