The BBQ Shack in Paola, KS
A Small Restaurant With a Lot of Smoked Flavor
Made famous by its appearance on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hosted by Guy Fieri, this little shack lives up to it's new(found) celebrity stature.
The Shack
The BBQ Shack recently relocated to a more prominent area, so that you can actually find it with a GPS, but it's still difficult to find in the small shopping strip in Paola, Kansas. Rest assured, once found, The BBQ Shack is a place worth hunting down. Once inside, the servers are happy to let you find a comfortable table and take your order. The only abnormality of this southern cuisine is that there's no sweet tea, but plenty of sweetener is available. The famous sauces(the original sauce won the 2002 Best American Sauce Award), are all lined up in convenient dispensers and labeled in Sharpies, and are readily available for whatever you plan to eat.
Though the place isn't much to brag about design wise, it fits into the classic style of most barbecue places, with scattered signs and a few televisions decorating the walls, and plaid tablecloths on the wooden tables with mismatched chairs, the food makes up where the scenery might lack. To prove it, there are two autographed pictures from Guy Fieri from the Food Network, both labeling the BBQ Shack as "Good Times, Great People, and Great BBQ," and rest assured, he wasn't kidding.
If you're a tourist, on your way out, be sure to put a pin on the map labeled, "The Guy Fieri Effect," so labeled as a means of marking where everyone came from who visited because of the Food Network appearance of this shack.
The Meals
The prices range from $6 to $12 for the average meal, but chanced are each of those meals comes with half a pound of pure smoked barbecue meat in it, slathered in sauce with a southern side of your choice. All the meats are hickory smoked, so the sweet hickory and the char of the barbecue make a great combination on all of the meats they serve there. They also come with plenty of southern style sides, including crisp fried okra that still has some crunch to the actual vegetable, and plenty of flavor from the frying process.
If you're looking for some spice and flavor, be sure to try the Atomic Buffalo Turds, more commonly known as a Jalepeno Popper. The ingredients are marinated overnight for a full flavor, and smoked over the fire in a bacon wrap just like the rest of the meat, so that there's nothing lost in the taste department.
Catering Options
Need some BBQ for a large crowd? The BBQ Shack cooks whole hogs made to order, with calculations of how much pig is needed to feed each person 1/4 lb. of pork. Slow cooked overnight, the large pork is one of the best options for a large crowd pleaser at a BBQ. For a little less of a party, there are sample platters at the restaurant, or that can be taken to-go, with a little of every meat served at the restaurant, and four sides of your choice. It makes a great group dinner for four, at only $29.95, and can easily be taken to go in pairs for a catered meal to a small party affair.
Other Information
For more information on the restaurant, the menu, and other information, visit on location at :
705 N. Pearl St
Paola, KS 66071
(913)294-5908
Or visit their website at The BBQ Shack.
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