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Alabama cookin’ in DenverNew Moe’s location celebrates grand opening tonight with free BBQ buffetKristin Pazulski, DDN Staff WriterFriday, May 14, 2010 |  | | WHAT’S COOKIN’ AT MOE’S? — Stop by its newest location, 520 Broadway, tonight for its grand opening. |
Alabama cooking is coming to downtown Denver today, with the grand opening of the new Moe’s Original Bar B Que location on Broadway.
“Were just trying to expand and get a little closer to the downtown area,” said Josh Alston, manager at Moe’s Englewood location, which opened in 2008.
To celebrate the new Denver location, at 530 Broadway, Moe’s will have a free buffet and drink specials tonight beginning at 5 p.m. The food and party lasts until it runs out (Alston said that’s the plan Ń there is no announced end time) with a DJ spinning tunes for guests.
Moe’s Original Bar B Que originally started in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the 1980s by Mike Fernandez, Jeff Kennedy and Ben Gilbert. They had met at the University of Alabama where they “instantly became friends and had a mutual interest in all things Southern: barbecue, blues, college football and whisky,” according to the restaurant franchise’s history.
Fernandez learned to fire roast meats from Moses Day, another Alabaman, whose roasting practices and flavors inspired the Moe’s Original Bar B Que flavor, which is created by smoking the meat using fruit wood and coating it in two different sauces.
In 2001, the founders opened a Moe’s in Vail and while there worked on “refining” their restaurant style and the barbecue flavors to create the Moe’s patrons experience today.
“Moe’s became Moe’s out here,” Alston said.
Less than five years after opening their roadside Vail location, Moe’s moved down the mountain to Englewood and opened their first Denver metro location. Steve Schalk is the owner of that Moe’s location, and will be the owner of the new Denver location.
The Englewood Moe’s not only serves the Alabama barbecue feasting, but it also has a bowling alley and live music. Alston said live music could be in the cards for the newest Denver location, but for now the restaurant’s focus will be on the food and drink.
The 200-seat restaurant will serve its famous BBQ counter-style, and the bar will have local beers from Breckenridge and New Belgium on tap. Half of those 200 seats are on the restaurant’s huge patio.
The Moe’s menu is chock full of Alabama home-style and BBQ eats, from pulled pork, smoked chicken and shrimp Moe boy platters and sandwiches, to the baked beans, cole slaw and collard greens.
“We’re kind of known for our pulled pork Ń it’s out of sight,” said Alston.
And others seem to agree. Moe’s Original was named by 5280 Magazine as the best barbecue in town seven months after opening its Englewood location.
Moe’s franchise expansion reaches beyond downtown Denver. There are nine locations in Alabama, and they will be opening two new locations, one in Georgia and another in North Carolina. They currently have the original Colorado Moe’s in Vail, two others in Fort Collins and Eagle, and are opening another in Bear Creek at 2589 South Lewis Way later this month. The latter is a franchise owned by Mike Shelly, and will also include a large patio.
All Colorado locations open daily at 11 a.m. and serve lunch and dinner, as the staff likes to say, “until it’s gone.”
To find out more, visit online at www.moesoriginalbbq.com or stop by 530 Broadway tonight for some free pulled pork barbecue.
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