Tonight I visited Sierra BBQ in Lenexa, Kansas. I have wanted to try this place for a long time, as I’ve driven by it numerous times, and the parking lot is always full when they’re open. The visit to Sierra BBQ marks my 88th barbecue restaurant review in the Kansas City area.

From their website:

“Sierra BBQ stays true to Kansas City’s BBQ roots with signature attention to detail. The star attraction is the pork ribs—both baby back and spare—but also features classics like burnt ends, pulled pork, brisket, chicken, sliced ham, smoked turkey, and sausage. Many of the smoked meats get a flavorful finish on the wood-fired grill. 

While the smoked meats shine, the chef-crafted signature sides are just as noteworthy. Sierra BBQ is built for take-out, delivery, and catering, but also offers a cozy, 50-seat restaurant with a warm, inviting atmosphere. It’s a neighborhood BBQ joint in Lenexa, KS where the community can gather, relax, and enjoy great food in an unpretentious setting.”

We decided to go early tonight to try to beat the traffic and crowd from people getting off work at 5:00 at the many nearby businesses. Sierra BBQ is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Lackman and College Boulevard in Lenexa. We arrived around 4:30 and were greeted as soon as we walked into the restaurant. We were the only customers there at this time, so our strategy worked out well! This is a place where you order at the counter and they bring your food to you when it’s ready.

I ordered a brisket sandwich with a side of cheesy corn and some burnt ends on the side. Michelle ordered a brisket platter with cheesy corn and baked beans. We both ordered Diet Coke to drink. The bill came to around $50. I believe two employees were working this evening (Wednesday), our order taker and the cook, but I think they were sharing duties in the kitchen.

We sat down at a high-top table in the dining room. I took a picture to give you an idea of the size of the restaurant. They claim they can fit 50 people in there.

We were seated for maybe five minutes before our server came out and said that the cook had removed the burnt ends from the smoker too soon, and they weren’t any good. Therefore, he didn’t feel comfortable serving them to me. I was very appreciative that he was upfront and honest with me and didn’t want to serve me bad food. He asked if I would like to replace the burnt ends with something else, and he mentioned he could cut up some pork spare ribs for me. Of course, I said, “DEAL.”

It took about 20 minutes to receive our food. Here was mine:

And here was Michelle’s:

Her platter also came with sliced pieces of sausage. I had to sneak a couple of pieces. They were good.

The brisket on my brisket sandwich was thinly sliced like deli meat. It broke into pieces on the bun. The meat was tender and flavorful, but I found it a bit dry after finishing half of the sandwich. There were three different bottles of sauce on each table in the restaurant, so I tried each with a piece of meat from my sandwich.

The “KC BBQ” sauce tasted a lot like ketchup to me and wasn’t anything special. I liked the “Spicy BBQ” sauce, and it had a nice kick to it that wasn’t overpowering. The mustard sauce was pretty good, too.

The best thing I had was the spare ribs.

The ribs were tender and flavorful, with a nice smoky flavor and smoke ring. They were also pretty juicy, like they had been injected with something, but I couldn’t tell for sure.

As for the side dishes, the cheesy corn and baked beans weren’t anything special and were pretty similar to what you would get at any barbecue place.

Overall, the food was decent, the service was good, and the atmosphere was perfect. The only question when deciding whether to return is the value of what we paid. $50 seemed a bit pricey, but I know the price of barbecue meats keeps getting more and more expensive. I suppose $15 for a barbecue sandwich and a side is pretty reasonable.

If you’re in the area, give this place a try and let me know what you think!