AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q off South Broadway was awarded Bib Gourmand status from Michelin in 2023 – the standard-setting dining award guide’s inaugural year in Colorado. In 2024, it was not. That’s not to say the loss of such status is unusual. Continuity from award to award requires a daunting triangulation of consistency, hype and good fortune to pull off, particularly in back-to-back years. But, when in February of this year, AJ’s suddenly shuttered its doors, deeper, much more devious wounds were left bare by its previous owners. The restaurant and all its equipment were seized by the Colorado Department of Revenue for failure to pay taxes. The staff – including longtime Pitmaster and General Manager, Patrick Klaiber – were left out of work and saddled with a lot of questions. Denver was left even more starved of proper barbecue than the scene had already been when Michelin recognition was still pinned to South Broadway.
But this is not a story about AJ’s Bar-B-Q, even if many of the most important central figures – much of the prior team and many of the same guests – are. A phoenix rising from its ashes – or perhaps better yet, its embers – what was left for auction at AJ’s – the smokers, the picnic tables, the brick and mortar – was bought by James Beard-nominated Top Chef alum and longtime Denver-based chef, Manny Barella, who – along with Klaiber and Caleb Benton – opened Riot BBQ in AJ’s place on June 5. The name itself is a nod to the Park Hill Barbecue Riot of 1898. The food is an homage to the intersectionality of Chef Manny’s roots, and what crafting truly delicious barbecue in Denver means to him, to Klaiber and to the city’s dining scene at large.
The menu is an exploration of those crossroads, melding the worlds of Texas style barbecue and the Mexican influence that not only naturally runs through its veins, but is even more deeply infused into the offerings at Riot BBQ thanks to Barella’s adherence to highlighting the cuisine of his roots. For every classic bite done to traditional perfection, there’s a risk-taking riff bending the rules of barbecue in the spirit of Texas – and Colorado – as a juncture and subsequent celebration of many cultures.
The brisket – smoked for 14 hours – is the stuff of tender dreams to both carnivores and barbecue enthusiasts alike, while the pork ribs don’t only fall off the bone, but are done up al pastor with a blend of guajillo, ancho and pasilla chiles. The pulled pork is slow cooked to classic decadence while the Wagyu Pastrami is melty, sweet and ultimately unique in comparison to any other barbecue bite a diner is bound to find elsewhere in Denver. To the Texas sausage with jalapeno and cheddar, there’s earthy and subtly spiced smoked chorizo. The Pit Beans and the potato salad remain untouched at their continued spots on the menu, while the cole slaw – stirred into creamy, crisp bites with Salsa Macha and Pepitas – and the Esquites Cornbread – slathered in a charred onion puree, and topped with fresh corn and queso fresca – are the perfect microcosms of what Riot BBQ is all about. Of particular note, the cornbread is undeniably nostalgic, hearty and sweet like a good barbecue joint should make it, but its nuance of Mexican charred cart street corn is itself a creative tether to Chef Manny’s childhood. As are the brisket and chicken tacos.
Up and down the menu, intersections of some undeniable continuity merge with big, bold ideas for dish after dish that appeal to just about any diner – so long as they don’t have any qualms with eating meat. But the story of continuity is about more than just the Pit Beans, the potato salad and the place itself. When Riot BBQ opened, they extended invitations to past staff for employment, not out of pity, but out of a desire to restore what had always made AJ’s special. And Chef Manny – to some extension – is also a piece of that lineage.
“I spent a lot of time at AJ’s, breaking down briskets for free so I could learn about barbecue from one of the best. [Klaiber] taught me a lot, and two-and-a-half years later, we got to buy the place and do it together. To do things the right way,” Barella spoke on his desire not to remake what was lost, but to recoup what could have been, and then turn it up a notch. “We printed out a bunch of the Michelin logos and put them around the back of house. Something we’re trying to institute here is this concept of ‘Bib or Bust.’ Of course, I want to get that Bib, but I want this team to win it back even more so. They deserve it.”
In the near-100-degree heat, Chef Manny Barella shoveled fresh wood into the fiery end of a massive smoker out back, where picnic tables sat with dozens of guests were shielded from the summer day with sun shades. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier at a restaurant,” he said, detailing the organic connection with both the food and with the nature of counter service. “It’s not to say I haven’t been happy before – but when the things you learn in fine-dining, in Michelin kitchens can be applied to a place like this, it’s just more rewarding.”
Inside, a line as long as it was the moment we walked in more than two hours prior continued to snake its way through the warmly lit dining room, towards the counter and the bar where – with a Spicy Cucumber Margarita and a Bourbon Peach Smash – the persistent cultural intersections continue to define Riot BBQ, and make it one of the more uniquely must-visit destinations this summer and beyond.
Riot BBQ is located at 2180 S Delaware Street, Denver. Its hours are Wednesday – Monday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., but they often sell out early and close once they do.
