Wabash Bbq - Excelsior Springs

*written by a long time waitress* We walked in to the restaurant area and stood at the counter(while the servers literally walked around us ,avoiding all eye contact for at least 8 minutes before I actually stepped in front to a server and asked if I sat myself she rudely snapped I don 't have any clean tables . We walked out and around to the bar side where the super sweet hostess told us we could sit at the bar. We sat down and the male bartender helped us immediately! Good things are looking up right? Wrong. He went on break and another woman came to watch his section and proceeded to pay extra attention to the other 2 couples at the bar,all the while avoiding eye contact with us. Drinks went very apparently empty as she walked around us. I ordered shrimp and ,after 45 minutes of sitting and being ignored,he finally came back and told me they were out of shrimp(which means he didn 't put the order in until then! . When my food did finally come it was cold and subpar. The dish room was to the right of the bar and it was absolutely filthy! Maybe add a door so the customers don 't have to see the mess. I don 't get the hype ,if I want to be treated like a stray animal I 'll just go to a chain restaurant.

This location has plenty of parking behind and to the side of its location. You will see the smoke and smell it a bit before you see the building. The building used to be a train depot. There is a bar side and the restaurant side and if you want to eat at the tables outside you will need to order to go. They were busy when we arrived but a table opened up right away. It took a while to get our food but it was worth the wait. I will see the sides were okay but the meat was excellent. I typically order the ribs and brisket and the ribs were hands down the winner. The ribs fell off the bone, were a little fatty and didn't even need bbq sauce, yum. The brisket took a back seat but was still good. My husband said his 1/2 chicken was excellent. The waitress was pretty efficient which was impressive given the number of tables she was handling. This place is worth a stop especially if you are staying at the Elms.

In 2016, Wabash was ranked 1/10 by Only in Your State. We wouldn 't go that far, but with its historic setting inside an old train depot and a menu that delivers, it is certainly worth a visit. This was our 28th 'cue stop in Missouri, and the 378th in a BBQ journey now spanning 35 states. $51.73 plus tip purchased large plates all around. We started with a tasty appetizer of lightly breaded, deep fried zucchini. Recommended. For the mains, we opted for a half slab of baby backs with fries, and the Wednesday special (St. Louis style ribs and 2 pieces of chicken, namely a breast and wing), also with fries. All the meats were well smoked, moist and tender, the baby backs a little too much so. They were indeed fall off the bone ; we prefer ribs that adhere to the bone when picked up, but separating cleanly at the bite. Two sauces, one a traditional KC style leaning to the sweet side, and a more peppery version, worked well on both sets of ribs. We walked out with leftovers sufficient for a second meal the next day, which increases the value here considerably.

There's not many food options in Excelsior Springs but Wabash BBQ is a great option. I walked over from my hotel for a late lunch. I sat in the bar area and was quickly waited on by the bar tender and waitress. I had the burnt ends, beans and coleslaw with a beer. The food was good and so was the service. The place isn't that big but I couldn't definitely spend an afternoon in the bar watching football and drinking/eating. If you're nearby, this is definitely a spot to checkout.

I stopped here recently while out on a motorcycle ride. I was in a nearby small town, looked on the map for a food place that was open on a Sunday afternoon, and my choices were limited. I was pleasantly surprised to find a BBQ joint open nearby that had such good reviews. I pulled up and saw the parking lot was busy and full of other motorcycles. It seemed very promising. There are two entrances, which is a little odd. One is a bar and the other is just a dining room that serves no alcohol. I happened to pick the dining room area, which was fine by me. The server was friendly, and after I asked some questions I went with the two meat platter. I got the brisket, pulled pork, baked beans, and fries. I should have known by how hard the menu leaned into the train theme the BBQ wasn 't going to be very good. They also list chicken strips as the first of their Engineer 's Entrees . My two meat platter was cleverly named the Smokey Stacks . The pulled pork was okay. There was very little smoke, and was pretty mediocre at best. Slathered in some of the spicy BBQ sauce, it was fine. It would have been okay had I been in a sports bar or small diner or some other non BBQ joint, but by BBQ joint standards, it falls pretty short. The brisket was borderline inedible, and I ended up leaving most of it. It was cold, flavorless, and tough as shoe leather. That isn 't going to cut it in KC. It tasted like they cooked it ahead of time and froze it. Then when they needed it, they sliced it up and microwaved it for a couple minutes. I hate to be so harsh, but this was seriously bad probably the worst I 've ever paid for. The beans were fine, as were the fries, but I couldn 't get past just how bad that brisket was. The brisket was so offensive, I 'd give them 0 stars if I could. I 'm shocked they are serving it to paying customers, and proud enough of it that when purchased by the pound it is $22.99. The only thing redeeming about the entire experience was the clean dining area and friendly staff. I 'm pretty shocked at the reviews. It doesn 't even seem like other reviewers ate at the same restaurant as I did.