Kansas City Blog

Gates has a little more to strut about after being named one of the 23 landmark restaurants in the country.

No, it's not an official landmark as designated by the government. The title was bestowed by AOL, which called it "lip-smacking good" and commended the sauce as "what elevates it to the top of the heap," especially when its on the ribs.

Gates is in good company. Other restaurants to make the list included Ted Drewes of St. Louis, Katz's Deli of New York, Pink's Hot Dogs of LA and Ben's Chili Bowl of Washington D.C.

Gates also played a significant role in the Washington Post Magazine's 2,000-word feature last Sunday on Kansas City barbecue:

"HI, MAY I HELP YOU?!" scream the women behind the counter at the Gates on Main Street, where you have precisely 1.5 seconds to shout back your order before they brand you hopeless and move on to the next customer. That is part of the restaurant's shtick (the phrase "Hi, may I help you" appears everywhere on the menu), but the barbecue itself is no gimmick. The fries approach the Platonic ideal (hat tip, lard!), but don't overlook the barbecued mutton, sausage and sauces of various heat and intensity.

Also on the list of dishes not to be missed: Gates's Yummy Yammer pie, a sweet potato tartlet that you'll unconvincingly pretend to have no room for before you devour it in three bites.

Yes, stories about Gates, Arthur Bryant's, Oklahoma Joe's and others can be tediously familiar to those of us here in town, but the article is still worth a read as the Post writer Chuck Voegel paints an almost picturesque setting. "Kansas City likes to call itself the City of Fountains, boasting that no other town save Rome has more of them. But it's really a city of districts."

Read the full story here.

(Image via Flickr: Cleverswine)