My husband and I were watching the most recent season of BBQ showdown and then had a hankering for some good BBQ. I went on a TikTok mission for some videos on the best BBQ in Colorado and AJ’s showed up a few times. We decided to eat a late lunch/early dinner this past weekend and give AJ’s a try.
For context we’ve eaten at Rudy’s and Mission in Colorado Springs, BMans in Sedalia, GQue plus a few chains that are around. I’ve also been to Texas and had BBQ from there that was out of this world. We are definitely not BBQ qualified judges but we know what we like and what tastes good to us so my opinion is based off that. What one person thinks is good BBQ might not be to another (kind of like Mexican food).
We got one order of brisket, turkey, pastrami, cornbread, Mac n cheese, beans and a couple margaritas to wash it all down. One plus for us is they have a bar and adult beverages 👍. My husband and I shared everything and it was beyond enough food. Our bill with tip was just over $100.00. Granted we got two margaritas but to me this was not overly expensive and about what I expected to spend for everything we got.
The brisket was amazing. We always get moist brisket when given a choice because we love more fat. Their brisket was on par with one of the best I’ve had.
My husband ate the turkey (I don’t love white meat bbq). I tried a bite and yep it was turkey but to me turkey is never outstanding except for the time I had some at Kruez Market in Texas. I can’t really comment on whether it was good or bad because I just feel turkey is so so. My husband enjoyed it though.
The smoked pastrami was good. Now I recently had smoked pastrami at Mission BBQ and thought holy cow smoked pastrami is something I never knew could be so good so I am comparing it to that. Theirs was more moist where AJ’s was more dry. Mission also gave you mustard to dip your pastrami in which made it even better. The smoked pastrami at AJ’s was really good; but I think I would’ve liked it even more if it was a little moister. The flavor was on point though. I definitely say give it a try. Honestly the Wagyu part made no difference to me, not sure if that is supposed to make it even better but if I hadn’t known it was Wagyu I wouldn’t have known if you know what I mean.
We really wanted to try the burnt ends and beef ribs but they were out so next time on that. The sides were good as well. The beans had some slices of their sausage in it which was a nice surprise. I am not a bean lover, I mean I like them but I don’t love them, I can take it or leave it but my husband appreciates them so I get them because he wants them. He said they were so good. The Mac and cheese was delish. Honestly I couldn’t taste a whole lot of truffle but I am kind of glad. I don’t love that to be overpowering. I hate when BBQ places have Mac and it is just noodles with some runny cheese sauce thrown on top. AJ’s does it right, it is cheesy and gooey and good! We rounded out the meal with the cornbread. We weren’t gonna get it and then asked them what it meant to be custard cornbread and once he explained it and then said the trick it so put honey over the top we were sold and added it to our bill. That was a nice little treat that satisfied my need for dessert. It wasn’t overly sweet cornbread, but that custard makes it a tad more creamy on the inside but the top is crusty just like I like it.
Service was great, the bartender brought our drinks to our table. The place was clean, lots of seating options. We opted to sit outside in the back and had to deal with flies but hey if I was a fly, a bbq place would be my hangout too. That was our bad for sitting outside.
Our fav sauce was the Jalapeno one. My husband enjoyed the Carolina sauce on his turkey. Truthfully I don’t like to dredge my brisket in sauce as I want to taste the meat and flavor. We are definitely going back to AJ’s.
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI
