Saturday evening I visited Meat Mitch BBQ with a buddy of mine. Meat Mitch BBQ is located near the corner of 95th street and Mission Road in Leawood, KS, at the northeast corner of Ranch Mart North. They are open 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day. Here is a small write-up about them from their website:

“Touted as one of Kansas City’s most highly anticipated restaurants of 2021, famed-pitmaster Mitch Benjamin brings his smoke and magic as well as his award-winning sauces and rubs to Meat Mitch Barbecue. From classic, competition-style winning recipes to boundary-pushing ’que, join the author of BBQ Revolution for a real barbecue revolution, right here in Leawood, Kansas. WHOMP!”

We arrived around 6:00 and were seated on the patio. The patio is covered and heated and is a nice area. I noted that they allow people to bring their dogs to eat with them on the patio. There were at least two people that had their dogs with them. One even brought a water bowl with them for their dog. I visited Colorado recently and noticed that all the shops and restaurants there allow people to bring their dogs in with them. This must be a trend that is expanding to Kansas City. I’m not an anti-dog person, but I don’t really find it appealing to eat my meal with someone else’s dog eating and drinking two feet from me.

I wanted to try the brisket sandwich, which is the first thing I order when trying a barbecue restaurant that I haven’t visited before. I asked if I could order a side of burnt ends, but they don’t offer that as a side dish. They offered the two meat platter, which was an additional 20 dollars, so I declined. The brisket sandwich is 13 dollars and does not include a side dish. I ordered a side of fries so that I could try the different sauces. A side of fries is five dollars. So if you want a brisket sandwich and fries, be prepared to spend 18 dollars.

An odd thing about the drink menu is that the only light beer they have on tap is Coors Light. If you want something else, they offer it in 16 ounce cans, not bottles. It’s not a big deal, but I thought I would make note of it here.

The service here was really good. They were training a new waiter and he did a good job. Checked on us often. We received our food about 15 minutes after ordering. The brisket is served dry (no sauce), thinly sliced, on a hamburger-style bun. I noticed that there wasn’t much brisket on the sandwich. You almost couldn’t see the meat under the bun. However, the portion of fries was pretty good.

The brisket was tender, but was a bit dry and didn’t have much flavor to it. I found this interesting since their website mentions Mitch’s award-winning rubs and sauces. I didn’t taste any rub on the meat.

Speaking of the sauces, I tried all of them with my fries…

The “WHOMP” competition sauce is their signature sauce. Here’s the description from their website:

“Meat Mitch Competition WHOMP! BBQ Sauce GLUTEN FREE SO GOOD, IT’LL MAKE YOU SQUEAL! SHE’S SWEET WITH HEAT, PODS! When in doubt, JUST ADD SAUCE! Use it for ribs, steak, brisket, pork, foie gras, chicken, 9 irons, eggs, chili, your mother-in-law, use it to water flowers.

WHOMP! Ingredients: Cider vinegar, water, brown sugar, sugar, tomato paste, spice blend (with salt, chili pepper, dehydrated onion and garlic, spices and spice extractives), Worcestershire sauce ( with molasses, corn syrup, and tamarind), distilled vinegar,  caramel color, natural flavor.”

I liked this sauce. It has a bit of an “after-kick” as it goes down. Must be the chili pepper!

The Char Bar Table Sauce is another option. Here’s the description from their website:

“NO FRUC’N CORN SYRUP!

GLUTEN FREE! VEGAN!

THIS IS OUR TABLE SAUCE…please do not spill on the table or you will be chewing wood. When in doubt, JUST ADD SAUCE! Use it for ribs, steak, brisket, pork, foie gras, chicken, 9 irons, eggs, chili, your mother-in-law, use it to water your flowers. WHOMP!

Ingredients: water, tomato paste, sugar, apple cider vinegar, distilled vinegar, brown sugar, salt, spices (including celery seed), natural flavors, dehydrated garlic and onion, lemon juice concentrate.”

I could really taste the apple cider vinegar in this sauce.

Next up was the Naked BBQ sauce….

“ALL- NATURAL, GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN

Meat Mitch WHOMP! Naked BBQ Sauce HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)-Free and Gluten-Free All Natural Competition BBQ Sauce SO GOOD, IT’LL MAKE YOU SQUEAL! SHE’S ALL SWEET – NONE OF THE HEAT PODS! When in doubt, JUST GET NAKED! Use it for ribs, steak, brisket, pork, foie gras, chicken, 9 irons, eggs, scrapple, your mother-in-law, use it to water flowers. WHOMP! NO FRUC’N CORN SYRUP At Meat Mitch we don’t judge, we get judged, and experts love this All-Natural Q sauce made for Championship BBQ competitions. This unique sauce is stripped down to natural, raw ingredients. NO HI-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, NO FISH in this dish, & don’t expect some late night Glute-y Call. It’s also GLUTEN FREE. This sauce is so Naked it might go streaking thru the Quad…

Ingredients: Cider vinegar, water, brown sugar, sugar, tomato paste, spice blend (with salt, chili pepper, dehydrated onion and garlic, spices and spice extractives), Worcestershire sauce ( with molasses, corn syrup, and tamarind), distilled vinegar,  caramel color, natural flavor.”

This is their sweet sauce. I’m not a fan of sweet sauces, but this one was tolerable. Not too sweet at all.

The “Stay Hot” sauce was next.

“O FRUC’N CORN SYRUP!

GLUTEN FREE!

This sauce is like jumping on a trampoline of flavors! BOOM comes the sweet, spicy, barbecue sauce, BAM comes the double bounce of jalapeno hot sauce…nothing left to catch you but the layers of habanero pepper mash. If you tried to take this number to the prom, it would have to be in a fire truck…and if she leaves you at the door – STAY HOT!

SO GOOD, IT’LL MAKE YOU SQUEAL! SHE’S SWEET WITH HEAT, PODS! When in doubt, JUST ADD SAUCE! Use it for ribs, steak, brisket, pork, foie gras, chicken, 9 irons, eggs, chili, your mother-in-law, use it to water flowers. WHOMP!

Ingredients: Hot sauce (red pepper mash, white vinegar, salt, sodium alginate, red 40), brown sugar, tomato paste, water, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, tomato paste (tomatoes, spices, natural flavors, citric acid), salt, worcestershire sauce (white vinegar, garlic molasses, onion, salt, sugar, water, tamarind, and spice), granulated garlic, granulated onion, cayenne pepper, molasses, vanilla extract (water, alcohol (35%), sugar, vanilla bean extractives), paprika, black pepper and spices.”

I went to pour this sauce and it is very runny, so be prepared. It has a nice kick to it and it not overpowering. If you like hot sauces, try it!

Up next was the “Yellow Brick Road” mustard sauce:

“NO FRUC’N CORN SYRUP!

GLUTEN FREE!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FROM KANSAS to enjoy this tornado of flavors! I’m not sure if I’m tasting sunshine, moonshine or mustard. I just know I’m clicking my heels with joy! This golden sauce can be used to grill, marinade and dip. Chicken, turkey, pork, steak, all veggies…just make sure you keep it off of Toto!

SO GOOD, IT’LL MAKE YOU SQUEAL! Just follow the yellow brick road! When in doubt, JUST ADD SAUCE! Use it for ribs, steak, brisket, pork, foie gras, chicken, 9 irons, eggs, chili, your mother-in-law, use it to water flowers. WHOMP!

Ingredients: Mustard (distilled vinegar, water, #1 grade mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, natural flavors and garlic powder), honey, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, sugar, tomato paste, water, white distilled vinegar, salt, paprika, granulated onion, chili powder, worcestershire (distilled white vinegar, garlic, molasses, onions, salt, sugar, water, cloves, natural flavorings, tamarind extract), liquid smoke (water, natural hickory smoke), vanilla extract, cayenne pepper, black pepper, spices.”

I realize not everyone is a fan of mustard sauces, but I really liked this one.

As we were getting ready to leave, one of the employees walked up to our table and struck up a conversation with us. He told us that Meat Mitch was selected as one of the barbecue places for the new Kansas City airport. There’s a little tidbit that you may not have heard yet.

I thought this was just “okay” barbecue, but I put out a question on my Facebook page asking if anyone had tried it and their thoughts about it. Every comment was positive and to a person they thought it was great. Maybe we caught Meat Mitch on a bad, or average, night? A few people mentioned the burnt ends are good, so I’ll have to go back and try them. I’m willing to give them another shot.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know of any new barbecue places in the area because I’d like to visit them. Thanks!