Crown Center BBQ mixes it up: sticky burnt end buns, ‘backdoor’ chicken, vegan bowls

It’s fitting that the top seller at Burnt End BBQ is its namesake burnt ends.

Burnt ends come the traditional way, but also in a signature burnt end bowl with beans and cornbread croutons, and topped with crispy onion straws. Or go another direction and try the barbecue served in an Asian-infused sticky bun.

“Everything you can think of in barbecue we do on a regular basis. Kansas City-style. Straight, original, no fancy stuff to it,” said pitmaster Stephen “Smokey” Schwartz. “Then we have our upscale barbecue and our barbecue dishes that are a bit more infused, with a more culinary feel to it. We’re covering every aspect.”

So Schwartz serves up traditional barbecue menu items at the new Crown Center location: brisket, ribs, pulled pork, smoked sausage, hickory ham, smoked turkey, smoked chicken, hickory pit beans, cheesy corn, mac-and-cheese, baked potato salad, and coleslaw.

Other offerings include white bean turkey chili, smoked turkey Cobb salads, and wings with a choice of sauces, including sweet chipotle glaze and pineapple teriyaki.

Happy Hour specials include the Sticky Burnt End Buns (with a teriyaki glaze, fresh cucumber, pickled carrot and Fresnos), cornbread bites, barbecue poutine (crispy fries, smoked pulled pork, bacon, queso, pico de gallo, sour cream, fire barbecue sauce, scallion and queso fresco), and smoked chicken dip.

For dinner, look for a 16-ounce bone-in rib eye, grilled salmon glazed with Smokey’s barbecue sauce, roasted duck with orange barbecue sauce, roasted chicken with a lemon herb pan sauce, and thick-cut smoked Duroc pork chop with an apple-bourbon glaze.

Customers in the know order The Backdoor Chicken — a whole chicken to-go after 4 p.m. daily.

“Someone comes into the restaurant and sneaks up to the counter and asks for the Backdoor. We wrap it in butcher paper, stick it in a brown paper sack and they throw down $10 and walk away,” Schwartz said.

He moved to the metro from California in the early 1980s and began training as a pitmaster at the former Joe’s Restaurant & BBQ. After a short tour in the military, he became pitmaster at Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue and helped in the company’s expansion. He also worked at the Golden Ox before joining PB&J Restaurant Group in 2005.

PB&J rolled out the Burnt End BBQ concept in 2011 in Overland Park. A Denver location opened in 2016.

Schwartz also still competes in cooking and barbecue competitions — regionally and nationally — and has been featured on the Food Network.

He loves seeing huge plates of barbecue placed in front of customers. Showstoppers, he calls them.

“It looks good and smells good. It’s sense of pride and I’m so elated with happiness,” he said. “It’s not just barbecue, it’s a technique, it’s a style, it’s an art. There is so much of yourself, your personality, your drive and the vision of what you are trying to do. It’s the most original art there is.”

Burnt End BBQ recently opened at 2450 Grand Blvd., Suite 130, in the former Milano Italian Dining spot in Crown Center.