A new De Soto storefront was a great excuse for a visit to Burnt End BBQ, an upscale barbecue restaurant with a full bar by the people behind the celebrated YaYa’s Euro Bistro.
“Upscale” barbecue? In terms of ambiance, think Q39 or Jack Stack, not Arthur Bryant’s. The De Soto restaurant (34071 Commerce Drive, De Soto) is in a former Burger King building, but you’d never know it. It’s bright and cheery, if a little noisy, and comfortable with prompt, friendly and thoroughly professional service.
Burnt End originally opened in Overland Park. A second location opened in Crown Center. De Soto was supposed to be a third outlet, but the company was committed to moving up from counter service and a limited drink menu to table service and a full bar, so resources shifted to focus on De Soto, and the Overland Park shop has closed. Pitmaster Stephen “Smokey” Schwartz says now that De Soto is up and running smoothly, the company is hunting for an ideal space further east in Johnson County to expand.
But why De Soto? The upcoming opening of the new Panasonic battery plant, bringing 4,000 jobs to the community, was certainly a factor.
“We knew it was an up-and-coming area,” Schwartz says. “We wanted to be part of the community, not just come into the community. There wasn’t a whole lot out here in terms of great restaurants, and we consider ourselves a great restaurant.”
A recent visit confirmed the boast.
The beef burnt ends are classic: full-flavored, smokey and moist. I paired them on a two-meat platter with pork burnt ends, an item I haven’t seen elsewhere and frankly did not find all that appealing. Pork is simply too lean for that kind of treatment. The chunks were dry and needed a lot of sauce.
The platter includes two sides. I tried a well-executed, basic creamy coleslaw and the cornbread bites, a signature item. The flash-fried cubes of honey butter-dipped cornbread had a thin crunch on the outside and a moist, tender interior. They’re a delight not to be missed.
Burnt End’s brisket french dip is an excellent example of the more-than-meat-and-bread BBQ sandwich. Moist, thinly sliced brisket is piled on a hoagie bun and topped with Swiss cheese and caramelized onions. It comes with a tasty horseradish dressing on the side, which serves it well, as would any of the four table sauces. The sandwich is plenty moist, and the ordinary au jus that also accompanies the sandwich is superfluous.
The restaurant proudly proclaims on a sign outside that their sauce was voted “best on the planet” at the American Royal. Schwartz says the Sweet Chipotle sauce was the prize winner, but all four are first-rate. The Thick and Bold sauce is a well-balanced, classic tomato-based Kansas City style; the Fire sauce brings plenty of lingering chili heat to a mustard sauce; Honey Glaze works well for the sweet-toothed diner; and the Sweet Chipotle offers a complex, satisfying combo of sweet, smoke and heat.
Smoked wings are proclaimed “(Probably) The Best Wings Ever” on the menu, and while that’s a judgment call, the wings did not disappoint: plump, meaty and flavorful with six sauce options to choose from.
The meats are served unsauced, allowing diners to sample the four table sauces and choose their favorites. Meats are smoked over oak, with a different house-crafted seasoning rub for each—except turkey, which gets a simple salt-and-pepper treatment. burntendbbq.com
