Oklahoma Joe's


Oklahoma Joe's is a barbecue restaurant owned and operated by Joe Davidson, with locations in Oklahoma and Missouri.

History

Oklahoma Joe's was originally started by Joe Davidson as a smoker manufacturer, then a decade later launched its barbecue restaurant. The first Oklahoma Joe's opened in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in January 1996. A Kansas City location followed later that year, located inside a gas station at the corner of W 47th St and Mission Rd in Kansas City, Kansas.
During the 1990s, Joe Davidson met Jeff and Joy Stehney while they were on the competition barbecue circuit with their team Slaughterhouse Five. Davidson and the Stehneys decided to go into the restaurant business together, and they opened Oklahoma Joe's in Stillwater, Oklahoma and in Kansas City, Kansas in 1996. Davidson sold Oklahoma Joe's Smokers in 1997 and moved to Texas. With Davidson out of Oklahoma, the partners decided to close the Stillwater location, and the Stehneys bought out Davidson's ownership and assumed full control of the Kansas location.
When Joe Davidson returned to Oklahoma and opened his own version of a new Oklahoma Joe's in 2011, he made an agreement with the Stehneys to change the name of their Kansas City area restaurants. In August 2014, the Stehneys announced that the name of their three Kansas City area restaurants would be changed to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.
Davidson opened his first of the current Oklahoma Joe's restaurants in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in 2011. He opened his second location in 2012 inside Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2014, Davidson announced that he was planning new locations in South Tulsa and in the Washington, DC area. The location in South Tulsa opened in May 2016. He also announced plans for a one-of-a kind Barbecue Factory in Oklahoma. A location in Lincoln, Nebraska's Haymarket District opened on July 25, 2017.

Recognition for Oklahoma Joe's

Current Locations