Written by Chef Eve Natasha. Updated June 2026. Honest. No sponsored placements.
Colorado Springs has the strongest BBQ scene it has had in a decade. The Chuckwagon 719 took #1 in the Gazette’s 2025 ranking; Porkbutt BBQ won Springs Magazine’s 2025 People’s Choice. Bird Dog has three locations and a twenty-year head start. Front Range Barbeque is rebuilding after its Old Colorado City address temporarily closed. We are Stage Stop BBQ — wood-smoked from a 1993 family ranch, chef-led by Eve Natasha, parked at four brewery and ranch locations across the metro. Here is an honest comparison.
Hours, addresses, styles, and press signals. Pulled from each restaurant’s own site and from the 2025 Gazette + Springs Magazine rankings — not from us. Sort by what you care about.
| Restaurant | Style | Days | Address | Sauce | Try | Press signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stage Stop BBQ That’s us | Wood-smoked, chef-driven, brewery-parked | Daily across 4 locations | 6620 Old Stage Rd. + 3 brewery partners | On the side by default | 14-Hour Brisket sandwich · Burnt-End Mac | Family ranch since 1993 · chef-led by Eve Natasha |
The Chuckwagon 719 | Authentic Texas, wagyu brisket | Thu–Sun, sells out daily | 6453 Omaha Blvd, Cimarron Hills | Texas-style | Wagyu brisket · dino ribs | Named #1 BBQ in Colorado Springs by the Gazette (July 2025) |
Porkbutt BBQ | 100% gluten-free · Memphis × Carolina × Texas | Wed–Sat 11:30a–7p | 2220 Academy Pl, Colorado Springs | House sauces, varied by meat | Fried Brussels sprouts · brisket | Springs Magazine People's Choice Best BBQ 2025 |
Bird Dog BBQ | Oklahoma oak-smoked, military-friendly | Daily across 3 locations | 5984 Stetson Hills Blvd + 2 more | Sweet-leaning | Burnt ends · shotgun spud | Stetson Hills flagship since 2004 · tied #4 in 2025 People's Choice |
Front Range Barbeque | Handcrafted Southern, scratch sides | Operating from 2220 Academy Pl (opened May 2026) | 2220 Academy Pl · original 2330 W. Colorado Ave. temp closed | Craft sauces | Smoked artichoke · cornbread muffins | 25 years on West Colorado Ave; 2nd location opened May 2026 |
BC's Barbecue | New-school Texas + Pueblo green chile | Tue–Sat (rotates to Urban Animal Brewery weekends) | 2458 Montebello Square Dr | Texas-style | Beef cheek · brisket | Owners' combined 50 years of pit experience |
Hatch Cover | Neighborhood bar-and-grill (ribs + wings) | Daily | 252 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd | Standard | Wings + ribs combo | 40-year south-side institution |
Press signals sourced from the Denver/Springs Gazette (July 2025 BBQ ranking; January 2025 dining review) and Springs Magazine 2025 People’s Choice. Hours and addresses verified June 2026 — call ahead, BBQ joints sell out.
We eat at these places. We respect them. Where reviewers consistently flag something, we name it — not to knock anyone, but because the people typing “best BBQ Colorado Springs” deserve a real read.
Three guys from Houston. They opened in Cimarron Hills and immediately started taking #1 lists — the Denver/Springs Gazette named them the best BBQ in Colorado Springs in July 2025. Wagyu brisket. Real dino ribs. Texas through and through. The catch is availability: Thursday through Sunday, and they sell out. If you can plan your week around it, plan your week around it. If you can’t, that’s where the rest of this list comes in.
Won Springs Magazine’s 2025 People’s Choice. The Gazette ran a glowing dining review in January 2025. The thing worth knowing: the entire kitchen is 100% gluten-free — gloves and knives change between every meat, sauces are tested, sides are scratch. For celiac households this is the most serious BBQ kitchen in the metro. Pulled pork is the move. Don’t skip the fried Brussels sprouts. Wed–Sat, 11:30 to 7.
Three locations, twenty years of muscle memory, and the kind of always-open consistency that earned them a tie at #4 in the 2025 Springs Magazine People’s Choice. Burnt ends are the right order. Shotgun spud if you’re hungry. The criticism that recurs in reviews — and we’ll say it because it’s true on a busy day — is that the sauce can run sweeter than the meat needs. Order it on the side and you’ll meet the bark on its own terms. Military discount is real.
Twenty-five years on West Colorado Avenue. Handcrafted Southern, live music, the smoked artichoke that nobody else does. The original 2330 W. Colorado Ave. address is temporarily closed while the OCC building is sorted. The team opened a second location at 2220 Academy Pl. in May 2026 and is operating from there today. That address also houses Porkbutt — two different kitchens, two different menus, same lot. Heritage matters in this scene, and Front Range carries the most of it.
New-school Texas technique with a Pueblo green-chile bend. Owners with a combined fifty years of pit time. Tue–Sat at the Montebello Square location, with a rotating residency at Urban Animal Brewery on weekends. Order the beef cheek if they have it. The brisket is excellent. If you’ve been paying attention to who’s actually advancing the craft in this city, BC’s is on the short list.
Forty years on the south side at the base of Cheyenne Mountain. Hatch Cover is a neighborhood bar-and-grill that happens to smoke serious ribs. Not a destination BBQ joint in the Texas or Carolina sense — a destination dinner spot that does BBQ right. The wings-and-ribs combo with a beer on the patio is one of the most underrated orders in town.
13021 Bass Pro Dr. Two hundred-plus bourbons, a big-room experience, smoked meats that don’t embarrass the bar. If your night is bourbon-first and BBQ second, this is the room. Brunch is also a real thing here.
1391 Interquest Pkwy. Yes, it’s a chain — and the 4.6-star Google average across nearly 1,000 reviews says it’s a chain doing it right. Veteran-founded. The daily National Anthem at noon is real, not a bit. Brisket is solid. The local BBQ purists will tell you to skip the chain; the local BBQ eaters will quietly mention they had Mission last Tuesday.
Tied #4 in the 2025 People’s Choice, 4.4 stars across two-thousand-plus reviews. Rudy’s is a gas-station-BBQ Texas institution that travels surprisingly well. Brisket-by-the-pound, sausage, creamed corn. Cheap, fast, honest. The sauce is sweeter than purists like — same advice as Bird Dog, order it on the side.
We’re not chasing the #1 spot on a list. We’re trying to be the BBQ you actually eat on a Wednesday, when the brewery you wanted to drink at happens to have us parked outside it. Here’s what makes us different from the joints above.
Chef Eve Natasha personally writes every menu at every location. Sauces are hers. Pickle brine is hers. Brisket rub is hers. If it’s on the board, she signed off on it. No regional manager, no corporate playbook.
Not a brand-origin story. A literal continuously-operated family ranch at 6620 Old Stage Rd. Eve grew up smoking meat there. The flagship is on the same ground.
The most-cited criticism of BBQ in this market is sauce that masks the meat. We default to sauce on the side, every plate, every location. The bark earned the spotlight. We let it have it.
Hazy Six IPA + brisket at Mash Mechanix. Star Ranch Pale + pulled pork at Urban Animal. The brewery pours, we feed. Your Mug Club card works on both sides of the counter.
Four pinned locations, daily — we’re the only chef-driven BBQ brand in Colorado Springs with this footprint. Find the closest one and we’ll have brisket waiting.
The honest answer to “what’s the best BBQ in Colorado Springs” is that we’re lucky to have an argument at all. Five years ago this question was over before it started. Today the Chuckwagon, Porkbutt, BC’s, Bird Dog, Front Range, and the rest are all pushing each other — and pushing us.
If you’re visiting town, hit Chuckwagon on a Thursday and Porkbutt on a Saturday. If you have celiac, Porkbutt is the safest serious BBQ kitchen in the metro. If you’re at a brewery and you see our trailer, you already know what to do.
We’ll be at one of four locations. Sauce on the side. The brewery pours, we feed.
— Chef Eve Natasha
Read the ranch story