‘There’s always another door to open up.’ Jazzy B’s draws crowds with barbecue, jazz

Nestled in Lee’s Summit is a spot that spotlights two of the Kansas City area’s greatest draws: barbecue and jazz.

Jazzy B’s Diner uses its scratch kitchen to create smoked meats its owner says differ from those of traditional ‘cue joints.

“It’s more of the fusion,” said Brandon Simpson, restaurant owner. “We take people around the world by taking a basis of smoked meats and putting them in different dishes from different cultures.”

Simpson, a Lee’s Summit resident also known as Jazzy, has been cooking professionally since his college days. He majored in restaurant and food management at Northwest Missouri State University, where he was a member of the university’s two-time Division II champion football team. In Maryville, he started a business selling specialty cheesecakes — called Cheese of Desire — to students and locals.

After returning to his hometown of Kansas City, Simpson worked as a restaurant manager before launching Jazzy B’s food truck around 14 years ago. He opened Jazzy B’s Diner on Colbern Road near Lake Jacomo in 2016, moving the restaurant to central Lee’s Summit in 2023.

Starting a business was a big step, but Simpson said he had been laid off and “didn’t want to put myself in anyone else’s hands. I just went out on a limb.”

The original Lee’s Summit restaurant quickly became popular, outgrowing its relatively small space within a couple of years. The business also received a boost through Simpson’s participation and success on cooking competitions featured on both the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.

The new Jazzy B’s, located at 320 S.W. Blue Parkway, is significantly larger than the previous location. The extra space allowed Simpson to expand seating, add a full-service bar and build a stage for live performances.

Although the original Jazzy B’s food truck is no longer the center of Simpson’s business, the truck is still operating, mainly for catering events and fundraisers.

Whether in the food truck or at the restaurant, Simpson said he likes to jazz up traditional barbecue.

“I like to keep it more than just beef on bun,” he said, noting the restaurant does offer that crowd-pleaser. “But let’s expand our palates.”

Popular menu items from Jazzy B’s scratch kitchen include crab balls, burnt ends, smoked fried chicken wings, beer-battered fish, wings and brisket tacos. Beyond the food itself, Simpson focuses on creating an inviting atmosphere in his open-floor-plan restaurant.

“The biggest part for me is the experience,” he said. “Being able to have fun with family over a good hearty meal and enjoy each other and meet new people.”

Also important to Simpson is impacting the community by sharing his time, talents and experiences with aspiring and new entrepreneurs.

“I love what I do,” he said, “and as you keep evolving, there’s always another door to open up, another something to keep the interest up. Because the more I try to help other people, the more I learn and those other doors open up.”

Simpson is a co-founder of the Kansas City Food Truck Association, collaborated with Mid-Continent Public Library to launch “The Business of Food Trucks,” has taught classes about starting a food truck, talks to students about entrepreneurship at local schools and is a business partner and counsel for Kauffman Real World Learning, an initiative designed to provide high school students with hands-on work experiences within their communities.

Thanks to the expanded restaurant location and its performance stage, Simpson has been able to bring live jazz to his Lee’s Summit spot.

“Jazz is the basis or the glue that holds all music that we listen to now,” he said. “If it wasn’t for jazz’s tempo, melodies, creativeness, all those different genres wouldn’t be in existence. So it’s my little thing to keep that going, keep that history going so they can see some of these greats and hear some of the music that Ella Fitzgerald used to sing and hear that riff that’s in some of the music today.”

Restaurant-goers can hear live blues and jazz on Fridays or play music bingo on Thursdays with Saturdays reserved for various genres of live music. Simpson is also working on offering open jam sessions on Wednesdays.

Being in the passion-based restaurant business has its own similarities to jazz music, Simpson added.

“Jazz itself is when people would get together and create a beautiful sound,” he said.

“When I’m in the kitchen that’s how I perceive myself. I get in there and I’m putting some dishes together, somebody’s history of what their grandma used to cook them and they realize that I’m just putting it in with the basics — the smoked meats.”