These Four Barbecue Options Are Coming in Hot to Denver

Diners will find multiple new barbecue options around Denver in the coming months, from a St. Louis transplant to a brand new food festival. Other incoming barbecue spots include a local truck turned brick-and-mortar restaurant and some Montreal-smoked meat pop-ups.

The transplant is Sugarfire Smoke House, slated to open in June in Westminster’s Orchard Park Place. It’s a franchise that started in St. Louis and now has 11 locations open or on the way in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and now Colorado. Chef Mike Johnson is the original chef and co-founder of the brand. His menus are known for traditional baby back ribs, pulled pork, and beef brisket. But his restaurants also serve non-traditional barbecue, or the stuff everyone’s “dirty little food dreams” are made of, according to the website. Some of these items include smoked brisket cheese steaks, pork belly hush puppies, and Bourbon milkshakes.

Chef Johnson also will be in Denver Father’s Day weekend, June 15-17, for the first Denver BBQ Festival at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The event is bringing together 10 pitmasters from across the country, including Jason Ganahl from Colorado’s GQue Barbecue. Other pitmasters are coming from Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee. Peg Leg Porker in Nashville will be represented, as will Pappy’s Smokehouse from St. Louis.

And Owlbear Barbecue is still “coming soon” to 2826 Larimer Street, expected to open this spring after multiple delays. Pitmaster and owner Karl Fallenius has been working on the buildout of his food truck’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant at 2826 Larimer Street. Eater reached out but did not initially hear back from Fallenius about an opening timeline.

For a more personalized barbecue experience, Denver newcomers Au Feu soon will be offering intimate pit-to-plate dinners at the shop’s barbecue supply store in the Overland neighborhood. The new Zeppelin Station food stall brings Montreal-smoked brisket to Denver’s barbecue scene. The meat is similar to a corned beef or pastrami that’s been smoked Texas-style. At Au Feu’s supply shop, 2180 South Delaware Street, a new 1,000-gallon barbecue pit has just been mounted on a 1941 International Harvester truck for the dinners, starting later this month. Check back for more barbecue updates.

Au Feu [official photo]

• Owlbear Barbecue Commits to RiNo with a Brick-and-Mortar Location All its Own [EDEN]
• Eat Around the World at Zeppelin Station [EDEN]