The Burnt-End
Mac Bowl.
Cavatappi. Three cheeses. Fourteen-hour brisket burnt ends. Crisped sixty seconds on the flat-top. Scallion over the top, a stripe of Carolina Gold on the side.
Stage Stop BBQ’s Burnt-End Mac Bowl is cavatappi tossed in a three-cheese bechamel (sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, fontina) with cubed brisket point — twice-smoked burnt ends — folded in, topped with smoked breadcrumbs, crisped sixty seconds on the flat-top, scallion over, Carolina Gold sauce on the side. Daily at every Stage Stop Colorado Springs location until the brisket sells out.
How it’s built, step by step.
Burnt ends start as the point of the fourteen-hour brisket. Once the brisket is rested, the point gets a second pass in the smoker. Then it meets the bechamel.
| Step | Internal temp | What’s happening |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | Pull burnt-end point off the rested brisket. Cube 1-inch. Toss in rendered fat + 16-mesh pepper. |
| 2 | 195F | Burnt ends back in the smoker, uncovered, for the second crisp. |
| 3 | 205F | Pull burnt ends, hold warm. Start bechamel: roux, milk + cream, cheddar + gouda + fontina off heat. |
| 4 | — | Cavatappi to one minute past al dente. Drain. Into the bechamel. Burnt ends folded in. |
| 5 | — | Bowl up, smoked breadcrumbs over the top. Flat-top sixty seconds, lid on. Scallion, sauce on the side, send it. |
Wood: Post oak (from the brisket cook) + a touch of pecan. Bark: Brisket salt-and-pepper bark, rendered into the bechamel. Smoker: Texas-style offset, indirect heat, no gas assist. Flat-top finish in the kitchen.
The thinking behind the bowl.
The Burnt-End Mac Bowl is brand IP. We invented it the week we opened The Cantina, and it is the single most photographed item on the menu. The build is simple — cavatappi, a three-cheese bechamel, fourteen-hour brisket burnt ends folded in at the end, a flat-top crisp, scallion, Carolina Gold sauce on the side. The execution is where it gets real.
Start with the burnt ends. Burnt ends are the point — the fatty cap that sits on top of the whole-packer brisket and renders the hardest under fourteen hours of post-oak smoke. After we pull the brisket, the point gets a second pass: cubed an inch square, tossed in a little of its own rendered fat plus more 16-mesh pepper, and back in the smoker uncovered for ninety minutes. The bark crisps. The fat carries.
The bechamel is sharp cheddar plus smoked gouda plus a smaller hit of fontina. The smoked gouda matters — it carries woodsmoke into the cream without us having to spike the sauce with anything synthetic. Bechamel base: roux, whole milk, a touch of cream, no nutmeg (we leave it out — most mac recipes overdo it), salt, pepper, sharp cheddar pulled in last off the heat.
Cavatappi over rigatoni because the corkscrews catch the burnt-end bits in their hollows. The pasta is cooked one minute past al dente — it needs to take a beating on the flat-top without going to mush.
Assembly: pasta into the bechamel, burnt ends folded in, scoop into a cast-iron bowl, top with smoked breadcrumbs (panko cooked in a pan with a little brisket fat). Onto the flat-top, lid on, sixty seconds — the bottom crisps, the top stays creamy. Out of the pan, scallion over the top, a stripe of Carolina Gold on the side.
Daily at every Stage Stop until the brisket sells out. When the brisket goes, the burnt-end supply goes — most days we lose it by mid-afternoon Saturday. Order ahead.
Pairings are written for each brewery partner below. The short version: stout at Mash, hazy IPA at Urban Animal, full bar at The Cantina. The mac is sweet-rich-smoky in equal parts — beer needs roast or bitterness to reset the palate.
At every stage stop, daily.
Available at every location every service day, until the brisket sells out. We typically lose it by mid-afternoon Saturday. Order online to lock yours.
The Cantina
Old Stage Rd., Colorado Springs
Wed–Sun · 11a – 8p · Closed Mon/Tue
See this stop →Mash Mechanix
Downtown, Colorado Springs
Thu–Sun · 4p – 9p (Sat 12p – 10p)
See this stop →Old Colorado City
Westside · historic district, Colorado Springs
Thu–Sun · 12p – 9p
See this stop →Urban Animal · Star Ranch
Southside, Colorado Springs
Mon–Thu · 2p – 9p · Fri–Sat · 12p – 10p · Sun · 12p – 8p
See this stop →What to drink with it.
The mac is sweet-rich-smoky in equal parts. Beer needs roast or bitterness — or, in one case, acid — to reset the palate. Here’s what we’d pour from each brewery partner, straight from the brewers.
| At | Beer |
|---|---|
| Mash Mechanix | Stovepipe Stout 7.1% Oatmeal stout with a vanilla finish. The roast cuts the cheese, the vanilla mirrors the brisket fat. Our staff pick. |
| Mash Mechanix | Goldspring Lager 4.8% Czech-style pilsner — clean, dry, palate-resetting. For when you want the mac to lead. |
| Urban Animal · Star Ranch | Veterinarian 6.8% Hazy IPA, juicy and soft. Cuts the cream without bullying the smoke. |
| Urban Animal · Star Ranch | Free Range Sour 5.0% Kettle sour with rotating fruit. The acidity rinses the fat — try it once and you will get it. |