Zagat tabs Oklahoma Joe’s, Arthur Bryant’s to represent Kansas & Missouri

• Flickr: ctj71081
• Zagat picked Bryant’s as the Missouri Rep.

For those among us who organize our trips around our dining schedules, Zagat has created a new kind of GPS: the gustatory profile of states. As part of its “50 Plates of America,” the dining guide has singled out one food and one restaurant that prepares that dish to represent each state. And locally, that means barbecue.

The ribs of Oklahoma Joe’s (which chef Curtis Stone recently called the best restaurant that no one has ever heard of) were picked as the signifier of Kansas, while Arthur Bryant’s burnt-end sandwich is the official food of Missouri. If you’re planning a road trip, Zagat also recently did a state-by-state guide to coffee shops, and Java Break in Lawrence was the Sunflower State’s representative.