Four Star BBQ serves simple meat with complex flavors

There’s no hook or gimmick to Four Star BBQ.

It’s in a strip mall in a part of town that’s largely bereft of decent restaurants. The small restaurant has three tables, and all of the flatware is disposable, regardless of whether you’re eating in or taking it to go. When you’re talking barbecue, none of this is important; if anything, it shows where the fledgling restaurant has chosen to focus its efforts. It leaves the food to stand on its own.

Barbecue is simple food and is best when it’s treated as such, and Four Star’s pitmaster seems to know this. The restaurant’s pulled pork has a whiff of wood and is complemented by the sweetness of a soft white bun. The sauce isn’t applied as a cure-all to dry meat – because it isn’t – but as a layer of complexity, heavy with black pepper and Worcestershire. With some acid from a couple of pickle chips to cut through some of the fat, there’s a surprisingly subtle balance between sweet, salty, sour and umami that explains why I keep going back for more.

The same can be said of Four Star’s ribs, especially when they’re chopped and put into a sandwich of their own. While it’s a testament to the pitmaster that the meat can be pulled from the bone so cleanly as to be offered in a sandwich, the similar texture to the pulled pork makes it a very similar menu item. The difference is in the increased surface area of the ribs, which allows more smoke to penetrate and announce its presence in the final product. It’s the superior version of the sandwich.

Burnt ends are not always easy to find, but when done right, the concentrated flavors in the corners of the brisket provide an intense and exceedingly tender barbecue experience. Four Star’s version is augmented well with a heavy dose of its savory sauce and shouldn’t be passed up.

There is an aversion to mayonnaise at Four Star – the potato salad gets much of its creamy texture from mashing the spuds. The chicken salad is a mixture of sour cream and yogurt. The coleslaw goes light on the stuff, too. Many restaurants can go overboard with mayo, so it’s nice to see alternative approaches explored. Even with an altered recipe, however, the coleslaw does not help the Carolina style pulled pork sandwich – the moisture makes for a sloppy eating experience. The idea that the Carolinas eat their barbecue with a heavy topping of slaw is frequently misconstrued by Wichita restaurants. At Four Star, it just covers up the taste of the meat.

I used to bemoan Wichita’s barbecue scene as being a shadow of the caliber that could be found in Kansas City. It’s not as big of a part of our heritage, but there’s no reason why this city can’t support the small neighborhood shacks that focus on smoking their meat to melty, succulent perfection. Four Star BBQ has an excellent core product and is a poster child for the down-to-earth barbecue businesses that serve as the backbone of the culture.

The restaurant is clean and well-lit, and the Styrofoam and poster board signs posted all around create a homey atmosphere. Service is quick, too. Everything is served from a warming station immediately in front of you as you enter.

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Four Star BBQ serves simple meat with complex flavors."