What’s your favorite style of barbecue? Texas brisket? KC burnt ends? Carolina pulled pork? Are you a purist for one particular regional style? Or a BBQ opportunist, willing to savor any fusion or mashup of smoked meats? The answers may determine how you answer this: Who has the best barbecue in Colorado Springs?
We set out to explore the local BBQ scene and highlight some of the best. The result was our article 5 of the Best BBQ Joints in Colorado Springs. And we included a poll to see who your favorites are. The results are in. The people have spoken. And the top two winners are interestingly a pair of disruptors.
Both Porkbutt BBQ and the Chuckwagon, aka the Chuckwagon 719, opened as food trucks in 2023 before opening east-side brick-and-mortar restaurants in 2024. Porkbutt describes its fully gluten-free style as a blend of Memphis, the Carolinas and Texas. The Chuckwagon is proudly Texas style BBQ. Both have built a winning following.
In our queue of top ‘Q, it was Porkbutt edging out the Chuckwagon for the championship. And both held a sizable margin over the rest of the field.
Here’s how the list broke down.
Poll Winners: The People’s Choice Best Barbecue in Colorado Springs
1. Porkbutt BBQ
Bird Dog BBQ and Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q tied in fourth place. Among write-ins, Mission BBQ made a strong showing, but didn’t threaten enough to break into the top five.
If you’re curious about the wider barbecue landscape, these other restaurants received multiple write-in votes: Otis’s BBQ and Fine Foods, Bristol’s Spark Beer + BBQ, Broken Bones BBQ, BC’s BBQ and Ozzie’s Smokehouse BBQ.
What’s Next for Colorado Springs BBQ
The Chuckwagon stirred up excitement on the Colorado Springs restaurant scene when owners Owners Jared and Diedre Hammond announced they would be partnering to open two new concepts on the Westside in early 2025. Both of the new restaurants will be inside Trail’s End Taproom in Old Colorado City.
First up is Hammond’s Pastrami & Smoked Deli, which will serve for daytime lunch hours. The star of the menu will be the housemade pastrami, which is a regular sellout at the Chuckwagon. But other sliced-to-order meats and sandwiches will include smoked turkey and roast beef. Hammond’s Pastrami & Smoked Deli opens Jan. 7 with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, Jan. 11.
The second new restaurant will be the Seared Steer Steakhouse, serving dinner hours. The menu will feature smoked steaks that are finished over a wood-fired grill. Other entrees will include prime rib and chicken fried bison. That Colorado-raised bison will be cut, tenderized, hand-breaded and fried in beef tallow, all in-house. Other appetizers will be fried in beef tallow instead of seed oils as well. Watch for a February opening for the Seared Steer Steakhouse.
You can follow both of the Chuckwagon 719’s new restaurants on social media and at hammondsdeli.com and thesearedsteer.com.
