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-

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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This past weekend I graduated from Cleveland Chiropractic College with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree.  This marked the end of nearly four years of post-graduated studies.  My professional name will now be “Chris Barnes DC.”  It has been a long hard road to get here, but I wouldn’t change anything about it.  Ali and I moved to Overland Park, KS in July of 2007.  We have literally been in Kansas for 90% of our married lives.  We thought we would just move up here and knock this whole school thing out.  However, we have met some incredible people and Kansas has become such a wonderful home for us.  It will be incredibly hard for us to this place but we will always try to make time to visit Kansas City.  The beauty of Overland Park is that it’s less than four hours from Tulsa!  I have learned a great deal in the last four years, but I’m even more excited about the things I will continue to learn.  I will be starting a practice in Tulsa, OK within the office of Peterson Chiropractic.  Ali and I will be relocating to Broken Arrow, OK in late May and Ali will hopefully be getting a new job around the same time.  I will continue to visit KC throughout the summer for miscellaneous seminars so it will be a nice slow goodbye.  I wanted to thank everyone who has made Kansas City such a great home these past few years.  We will not forget all of the wonderful people… and barbecue!  Check back regularly as we have lot of other great things to share with you all.  And yes, from now on you must call me “Dr. Barnes!” -Barnezy-