AMERICAN ROYAL AWARD-BBQ WINNER
ABOUT BURNT ENDS
Founded in 2010, Burnt End BBQ is the brainchild of PB&J Restaurants founder Paul Khoury and Executive Pitmaster, Stephen "Smokey" Schwartz. Our signature BBQ has been perfected over the years by Smokey and has won awards at various competitions around the country, including three Grand Champion titles in Chicago at the Food Arts Magazine/ Share Our Strength National Championships. In addition to award winning BBQ, our variety of sauces have won awards at the granddaddy of all BBQ competitions, The American Royal World Series of BBQ. Chipotle Glaze and Sweet Honey took 1st place in 2012 and 2015, respectively. We have also been featured on such Food Network shows as The Grill Dads and Burger, Brew, and Que.
Meet the Pit Master
Originally from California, Stephen "Smokey" Schwartz came to Kansas City in the early 1980's where he began training as a Pitmaster at a Kansas City’s original-Joe's Restaurant & BBQ and at the Barn in Stanley Ks, both owned by Tom Gault. After a short tour in the military, he returned to Kansas City in 1990 as the Executive Chef/Pitmaster at the renowned Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ where he assisted in their expansion.
After several years at Jack Stack, he took the Executive Chef position at the famous Golden Ox owned by Stephen Greer. Schwartz there revamped their menu that had been relatively unchanged since the 1960s, adding several new barbeque dishes. In 2005, Paul Khoury, Owner of PB&J Restaurant Group, named Smokey the Executive Chef of Yahooz. In 2009, working with PB&J's Corporate Chef Mark Valiani, he helped found the new "The Coyote Grill" with Southwestern fare.
What’s a Burnt End?
Burnt Ends are a cut of barbecue that is notorious in Kansas City, much like the organized crime that ran the town in the early 20th century. Burnt Ends are typically cut from the fatty end of a Brisket after the fat has gotten nice and crispy, charred from the smoker. Traditionally, this cut of meat wasn't so highly desired and was shoved off as too fatty or too burnt to eat. The Burnt Ends were thrown out or put into a stew. Some say, local bbq legend, Arthur Bryant's left them out for customers to snack on while waiting for their food. In 1972, local and now famous food writer Calvin Trillin gave Burnt Ends their shot at fame when he wrote, I dream about those Burnt Ends, and dubbed Bryant's the single best restaurant in the world. It was the Time to Shine for Burnt Ends. Local pitmasters began to capitalize on this surprising shot at fame for the once tossed Brisket cutting - and the popularity of the dish began to soar. As you can probably guess, the Burnt Ends at Burnt End BBQ are Smokey's signature dish, one that will keep you coming back time and time again... and if we're lucky, they will meet you in your dreams too!
IN 2010...
In 2010, Smokey began working on a Barbecue concept for PB&J and together they introduced their new concept "Burnt End BBQ" with Smokey taking the lead as the Executive Pitmaster and General Manager. Smokey also competes in many cooking and BBQ competitions. He is the only chef to have won Three Grand Champion titles in Chicago at the Food Arts Magazine/ Share Our Strength National Championships - taking home first place in 2006, 2012, and 2015. Smokey has also taken first place at the American Royal Barbecue Championships with his Sweet Chipotle Glaze BBQ Sauce in 2012 and his Sweet Honey Glaze Sauce in 2015. In January 2018, Smokey and the Burnt End BBQ were featured on The Food Network's new series "The Grill Dads" and in June 2019, Burnt End BBQ's Denver location was on "Burgers, Brews & Que".