Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ plans downtown Greeley restaurant

GREELEY — A recent gap in downtown’s restaurant offerings will be filled soon when Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ takes the space that has suffered a bit of musical chairs in the last few years.

The building at 819 Ninth St., operated as the Armadillo Restaurant for 17 years, followed by Stuft Burger Bar, then Lonesome Buck Brewing Co. The Centennial Public House was the restaurant space’s most recent iteration, closing in July after a little more than a year in operation.

The owners of Smokin’ Dave’s BBQ bought the building for $1.5 million in July.  The Greeley restaurant will be the chain’s fifth location behind Denver, Estes Park, Longmont and Lyons. The restaurant’s mantra: “Dedicated to preserving and honoring the art of American BBQ.”

Bianca Fisher, director of Greeley’s downtown development authority, said she is excited to see its concept come downtown.

“It fits a nice niche that we don’t have in downtown, and honestly there’s not a whole lot citywide,” she said.

In this meat-and-potatoes town, barbecues have frankly struggled alongside steakhouses, especially since Bubba’s Bar-B-Que closed its location on West 10th Street in 2006.

Since then, the city has seen a few barbecue joints come and go. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, part of a 500-restaurant chain across the United States, has been in Greeley for well over a decade, but there used to be two stores. Former Denver Broncos player Simon Fletcher battled for a good year or so to keep his Whistle Blower’s Grill & Barbecue joint alive in 2013 after taking over the fixer-upper building on Eighth Avenue from Peace Pit Barbecue, which was operated by a Greeley couple who got into the business in 2011 after winning many barbecue competitions.

In 2022, Georgia Boys Barbecue took over a twice-turned-over barbecue restaurant at 2473 W. 28th St. next door to Texas Roadhouse.

In downtown Greeley, a barbecue restaurant may just complete the flavor profile, alongside the many different offerings from Thai to Indian to American and Italian.

“Restaurants are tough, and barbecue restaurants are especially difficult,” Fisher said. “They’re incredibly expensive, very labor-intensive and time-consuming, and even cuts of meat are more expensive. It’s not for the faint of heart. From a cost perspective, you’re not just selling flatbreads with cheese, this is a menu that is on a higher scale. What I’m excited about is Smokin’ Dave’s is established. They know their product and they know the market.”

Owner Dave Oehlman was not available for comment.