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Yesterday Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ opened in Broken Arrow, OK.  This is easily the best thing to ever happen to the city of Broken Arrow.  (Well at least since we’ve lived here!)  As many of you know, we spent the last four years in Kansas City while I was in chiropractic school.  Shortly after arriving to KC we were introduced to the Big 3 BBQ joints of Kansas City.  Fiorella’s Jackstack, Gates, and Oklahoma Joe’s.  Arthur Bryant’s is also one of the best places in town, but the three I mentioned are our favorites.  The original Oklahoma Joe’s of KC is located in a gas station at 47th and Mission.  They added a second restaurant in Overland Park, KS which was just a few miles down the street.  On one of my weekly visits to “Okie Joe’s”, I sat down with one of the managers for a quick bite and he told me the history of Oklahoma Joe’s.  I won’t give you all of the details, but you can read about it on their website.  When it came time to move back to Oklahoma this summer one of the hardest parts of leaving KC was leaving Oklahoma Joe’s behind.  It had become part of my weekly routine (and sometimes several times a week routine) and I got depressed just thinking about the Tulsa BBQ joints I knew of.  Shortly after we moved back to OK I heard rumors about an Oklahoma Joe’s coming to Tulsa.  I asked around and even contacted “Joe” who lives in Bixby, OK.  Sure enough, the plans were set and they were only looking for the right location.  A few months later my wife and I were on our way to church when we saw a sign on a building which read “Oklahoma Joe’s Coming this Fall.”  My wife and I literally screamed as this building was less than a mile from our home.  What are the odds?  Our favorite restaurant in the world was moving right down the street from us.  Given, this isn’t a franchise of the KC restaurant, it was built by the founder of the restaurant and most of the menu is unchanged.  Ali and I showed up last night (for our anniversary.) and were one of the first people to get to enjoy the new restaurant.  We were greeted out front by Joe who is very personable.  We also got to meet Joe’s wife Page who was incredibly welcoming to us on our first trip to the restaurant.  We ordered the “Jumbo Chicken Z-Man” and fries since that was our favorite thing in KC.  The sandwich did not disappoint and we were surprised at how close it tasted to KC version of the sandwich.  It took several years for the second Oklahoma Joe’s location to catch up to the flavor of the original restaurant which is probably due to “grill time.”  The sandwich was FANTASTIC and the fries were amazing as well.  We didn’t indulge too much because we had a reservation at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Tulsa for our anniversary dinner.  We’re planning on swinging by after church tomorrow and then we’ll probably make it a weekly meal for sure!  If you live anywhere near Tulsa you HAVE to stop by for the best barbecue in the state… and maybe the planet!  Tell Joe we sent you!  -Barnezy-