The Rub Bar-B-Que in Olathe, KS
The Rub Bar-B-Que in Olathe, Kansas has been around since 2011. They started doing competitions in 2008 and have done pretty well at the Lenexa Barbecue battle and the American Royal. For details, you can read the background on their website at http://therubbarbque.com/about-us/.
I went on Thursday, June 6th at around 5:00. I walked up to the restaurant and they have smokers and grills all over the outside of the restaurant. Come to find out that they hold “how to barbecue” classes. I was the only person in the place and there were three teenagers working behind the counter. This is a place where you walk up to the counter to order your food and then they give it to you and you seat yourself. I asked for a brisket sandwich and they had a combo meal which included fries and a drink so I ordered that. The brisket was held in a stainless steel warming container tightly wrapped in saran wrap in individual servings. The server grabbed it out of the warmer, unwrapped it and put it on the bun. They do not put any sauce on the sandwich, which I really like. The best barbecue can be eaten without the need for any sauce. The fries were not done when I ordered, but were done by the time I paid and got my drink. The total was $12.58 with tax. I sat down and each table has two kinds of sauces to choose from. One was their regular/original sauce. The original sauce has a bit of a bite to it so I tried the sweet sauce. I really like the sweet sauce. It wasn’t too sweet and didn’t have a bite at all.
I decided to try the sandwich without putting sauce on it. I found the meat to be really dry The flavor was ok, but there was no distinguishable rub on it. I’m sure they use a rub, but I couldn’t tell what it is. I took a couple of bites and decided I’d better put some sauce on it so I did. Much easier to eat with sauce.
The fries were good and had a seasoning that I couldn’t quite place. And they were right out of the fryer, so very hot.
The drink station is free refills, so you can easily refill your drinks.
I was there probably 20 minutes and there were zero customers that came in during that time. I don’t know if they’re always that slow or if I got there too early. I’m afraid the place may not be around too long if they don’t have customers, but I guess they’ve been there six years already, so they must be doing something right.
I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to go there again, but I do want to go try the burnt ends sometime. Overall, I’d say it’s “ok” barbecue. Maybe a six or seven out of 10. My first stop on this quest was a bit disappointing. Hope the stops get better and better from here!
