Next Year’s Winner BBQ serves a barbecue sundae

I loved the idea of a barbecue sundae when I saw it on the menu of the three-year-old Next Year’s Winner BBQ and Catering (2306 Northwest Vivion Road, 816-587-4227), and the description was certainly enticing: “Layers of rib tips, beans, cole slaw, and pulled pork with bacon-wrapped meatballs on top.”

But when the “sundae” arrived in a tall red-plastic cup, my heart fell. If there was ever a novelty barbecue creation that practically begged for a traditional tulip-shaped glass sundae dish, it’s owner Steve Christian’s $5 BBQ Sundae. At the very least, it requires a transparent plastic cup, the better to see all of those savory layers at one time. Don’t forget that time-honored restaurant mantra: Visual appeal is half the meal.

Steve Christian, the veteran competitive barbecue pitmaster and owner of Next Year’s Winner, agrees.

“I hadn’t thought of putting the sundae in an actual sundae glass, but it’s a good idea,” Christian says. “I do have some wide-mouth Mason jars that I use for dine-in customers when the staff remembers to use them. They look pretty cool with all the layers displayed.”

Christian says he created the idea for a barbecue sundae as an easy-to-carry (and easy to toss away when empty) handheld meal for outdoor events, like carnivals or street fairs.

“The sundae has been hit-and-miss in the dining room of the restaurant,” Christian says, “but when people discover it, they like it.”

Christian says his tiny restaurant’s signature dish is the St. Louis-style ribs that he smokes each day. “St. Louis ribs are more like spareribs, with all of the end meat cut off. It looks like a large baby back rib. I use the end meat that I trim off for our baked beans.”

Christian started competing on the regional barbecue circuit in 1994 (and has a caseful of award ribbons to prove his credentials), but didn’t take it so seriously at first.

“There were mornings when my team was bleary-eyed and realized we probably were not going to win that year, so we started using ‘we’ll be next year’s winner’ as our mantra. That’s where the name of the restaurant comes from.

“That team later dissolved,” Christian says, “and I put together a new team in 2001. We’re still competing but not as often since I opened the restaurant.”

I told Christian that when I ordered the BBQ Sundae, it was topped with two meatballs that were not bacon-wrapped.

“We sell out of those bacon-wrapped meatballs pretty quickly,” he says. “But if you come back in, I’ll give you some.”