The Bleat Goes On: Chef Vaughn Good’s Night Goat Barbecue gets permanent residence

Courtesy of Night Goat Barbecue

When Chef Vaughn Good opened Fox and Pearl in 2019, the new restaurant quickly found a place on a number of “Best of Kansas City” lists—and even netted Good a James Beard Award nomination. His ability to marry bold cooking techniques with high-quality ingredients was a breath of fresh air for the local fine dining scene. These same elements also made it easy to transition to a sister concept: Night Goat Barbecue, which is currently available on Thursday nights in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl. Though Night Goat has proven popular enough to warrant a standalone, five-nights-a-week location opening later this year, it actually began out of necessity.

“Like every restaurant, Fox and Pearl got hit pretty hard by COVID,” Good says. “The types of dishes we were making didn’t transition particularly well to a takeout-only menu. I started thinking about what pivots we could make, and the staff we had plus the resources at our disposal made barbecue the natural choice.”

During the first month or so operating under the new philosophy, Good and his team just sold their new barbecue menu under the Fox and Pearl banner. Once they started hearing overwhelmingly positive feedback, they decided to pivot even further. Maybe this little barbecue experiment could turn into something more. Good kept the fires going, and it wasn’t long until Night Goat Barbecue made its presence known.

Chef Vaughn Good. // Courtesy of Night Goat Barbecue

“After just a short while, we knew Night Goat was here to stay in some capacity,” Good says. Once Fox and Pearl returned to standard operation, Night Goat became their weekend brunch/lunch outfit.

“For the last couple of years, we ran Night Goat like a more traditional barbecue restaurant,” Good says. Now that there are plans to evolve the concept with its own location, that mentality is starting to shift.

Good now operates Night Goat on Thursday nights in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl. It lends a laid-back, “in-the-know” feel to things, with a hip atmosphere and a small selection of favorites and experimental dishes. This new way of running the show serves another purpose, too: It’s the perfect testing ground for the upcoming location’s menu. There isn’t a set-in-stone date, but Good hopes Night Goat will open sometime this summer. They will be open on the same schedule as Fox and Pearl, and you won’t have to go far to find it—Night Goat Barbecue will be in a new space but will still be located in the same building.

Courtesy of Night Goat Barbecue

So, what sets Night Goat apart from dozens of other KC barbecue favorites? For one, the quality of the ingredients. Before he opened Fox and Pearl, Chef Good served as the sous chef for Pachamamas, and he also opened Hank Charcuterie, both in Lawrence and both well-known for their top-quality meat. At Night Goat, Good runs the pit and does the smoking, but Guy Danforth serves as the butcher. Their collaboration is key to bringing Night Goat’s flavors to life.

The other key, according to Good, is the neighborhood.

“We draw tons of inspiration from being in the Westside area,” he says. “Night Goat has a strong Tex-Mex influence, both in how we flavor our dishes and the types of items we serve.”

Though a lot of Kansas City barbecue spots are known for “meat-by-the-pound,” party-style options, Good wants Night Goat to be more focused on composed dishes.

Courtesy of Night Goat Barbecue

You can see these elements come together in a number of Night Goat Barbecue’s dishes, like the Brisket Burrito and the Pork Belly Taco. Night Goat’s pork belly is something Good is especially proud of, and it’s easy to see why: He brines his pork belly and generally serves it sliced rather than cubing it like burnt ends. You still get the same basic flavor profile that everybody wants from pork belly, but with a wildly different textural element. With all the unique meats and produce that come through the kitchen, Good also likes to experiment with sausage flavors. Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage is the closest Night Goat has to a “signature” sausage, but you can never be 100% certain what’s going to be on the menu each Thursday.

That variance to the menu is part of what makes Night Goat so successful—every Thursday, there are dishes that ping those nostalgic backyard barbecue memories right there alongside dishes that push you outside of your comfort zone. When we paid Night Goat a visit, we tried the Pork Belly Taco, Smoked Beef Cheek Quesadilla, and Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage Sandwich. The first two were served with a fermented jalapeño hot sauce that was the perfect mix of tang and spice, and the meats in both were packed with a serious depth of flavor. The sandwich was served alongside some deliciously crispy fries, and we tried Night Goat’s standard barbecue sauce with it. This sauce also featured a hint of heat but balanced things well with plenty of vinegar and sweetness.

Most importantly, everything was really damn good.

For the time being, Night Goat Barbecue is only available on Thursday nights on a first-come, first-served basis. Keep your eyes peeled, however—it hopefully won’t be too long before you’re able to enjoy Chef Good’s barbecue brainchild five nights a week. It’s one of your best bets for a high-quality barbecue experience that’s a little outside the standard.

Night Goat Barbecue is located in the basement lounge of Fox and Pearl at 2143 Summit St., Kansas City, MO, 64108. It is open from 5–10 p.m. Thursdays.