Big Daddy Bruce sits in his restaurant off Arapahoe Avenue Thursday. This tiny eatery is one of the few places in Boulder that serves up authentic barbecue. (CU Independent/Amy Moore-Shipley)
Lucas Dean, a 20-year-old junior mechanical engineering major, said he didn’t know.
“I couldn’t tell you where there are any places,” Dean said. “I do like to eat it [barbecue], but I’ve actually never had it in Boulder.”
Jeff Yoder, a 27-year-old pre-med student, was also unable to answer the question.
“I don’t think I’ve had any barbecue in Boulder,” Nyoder said. “I grew up eating barbecue. I guess there hasn’t been any advertising for it.”
Yoder must have never noticed the big yellow building on Arapahoe, past Boulder High School and before Naropa that says “Big Daddy Bruce’s.”
It is hard not to notice the pile of wood, covered in a blue tarp, sitting behind a sloppily laid out chain link fence outside the little shack off of Arapahoe that is Big Daddy Bruce’s.
For an eatery, the building is strikingly small. Inside the front door, there is a small piano with books of songs open on its music stand, and the walls are covered with past articles about the restaurant.
Nothing about the place speaks to anything other than its authenticity as a true, down and dirty BBQ hut.
Big Daddy Bruce plays the irovies in his barbecue eatery off Arapahoe Avenue. The place features a homemade, authentic quality in both its food and its ambiance. (CU Independent/Amy Moore-Shipley)
No credit cards are accepted, but they have an ATM nearby for those without cash.
Bill Lamoreaux, a Big Daddy Bruce’s patron, said it is hard to find real barbecue in Boulder.
“I eat at Big Daddy’s,” Lamoreaux said. “I’m from Texas originally, and it’s hard to find good barbecue up here—at least authentic.”
For $10 they serve three giant pork ribs, three slices of white bread and a side of baked beans.
These aren’t baby back ribs, which come from a young little piggy. These are fully-grown, meaty ribs a hair smaller than the size of a Comcast remote control. Big Daddy Bruce’s also serves chicken and brisket.
When approaching the first bite, vinegar immediately stings the nostrils. The sauce is a spicy variation of a standard vinegar-based barbecue sauce somehow reminiscent of a buffalo wing sauce, but without the butter.
The meat is tender, but not too tender to the point where there is a battle to keep the meat on the bone until it actually gets to your mouth, which can be a problem with wood-smoked beef ribs.
Some of the edges on the ribs are dark and caramelized, giving these bites a particularly tasty array of flavors.
For those who have ever tried their hand at smoking ribs, they know that there is a fine line between well-smoked and over-smoked. At Big Daddy Bruce’s this line is walked well.
The smoky flavor of the meat is similar to Randy Jackson’s role in the band Journey: it is present, adds just enough color and lays down the base for everything else to come together. But, unlike Journey, the sauce and texture add up to something good.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Seth Gitner at Seth.gitner@colorado.edu.
