Grand Lake – The menu at Sagebrush BBQ & Grill tells the story of a historic shootout, when the sheriff and two cronies from Hot Sulphur Springs ambushed three political opponents in Grand Lake.
Voters had chosen to move the county seat to Grand Lake; the good citizens of Hot Sulphur Springs wanted it back. When the smoke cleared July 4, 1883, six men lay dead.
Three years later the county seat returned to Hot Sulphur Springs. But at the Sagebrush BBQ, housed in Grand Lake’s old courthouse, the jail’s wrought-iron doors still decorate the walls.
On the big-screen TV was another shootout born of long-standing animosity: The New York Yankees battling the Boston Red Sox, with the Yanks up 6-0 in the third.
“Don’t let your mother see the score,” my husband warned the kids. Alex Rodriguez had just hit an appetite-killing two-run homer for the Yankees.
Fortunately, nothing consoles quite like barbecue, and the Sagebrush serves enormous portions of smoked meats, including chicken, sausage, shrimp and pork served sliced, pulled or on the rib.
A half order of ribs ($13.95) still made about a meal and a half, with the dark, sweet house sauce just spicy enough and the meat ready to slide off the bone. Sliced smoked pork ($13.50) came as moist slices of loin.
Hot sausage on a platter ($10.50) or a sandwich ($7.50) delivered a long, slow burn. The recommended herbal honey mustard sauce’s complex flavors – a little garlic, brown sugar, some thyme and sage – cut the heat and danced on the tongue.
Some items seem a bit out of place for a joint with peanut shells on the floor: Kobe beef burgers ($10.95) or elk medallions with roasted raspberry chipotle sauce ($18.95).
Dave and Brenda Freeman opened the Sagebrush in 1999. Grand Lake, on the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park, booms all summer long. But to survive the winters, they have to give the locals a good meal at a fair price.
“Mountain towns have a lot of vegetarians,” Dave Freeman says, so you’ll find vegetarian green chile ($3.50-$5.50), Gardenburgers ($6.95) and burritos ($5.50-$8.95). Morales Farm in nearby Granby delivers fresh produce in season for the veggie fans – spinach, asparagus and snow peas on a recent visit.
One busy summer day, servers were scrambling but still attentive and friendly. A bucket of peanuts on the table and a cold beer hit just the right note for a sunny Saturday afternoon in a Wild West town with the national pastime on the tube.
The Red Sox lost, but we were so well fed, we didn’t mind.
Lisa Everitt is a freelance writer who lives in Arvada.
Sagebrush BBQ & Grill
American|1101 Grand Ave., Grand Lake, 970-627-1404|$3.50-$21.95|Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.- 10 p.m.; all credit cards; street parking.
Front burner: Excellent barbecue at reasonable prices in a beautiful mountain town.
Back burner: Some oddly upscale menu items.
