Went there last night and got a 3-meat plate with brisket, pulled pork, and sausage and was mildly underwhelmed, especially given its hype here and with some of my friends on Facebook. I found the brisket flat--lacking flavor and dry. The visible smoke ring didn't translate into much, if any, of a smoke flavor. The pulled pork was pleasantly moist but again, little if any smoke flavor. The sausage was my favorite of the three--it was less salty than a lot of sausage (I find most sausage too salty for my taste) and had a pleasant, coarse grind to it. I didn't get much of the supposed chipotle flavor, though.

The sauces were amazing, though. The chipotle-cilantro sauce was one of the best sauces I've ever had (though I didn't taste the cilantro in it). The classic was a bit sweet for my taste, but the zesty was excellent as well. I tried to buy some of the chipotle sauce but they don't have it bottled (yet?).

On the server's recommendation, I returned today for lunch to try a burnt-end burger. Now, this--this I would return for. Excellently executed and an amazing mix of tastes and textures from a perfectly-cooked-to-medium patty, thinnish slices of juicy burnt ends, and a thick layer of cole slaw topped with house-made pickles and jalapeņos. I asked for and added a little bit of the chipotle-cilantro sauce for some extra zing. Delish.

That said, the Z-Man at Joe's still remains my favorite barbecue-joint sandwich (and possibly my favorite BBQ meal) in KC, and for actual meats, I simply haven't found anything that holds a candle to what they do down in Texas (where "real barbecue don't need no sauce"). I also can't go without mentioning one of my favorite sandwiches of all time, the Pitmaster from Pecan Lodge in Dallas (brisket+pulled pork+sausage+slaw+jalapeņos), which frankly knocks the socks off of anything I've had in KC.

If I were to go back to Q39, I'd ask for moist brisket (if they can even do that), since they seem to serve it very lean by default. I'd also just go straight for the sauces and not even bother trying the meats without them; they elevate the meal from mediocre to very good, though still subpar to Central Texas, IMHO.

That's not to say I would ever turn KC BBQ down. I eat BBQ wherever it's good.