THE BARKTENDERS

THE BARKTENDERS is a competition barbecue team with 27 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2019. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 21 at the Wild West Fest On Fire (2018), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion twice. They are ranked #1245 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#1,245

of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1583

peak 1584 · rated over 25 contests2 invitational or side-series contests not counted

Contests

in the data

First seen

Apr 30, 2016

latest Mar 23, 2019 · 2.9 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#326

Master 2016 · every season

Grand champs

2 reserve

Category wins

28 podiums

Overall top-10s

63% of 27 contests

Best top-10 run

straight overall top-10s

Avg finish

top 40%

overall standings

Best overall

682.2860 / 720

Master · Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Perfect 180s

1 🔥

Current form

644.40 ▼

last 5 Master vs avg 656.97 (-12.57)

Walk rate

93%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

180 🔥

Pork · Bardo-Q BBQ Competition

Consistency

±40.79

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Pork

avg 169.32 · weakest Brisket (161.95)

Road miles

9,337

across 27 mapped stops · furthest 743 mi

Schedule strength

24%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1532)

Master avg

656.97 / 720

27 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (14 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

The heartbreaker

1.7256 points from the title

Came within 1.7256 points of the Grand Championship at Wild West Fest On Fire (Aug 11, 2018).

Perfect scores on the board

1 perfect 180

1 perfect 180 in the data — every judge at the table handing back a nine, all in pork.

Pork ×1

On the rise

+31 rating points in a year

Their power rating has climbed 31 points across 7 contests since Mar 24, 2018 — from 1552 up to 1583.

7 contests since Mar 24, 2018
now 1583

Multi-meat days

2 contests with 2+ category wins

They've won two or more meats on the same day 2 times — the best of them 2 category wins at W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest (Jan 19, 2019).

Pork 1st
Brisket 1st

They almost always walk

93% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 25 of 27 contests

A top-10 category call in 93% of their 27 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

682.2860 career-best overall

94.8% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 682.2860 at Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP — 94.8% of a perfect 720.

Master
Jul 1, 2017

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

S.W.A.T. BBQ has finished one call ahead of THE BARKTENDERS 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

Show 7 more storylines

A tough matchup

11–2 behind in the head-to-head

BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS ahead in 85% of their meetings

BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS has come out ahead in 11 of their 13 shared contests.

The weak link

−7.4 points behind their best meat

Brisket is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 7.37 points below their pork, and turns into a call 70% of the time against 70%.

Brisket avg 161.95
Pork avg 169.32
19 calls in 27 entries

A strong matchup

10–1 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 91% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BURROS BBQ in 10 of their 11 shared contests.

Announced themselves early

4th at their very first contest

Finished 4 of 20 at their very first tracked contest, Smoke By the River (Apr 30, 2016).

Apr 30, 2016
20-team field

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

DRAGON BBQ has landed one call behind them 2 times.

An April team

Top 27% average finish in April

Something about April: average finish in the top 27% across 5 contests, versus top 40% the rest of the year.

5 April contests
top 40% the rest of the year

The long haul

9,337 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 9,337 miles across 27 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 743 miles to Smoke in the North.

27 mapped stops
furthest 743 mi

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2019 ↗	Master	#776 (380 pts)	#1030 (265 pts)	#630 (545 pts)	#615 (555 pts)	#537 (625 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#346 (981 pts)	#519 (706 pts)	#341 (991 pts)	#348 (986 pts)	#242 (1,251 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#337 (1,084 pts)	#561 (709 pts)	#546 (739 pts)	#122 (1,724 pts)	#273 (1,259 pts)
2016 ↗	Master	#326 (1,117 pts)	#380 (1,012 pts)	#383 (1,002 pts)	#322 (1,127 pts)	#322 (1,127 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to THE BARKTENDERS, each with one reason worth a look.

38 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

Chick Hooven Swine BBQ

#1,252 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 26
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 35%
Peak: 1646

They've been 1646 at their best, 63 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 25 contests
last seen Apr 9, 2021

⚔ Compare careers

BALDIN' SMOKIN' BANDITOS

#1,242 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 26
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 12%
Peak: 1596

Careers of much the same size, 26 contests to 27, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 26 contests
last seen Oct 22, 2021

⚔ Compare careers

Live Q or Die

#1,249 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 43%
Peak: 1583

21 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 43% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 21 contests
last seen Jul 27, 2024

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Smoked Pioneers BBQ Team

#1,250 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 21
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 81%
Peak: 1592

Level with THE BARKTENDERS on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 20 contests
last seen Aug 14, 2026

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FIREWISE BBQ

#1,251 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 19
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 42%
Peak: 1591

Careers of much the same size, 19 contests to 27, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 19 contests
last seen Jul 14, 2017

⚔ Compare careers

Q-FACTOR

#1,246 of the rated field

1583 power rating

Contests: 35
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 17%
Peak: 1607

Careers of much the same size, 35 contests to 27, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 35 contests
last seen Aug 30, 2019

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
White Squirrel BBQ	21	10	11	48%	⚔ compare
DRAGON BBQ	18	8	10	44%	⚔ compare
GRILLKUNST	15	8	7	53%	⚔ compare
BROS HOG	15	5	10	33%	⚔ compare
BBQ LONGHORN RANCH HANDS	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
GECKO BBQ	12	6	6	50%	⚔ compare
BURROS BBQ	11	10	1	91%	⚔ compare
BRIGBOYS BBQ TEAM	11	4	7	36%	⚔ compare
STICKY FINGERS BARBECUE TEAM	10	4	6	40%	⚔ compare
MISS PIGGY'S U.K.	10	0	10	0%	⚔ compare
ITALIAN STYLE BBQ TEAM	9	7	2	78%	⚔ compare
ROKENDE REGAHS	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
GOOD OLD BBQ	9	5	4	56%	⚔ compare
SOUTHERN DUTCH BBQ	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
BOHEMIAN BBQ	8	6	2	75%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	26	8	1	2	177.1772	156.5256	166.26	top 56%
Pork Ribs	27	14	2	6	173.1544	150.2516	165.60	top 46%
Pork	27	19	6	11	180 🔥	150.2284	169.32	top 34%
Brisket	27	19	3	9	177.7028	20	161.95	top 38%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	Avg finish
Small (<20 teams)	6	top 38%
Medium (20–39)	18	top 38%
Large (40+)	3	top 59%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
BZ	3	top 54%
IT	2	top 46%
NL	1	top 100%
SE	1	top 26%
DE	1	top 24%
FR	1	top 30%
CZ	1	top 59%
CH	1	top 20%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	3	5	top 54%	Jan 19, 2019
Bardo-Q BBQ Competition	2	2	top 26%	Apr 21, 2018
Brew N Q (OPEN)	2	6	top 44%	May 27, 2017

More numbers

Busiest season 2017 10 contests

Contests a season 6.8 across 4 seasons in the data

Most contests held in BZ 3 of 27 contests · 8 states and provinces in all

Contests visited 23 3 of them more than once

Opponents faced 262 finished ahead 392 times, behind 273

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20192 milestones

Jan 19 25th tracked contest W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest
Mar 23 Most recent contest Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day2

20184 milestones

Apr 21 First Reserve Championship Bardo-Q BBQ Competition
Aug 11 First multi-meat day Wild West Fest On Fire
Oct 20 10th category win SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN
Oct 20 Peak power rating (1584) SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN

20173 milestones

Apr 8 10th tracked contest Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017
Apr 22 First perfect 180 (Pork) Bardo-Q BBQ Competition
Jul 1 Career-best overall score682.2860 Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP

20166 milestones

Apr 30 First tracked contest Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First call Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First overall top-10 Smoke By the River
Apr 30 First overall past 90% of a perfect score659.9660 Smoke By the River
Jun 25 First overall podium Cookin Camargue
Jul 23 First category win (Pork) Black Forrest Smoke & Wine Festival

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+13	Wild West Fest On Fire	Aug 11, 2018
+12.7	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition	Apr 21, 2018
+11.5	Smoke By the River	Apr 30, 2016
+10.8	W.E.S.T.Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	Jan 14, 2017
+10.8	Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017	Apr 8, 2017

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-16.8	4th Annual BBQ Society Cook-off	Oct 8, 2016
-16.7	W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest	Jan 19, 2019
-4.7	The War of Barbeque	Mar 24, 2018
-3.6	Brew N Q (OPEN)	May 27, 2017
-3.6	Italian Barbecue Championship 2016	Jun 11, 2016

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	3	2	2	100%	top 50%	94%	87%
2018	6	4	4	100%	top 37%	94.6%	92.6%
2017	10	6	5	100%	top 36%	94.8%	92.8%
2016	8	5	1	75%	top 44%	94.5%	89.8%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Mar 23, 2019	Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day2 Torreglia	7 / 25 (677.1320)	7 (173.7488)	3 (173.1544)	24 (157.0972)	3 (173.1316)
Mar 22, 2019	Country Road & BBQ Contest -Day1 Torreglia	5 / 20 (677.0856)	12 (165.7144)	5 (172)	3 (175.4056)	10 (163.9656)
Jan 19, 2019	W.E.S.T. Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	29 / 30 (525.6916)	—	8 (171.9772)	1 (177.7144)	1 (176)
Oct 20, 2018	SMOKE IN SCHLIEREN Goldschlagiplatz	6 / 20 (670.1716)	14 (159.9544)	1 (171.9772)	2 (173.1316)	11 (165.1084)
Aug 11, 2018	Wild West Fest On Fire Zbilje, Medvode	2 / 21 (671.9088)	17 (159.9544)	2 (171.9772)	1 (171.4056)	1 (168.5716)
Apr 21, 2018	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition Bardonecchia	2 / 15 (681.1428)	4 (169.7600)	3 (170.8800)	6 (168.5372)	2 (171.9656)
Mar 24, 2018	The War of Barbeque Noventa di Piave	11 / 18 (663.9084)	12 (167.4056)	12 (161.1200)	8 (168.5600)	9 (166.8228)
Feb 17, 2018	Meat, Smoke & Beer Festival- BBQ on Ice Weissensee	10 / 17 (662.1600)	14 (165.1200)	14 (158.8000)	16 (160.5372)	3 (177.7028)
Jan 13, 2018	W.E.S.T. Winter extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	15 / 30 (653.0744)	11 (167.9656)	28 (150.2516)	18 (158.8572)	1 (176)
Oct 14, 2017	Tallya BBQ Fesztival Tallya	7 / 40 (665.1428)	25 (160)	9 (169.1428)	12 (167.4628)	6 (168.5372)
Sep 16, 2017	Slovenia BBQ Open Medvode	8 / 25 (666.7432)	20 (161.0972)	12 (163.9544)	3 (173.1544)	5 (168.5372)
Jul 22, 2017	2nd Black Forest Smoke & Wine Festival Bad Bellingen	24 / 40 (657.0512)	40 (156.5256)	30 (161.1544)	6 (174.8456)	22 (164.5256)
Jul 1, 2017	Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP unrated Gaiarine	8 / 18 (682.2860)	1 (177.1772)	8 (169.7488)	3 (174.2628)	16 (161.0972)
May 27, 2017	Brew N Q (OPEN) Burton Upon Trent	22 / 34 (651.3832)	7 (171.9884)	25 (159.4632)	1 (174.8572)	33 (145.0744)
May 26, 2017	Brew N Q (INVITATIONAL) unrated Burton Upon Trent	6 / 26 (669.7028)	15 (167.4056)	1 (170.8800)	4 (172)	19 (159.4172)
Apr 29, 2017	3rd Barbecue Bulls Championship Salzburg 2017 Salzburg Austria	12 / 28 (669.6916)	20 (164.5828)	21 (161.6916)	6 (174.2628)	7 (169.1544)
Apr 22, 2017	Bardo-Q BBQ Competition Bardonecchia	11 / 28 (679.9316)	28 (159.3944)	20 (166.2744)	1 (180)	2 (174.2628)
Apr 8, 2017	Meat Smoke and Beer Festival 2017 Wels	3 / 14 (669.7028)	10 (161.7372)	9 (162.8456)	1 (178.2972)	8 (166.8228)
Jan 14, 2017	W.E.S.T.Winter Extreme South Tyrol BBQ Contest Rein in Taufers, BZ	5 / 30 (673.1092)	15 (166.2628)	19 (162.8460)	4 (173.1660)	3 (170.8344)
Oct 8, 2016	4th Annual BBQ Society Cook-off Hoofddorp. Netherlands, NL	46 / 46 (508.5144)	33 (163.3828)	19 (166.3088)	38 (158.8228)	46 (20)
Sep 10, 2016	Brixia 4 Star Championship Brescia, Italy	8 / 26 (674.2856)	7 (171.4744)	6 (169.1428)	7 (171.4056)	19 (162.2628)
Aug 6, 2016	Smoke in the North Gothenburg, Sweden	8 / 31 (657.6456)	13 (163.4172)	14 (160.5600)	16 (160.5256)	3 (173.1428)
Jul 23, 2016	Black Forrest Smoke & Wine Festival Millheim, DE	7 / 29 (679.9772)	14 (171.4056)	27 (159.3944)	1 (179.4400)	7 (169.7372)
Jun 25, 2016	Cookin Camargue Saintes Maries De La Mer, France	3 / 10 (680.5256)	3 (176)	2 (169.7256)	5 (166.8228)	4 (167.9772)
Jun 11, 2016	Italian Barbecue Championship 2016 Perugia, Italy	18 / 29 (666.3428)	15 (169.7256)	15 (169.7256)	27 (158.8572)	14 (168.0344)
May 21, 2016	Bohemian BBQ Prague, Czech Republic	13 / 22 (643.9772)	6 (168.5944)	10 (162.8800)	20 (150.2284)	7 (162.2744)
Apr 30, 2016	Smoke By the River Brugg, Switzerland	4 / 20 (659.9660)	15 (162.8572)	10 (163.4172)	2 (171.9772)	7 (161.7144)

An unrated contest — an invitational, or a Competitor or Kosher Series board — is in the record but doesn’t move the power rating.

THE BARKTENDERS

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Best top-10 run

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Master avg

Storylines (14 found in their record)

The heartbreaker

Perfect scores on the board

On the rise

Multi-meat days

They almost always walk

High-water mark

The one to beat

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Announced themselves early

Looking over their shoulder

An April team

The long haul

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score, averaged over 5 contests — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)