Welcome to Travel and Photo Today’s KC Barbecue Tour!
(If you are new to our series about Kansas City BBQ you can visit the First Stop on the KC Barbecue Tour at KC BBQ 1st Stop for a bit of history and background.)
Today’s Tour Stop – Burnt End BBQ
Burnt End BBQ currently has two locations, one in the Kansas City area as well as one in Denver Colorado. Their website indicates they will also be opening a second location in the Kansas City area at Crown Center in the near future. Although they are growing and have multiple locations, Burnt End doesn’t have the feel of one of those larger “chain” types of BBQ operations. On a recent visit to Burnt End’s Overland Park, Kansas location I found it to have more of a comfortable, local feel.
BURNT END BBQ –
Burnt End’s Overland Park location is relatively new and true, it doesn’t have the BBQ joint ambiance that only years of BBQ smoke can instill into a place. None-the-less, It’s not now of those slick, glass and chrome yuppie operations either. The focus seems to truly be on serving up quality “Q” – that’s BBQ for the uninitiated – and they don’t dissappoint.
Customers at Burnt End BBQ walk up and order from the menu. They have a nice selection of items including BBQ meats which can be ordered by the pound, in a sandwich, or as single or mixed meat platters.
Burnt Ends also offers something rather unique – their Signature Bowls. The bowls include a combination of BBQ meat(s) of choice and other items such as potato wedges, beans, cornbread or coleslaw served up in a bowl and topped with a pile of onion straws.
The Burnt End menu is rounded out by BBQ wings as well as a variety of burgers.
What’s This? Bronco Platter in Kansas City?
If you look closely at the second page of the menu above you will note one item of particular interest to KC locals – The Bronco Platter. I mean really? Come on guys. This is Kansas City! Home of the Chiefs! In all fairness I should add – the images above come from Burnt End’s on-line Menu PDF – available by clicking through from either the Overland Park or Denver locations. But – when directly viewed on their website they do offer menus which appear to be styled somewhat more specifically for their various locations. For their Denver location the on-line menu refers to this platter as the M-V-Platter (aka Bronco Platter.) On the Overland Park menu the platter is named the M-V-Platter (aka Royal Platter.) Same platter folks – only the names have changed. Burnt End is a work in progress – adding a new location at Crown Center – so maybe their website is still in transition as well. Perhaps the platter name on their KC-PDF will be updated to something a bit more KC oriented in the future.
Doing Some Home Grilling? CHECK THE TEMPERATURE!
Burnt End BBQ in Overland Park has a casual and friendly atmosphere. It’s not fancy – it’s comfortable. Customers walk up to the food prep area and ordering station at the rear of the establishment where they make their selections, place their orders and make payment. After that, just grab your drink and find a table. Service is quick and your order will be delivered to your table in short order.
You know you have to like a place that has a KU Jayhawk sign prominently displayed!
Whenever I visit a BBQ shop for the first time I have my “go to” testing order – ribs and smoked turkey. Not all restaurants have these items which can be very disappointing. But happily – for me at least – Burnt End offers a two meat combo plate and ribs and smoked turkey are available. The combo plate also includes 2 sides, bread and pickles. I went with the fries and baked beans. The ribs with good – not great. They were tender and tasty, yet not as tasty and tender as I’ve encountered at one or two other BBQ joints. The same was true of the smoked turkey. It was somewhat moist but still a bit on the dry side. The flavor was lightly smokey but not outstanding. I’d give both of these meat options a solid “B”. The sides? The fries were good, tasty and well prepared. The baked beans? They were about what you would expect of baked beans.
One of my dining companions for the evening went with the brisket and sausage combo platter accompanied by baked beans and coleslaw. A nice tasty layout topped off with a Octoberfest Specialty Beer – “Bob’s 47” – from our local “Boulevard Brewery.“
My other dining companion at Burnt End BBQ selected one of the restaurant’s namesake items – Smokey’s Signature Burnt End Bowl. It looked great. Quite different and distinctive. He reported that it was truly very tasty and really hit the spot on a cool evening – “reasonably priced and very, very flavorful and excellent.” I managed to sneak a taste and I fully agree. Definitely worth trying if you stop in at Burnt End BBQ.
Burnt End BBQ in Overland Park, Kansas offers some very good barbecue including their rather unique and very tasty specialty bowls. They’ll soon be opening a second KC area location in Crown Center. Check it out – you’ll be glad you did.
Visit Burnt End BBQ ……………
.. And Enjoy The Tasty Adventure!