At least according to this site that has ranked the best BBQ cities each year for the last decade or so:

Show-Me Some BBQ

This year, the Mother of the West is also the mother of BBQ: Missouri cities filled out three of the top five spots in our ranking. St. Louis brings home the gold, nabbing first place overall thanks to superb ’cue (No. 6 in both Quality and Accolades) and plenty of spots to grab a bite (No. 2 in Access). 

Last year’s ’Cue Capital, Kansas City (No. 2), and Springfield (No. 4) follow closely behind, with a boost from hosting acclaimed barbecue contests in recent years. All three cities are home to award-winning barbecue, but Kansas City style smokes the competition with its impressive number of Accolades (No. 1).

Unsurprisingly, other parts of the KC metro area fared well: Overland Park (No. 6) and Kansas City, Kansas (No. 7). Each ranked high in Accolades, and Overland Park impressed with Quality (No. 3) BBQ establishments.