Hunger Junction — Restaurant in Poncha Springs

So today I drove my family three hours to visit the mountains and treat them to this barbeque that I have been bragging about. They're first time visitors to Colorado and I was really looking forward to eating at the Hunger Trailer. I am very sad and disappointed to report that our food was NOWHERE near as delicious, fresh and of the quality as the threeother times I have visited. I'm not one to leave bad reviews, only good. But after driving three hours and a sixty dollar tab, I am definitely going to sound off.

The pulled pork and brisket was not fresh, tasted old and when when we bit into it was frign cold. Not hot, not warm, not cool, COLD. It was gross but I ate it bc I was hungry and just spent $60. My guests ate it bc they didn't want to be rude. The mac and cheese was not what I had eaten before. Again, not hot but cold. It seemed to be and tasted like nothing more than boxed Velveeta shells and cheese. I actually stood there and watched the kid mixing the mac and cheese in a bowl and thought right then, what the hell??!! The beans weren't the same either, they too tasted totally different, were cold and runny. I was very disappointed and embarrassed after bragging so much about this place.

There were two young men and a young lady behind the counter and an older gentleman. D, the owner, wasn't around. As soon as they served our food, all three younger ones were outside smoking cigarettes and goofing off.

You can definitely tell a difference in the quality of food when D wasn't behind his counter. Again, makes me sad to leave this kind of review, but I hope the owner sees it and takes it as constructive criticism. Perhaps he needs to be micro-managing his employees more so the quality of food returns returns to the expected level.

BELOW WAS MY 5 STAR REVIEW FROM THE FIRST FEW TIMES WE HAD EATEN HERE: Hands-down the best ribs I have EVER eaten. D is the greatest. Excellent food and even better service. Nothing says "A Great Place to Eat" than the owner cooking for and serving his guests. Can't say enough great things about our...

$31 total for a cheeseburger combo and a smoked prime rib sandwich combo (substituted onion rings for fries...upcharged for substitution). Very thin burger patty was really dry and overcooked and bun was dry (would have been better if they had grilled the buns so that they were warm). Smoked sandwich was ok. It was slightly better than the burger. Again, the bun is a big issue. Its It's a very thick bun compared to the small amount of meat put into it. The onion rings were actually inedible; they were not crisp in any way and they were oily and greasy. The fries were good. The coca cola products were great.

I would have left one star but I'm upgrading to two stars because the outdoor seating was amazing (love the covered tables) and the bathrooms had a baby changing table for moms which is great for families. The facilities seemed really clean which was also very nice.

I think if they made a few changes this could be a great stand. It's hard to pay $31 for really subpar food. Maybe the cooks were having a bad day. Dry, thin burgers are the worst though. We feel as though we wasted our money.

I would like to point out that the owner saw me snapping pics and told me that "he hoped I enjoyed everything." I appreciated this gesture and I'm sure he's a super nice man! I was on my way out though and my hubby was waiting but really wanted to tell him about my experience.

I think that if they took a little more time to do quality control on their food and changed their bun to something thinner (a more traditional burger bun) and grilled the bun along with hand forming their patties and making them thicker then people would flock to this place. They seem like a new establishment so I'm sure changes will be made.

NOTE: I was super confused about the fact that these were two different establishments. We were actually looking to eat at the hunger trailer but couldn't tell if this was the same place. We found the Hunger Trailer on yelp but didn't see a listing for this place and the colors and signage were super similar. Maybe the two restaurants are...

We worked up an appetite hiking through soft and shifting sands at a certain National Park before continuing northward, driving through town after tiny town where we couldn't find an open filling station, let alone food. Thus, when we got to Poncha Springs and suddenly had 4G again, we chose the first food truck listed on Yelp.

We did not know what to expect from a rural food truck with only 3.5 stars at the time of our visit, but our growling bellies demanded that we risk it. OMG are we ever glad we did!

Combine that everybody-knows-your-name feel of your local dive-bar, with the earnestly eclectic comfort of your favorite independent coffee house, then hide that under a wooden carport, and you will have the vaguest impression of the dining room. An order window faces into the humbly hip dining room, and a bright white sign, looking for all the world like an oversized tri-fold pamphlet displays the menu.

I know exactly what I want from the pictures on Yelp, but I have trouble finding it. Turns out that if you want fried shrimp and sweet potato waffle-fries, that's just the Shrimp Basket with a substitution. Those sweet potato fries are pretty darn amazing, though, and the shrimp are some of the best ive had this far from an ocean.

Raz went for the Cajun Pork plate. I was astounded at the slow burn of the spicing, and the absolute perfection of the succulent meat. The absolute star of the whole experience, however, was his side of spicy ranch-style beans. They were savory, smoky, spicy, and had almost none of the sweetness I generally associate with bbq beans. Thus, they were the perfect pintos, and I would be willing to make the half-day drive back here just for them.

This place is an absolute diamond-in-the-rough, and worth every one of the 5...