According to an article in The Kansas City Star this week , the Kansas City Chiefs’ hometown may be slipping among the nation’s best barbecue destinations.

A new ranking lists Kansas City as one of the top cities in the United States for barbecue, but it just misses out on the top spot.

The crowd-sourced review website Yelp published its 2025 list for the “ top BBQ cities in the U.S. ,” and the birthplace of burnt ends placed No. 3 in the eyes of reviewers.

It’s the first year that the review site put cities head-to-head. The state of Texas claimed superiority over Kansas City; Austin and San Antonio were ranked No. 1 and 2.