Meat Mitch

Meat Mitch Barbecue is the flagship restaurant of competition-BBQ champion and pitmaster Mitch Benjamin, whose Meat Mitch sauce-and-rub brand is used on the competition circuit worldwide. After years of delays, it opened in late 2021 in Leawood’s revamped Ranch Mart North, serving competition-style smoked brisket, ribs, and burnt ends.¹²³

Description

Meat Mitch Barbecue is a 6,300-square-foot, full-service barbecue restaurant at the northeast corner of 95th Street and Mission Road in Leawood, Kansas.¹ The menu specializes in 16-hour smoked Black Angus brisket, St. Louis-style pork ribs, pulled pork, and burnt ends, alongside signature items including sticky curly fries with honey drizzle and a three-tiered “meat tower” appetizer.¹ The kitchen markets its food as “classic, competition-style winning recipes to boundary-pushing ‘Cue,” with offerings such as smoked chicken wings and corn ribs, plus a weekend brunch featuring smoked brisket and eggs.² The restaurant carries the same Meat Mitch sauces and rubs that owner Mitch Benjamin sells commercially and that competitors use globally.²³

Ownership and history

The restaurant is owned by Mitch Benjamin, a pitmaster who built his reputation over roughly two decades on the barbecue competition circuit, winning awards at major events including the American Royal.¹ Benjamin has helped open BBQ restaurants in Paris and served his smoked meats at Yankee Stadium and Kauffman Stadium.² In 2014 he partnered with James Westphal and Mark Kelpe — co-owners of Char Bar in Westport — to develop and sell the Meat Mitch line of barbecue sauces and rubs, which is now used by competitors worldwide; at the 2023 American Royal the brand took first place for its Whomp! mild rub and third for its Naked mild tomato sauce.¹²

Benjamin first signed the lease for the Leawood space nearly four years before opening; the launch was delayed by the roughly $40 million renovation of Ranch Mart North and by COVID-19.¹ The restaurant held a soft launch on December 28, 2021, and the brand publicly announced the opening in January 2022.¹³ The Meat Mitch product brand (meatmitch.com) and the restaurant (meatmitchbbq.com) are operated as a single connected business, with the brand site linking directly to the restaurant.³

Links

• Restaurant site: https://meatmitchbbq.com/
• Brand (sauces/rubs): https://meatmitch.com/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meat-mitch-barbecue-leawood

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Johnson County Post, “After years of waiting, Meat Mitch Barbecue opens in Leawood’s revamped Ranch Mart North” (Jan 18, 2022) — https://johnsoncountypost.com/2022/01/18/meat-mitch-opens-leawood-139745/ asserts: Dec 28, 2021 soft launch; 6,300 sq ft; 3620 W 95th St at 95th & Mission Rd; owner Mitch Benjamin; two decades of competition wins; 2014 sauce/rub partnership with Char Bar’s Westphal and Kelpe; signature brisket, ribs, burnt ends, curly fries, meat tower. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Meat Mitch BBQ official restaurant site — https://meatmitchbbq.com/ asserts: owner Mitch Benjamin; Paris restaurants, Yankee/Royals stadium service; “every major BBQ competition”; 2023 American Royal awards (Whomp! 1st, Naked 3rd); competition-style menu, wings, corn ribs, brunch; address 3620 W 95th St, Leawood, KS 66206. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Meat Mitch, “Meat Mitch Barbecue opens restaurant in Leawood” (brand blog) — https://meatmitch.com/blogs/news/meat-mitch-barbecue-opens-restaurant-in-leawood asserts: flagship restaurant; opening announced Jan 2022; direct brand-to-restaurant tie (product line and restaurant operated together). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴