Kenny J’s BBQ making waves over in South Jordan

As anyone who’s tasted the best of Texas will attest, life from that point will be spent chasing the ephemeral experience forever.  The very best brisket can be Tolkien-esque stuff, possessing a fantastically ethereal quality, possibly the work of elven magic. For low and slow fans in Utah, the pickings can be slim, though. Utah is, for want of a better term, the Mordor of the BBQ world.

For many in the state, the relative dearth of consistently excellent BBQ typically leads to the research of names like Traeger, Yoder, and Recteq. For me, I’m not quite there; the arduous overnight cooking process has kept me well at bay for now. Instead, I keep holding on for a newcomer who will shake things up.

Enter stage left, then, Kenny J’s BBQ in South Jordan (11610 District Dr), a new contender in the local smoke stakes. The restaurant is the work of husband and wife duo, Kenny and Mary Jackson; the former quit their day job, and fell down the smoky rabbit hole only seven years ago.

Digging into the details, there’s plenty of promise. Jackson utilizes product from Utah’s UT47 beef (the same brand that Table X taps) while cooking low and slow on an M&M Rotisserie; serious Texan hardware that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The smoker’s figure cost suggests the business is more than just a whim. Jackson himself, meanwhile, routinely hits the road to secure post oak for the cooking process – the tried and tested hardwood relied on by many of the best in the Lonestar.

First impressions inside the substantial restaurant space – which looks to have seating for half the town by my estimation – are strong. Note: My estimation skills are quite poor. The air is laquered with lustrous smoke, sweetly tinging everything it touches. I’ve pitched up at more than one Utah BBQ shop that lacks even the faintest whiff of smoke or rendering.

The restaurant follows the traditional counter service approach, with meats priced by the pound, and heaving platters assembled as you walk down the line selecting this and that. Meats are mercifully sliced and weighed in situ, with nary a holding pan in sight. The service style allows you to translate the nebulous concept of a third of a pound of pulled pork into objective reality. Go on, make it a half pound then. Tray assembled and paid, guests seat themselves and bus their own tables. I should note that Kenny J’s does have a beer license, and should you opt to imbibe, your drink will be bused to your table separately.

The meats we sample on an inaugural visit range from good to very good – brisket, sausage, and turkey. The brisket is a highlight and passes the flop test (my rigorous scientific approach) admirably. Balancing a slice (friends don’t let friends chop brisket, remember) over a plastic fork, how does the beef relax? Mediocre brisket sternly rests atop the fork, rigidly stiff as a two-by-four. The best of the best sprawl luxuriously over either side of the utensil, gravity teasing apart the beef and fat, but crucially, managing to just about hold together. Credit also to a well-trained staff who enquire as to whether we’d like cuts from the flat (leaner meat) or point. Hint: the pointy bit of the beef is where all the fun stuff, like fat and connective tissue, lives. Go team point.

I should add that all of this was at 5.30 p.m. on a Monday evening in suburban Utah. This is somewhat anomalous in the larger BBQ world. The best places in Texas are done when they’re done. Which means should you stop by Aaron Franklin’s signature Austin restaurant in the evening, you won’t even have the pleasure of being laughed out the door. The door will, in fact, be very much locked – the shop, having sold out and closed hours prior.

As we dine, we watch the titular owner and pit boss mingle and chat with guests while also tending to the next day’s batch on the smokers outside; several guests ask for a quick tour of the smoking area, and Jackson is all too happy to oblige. Big tables of gathered friends and families suggest the word in the South Valley is already out.

These days, I try to avoid proclaiming a best this or that. Hubris makes for a slippery ground that’s prone to shifting at the drop of a rib. What I will say, though, for fans of BBQ in Utah, Kenny J’s is most definitely one to keep tabs on.

Other useful links

• Free newsletter – signup and receive our weekly newsletter for free
• Food talk group – chew the fat with other like-minded Utah foodies over on Facebook.
• Best of SLC 2024 – what you can’t miss in the Beehive right now.

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.