Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew

What Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew does

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew is a privately held, founder-owned regional BBQ restaurant chain founded in 2007 in Estes Park, Colorado, by an owner-operator with 30+ years of restaurant experience across Hawaii and Colorado. The company operates five dine-in locations spanning the Colorado Front Range and mountain communities — Denver, Estes Park (flagship), Longmont, Lyons, and Greeley — serving slow-smoked meats, made-from-scratch sides, a rotating draft beer program featuring local Colorado breweries, and a signature house-made gluten-free BBQ sauce sold retail in 16-oz jars.

The underlying operating stack is conventional for the casual dining segment: each location runs on the Toast Tab platform for point-of-sale, online takeout ordering, gift cards, and a loyalty rewards program, while SpotHopper provides website, social media, and email marketing infrastructure. The product surface spans dine-in restaurant service, online/phone takeout pickup, full-service catering for corporate and private events (priced per pound or per person), and private party hosting at locations such as Longmont.

The business model is straightforward retail food service plus ancillary revenue. Primary monetization is pay-as-you-go dine-in and takeout with menu prices ranging from roughly $2 (sides like cornbread) to $100 (family meals serving 5-7), and catering priced per pound ($20-$34/lb for smoked meats) or per gallon ($68 for sides). Secondary revenue comes from retail BBQ sauce sales ($8.50/jar), gift cards, and beer sales. Customer segments are diversified across local families, Front Range visitors, Estes Park tourists, and a smaller corporate/event catering base, with no named enterprise anchors. The company has remained entirely founder-owned with no institutional capital, debt issuance, or M&A activity disclosed.

Name

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew

Legal name

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew

Website

https://smokindavesbbq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew is a privately held, founder-owned regional BBQ restaurant chain founded in 2007 in Estes Park, Colorado. It operates five Colorado locations serving dine-in, online takeout, full-service catering, and a rotating local draft beer program to local families, Front Range visitors, and event customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

BBQ & Smokehouse Fast Casual (THAFABAH)

Keywords

• Barbecue restaurants
• Catering services
• Craft beer dining
• Restaurant chain
• Casual dining

Headquarters

HQ city

Estes Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Revenue generated from customers dining at any of the five Colorado restaurant locations. Menu includes smoked meats, sandwiches, platters, appetizers, sides, kids meals, and desserts.
2. Online Takeout Ordering: Customers place orders through Toast Tab platform for takeout pickup at designated locations.
3. Catering Services: Full-service catering for events including office lunches, birthday parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners, and corporate events. Menu includes smoked meats, sides, chicken, breads, and desserts. Serving various communities near each location.
4. BBQ Sauce and Merchandise Sales: House-made signature BBQ sauce sold in 16-ounce jars at $8.50 per jar at all locations.
5. Gift Cards and Rewards Program: Gift cards available for purchase at all locations. Loyalty rewards program for repeat customers. (Note: Previous gift card system discontinued in 2023 but balances still honored.)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew operates a five-location Colorado-based restaurant chain serving hand-rubbed, slow-smoked barbecue including brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, and chicken with made-from-scratch sides and signature house-made gluten-free BBQ sauce. The chain offers dine-in service, online takeout ordering via Toast Tab, full-service catering for events, and private party hosting, complemented by a rotating draft beer selection featuring Colorado breweries.

Product overview

Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew is a five-location award-winning Colorado BBQ restaurant chain founded in 2007. The core offering is a unified restaurant brand featuring slow-smoked authentic barbecue, with each location offering dine-in service, online and phone takeout ordering, full catering services for events, and private party hosting. The chain also provides a rotating draft beer program, house-made BBQ sauce for retail sale, and a gift cards and rewards program valid across all locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew Restaurant Chain A five-location award-winning BBQ restaurant chain founded in 2007 serving authentic slow-smoked barbecue, craft beer, and house-made sauces across Colorado communities including Denver, Estes Park, Longmont, Lyons, and Greeley.
• BBQ Takeout Service Online and phone takeout ordering service for slow-smoked BBQ, allowing customers to order brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, sides, and family meals for pickup at any of the five Colorado locations via the Toast Tab platform.
• Catering Services Full-service BBQ catering for events including office lunches, birthday parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners, and corporate functions, with smoked meats by the pound, side dishes in pints/quarters/gallons, chicken, breads, and desserts, plus optional dinnerware and catering kit.
• Private Party Hosting Event hosting services for special occasions including birthday parties, rehearsal dinners, and corporate events, offering customizable menus and dedicated party spaces, including a private dining room at the Longmont location.
• Draft Beer Program Rotating selection of draft beers featuring local Colorado breweries including Avery, Bootstrap, and Weldwerks, with eight rotating taps available at most locations.
• Signature House-Made BBQ Sauce (Retail) Signature gluten-free and all-natural house-made BBQ sauce sold in 16-ounce jars for $8.50 per jar, available for retail purchase at all five Colorado locations.
• Gift Cards & Rewards Program Gift card purchase and loyalty rewards program redeemable across all five Smokin' Dave's locations in Colorado, managed through the Toast Tab platform.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Toast TabcoreTechnology or IntegrationToast Tab provides the online ordering platform for all five Smokin' Dave's locations, enabling customers to place takeout orders online. Additionally, Toast Tab handles gift card issuance, rewards programs, and reservation management for the restaurants.
• SpotHoppercoreTechnology or IntegrationSpotHopper provides website design, social media marketing, and email marketing services for all Smokin' Dave's restaurant locations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q: Regional BBQ chain famous for family-style smoked meats, sides, and retail branded sauce. Closest peer to Smokin' Dave's on the retail-CCPs-from-the-restaurant model.
• Lucile's Creole Cafe: Colorado-based multi-unit breakfast/brunch concept with strong local brand. Comparable as a Colorado-rooted, founder-driven, multi-location regional restaurant operator competing for similar Front Range dining occasions.
• GQue BBQ: Colorado-based BBQ concept with multiple Front Range locations and catering services. Direct local competitor in the same Denver/Northern Colorado market as Smokin' Dave's.

Broad incumbents

• Mission BBQ: Fast-growing multi-unit BBQ concept with strong brand identity, dine-in service, catering, and community engagement. Closest competitor in positioning and growth phase to Smokin' Dave's.
• Dickey's Barbecue Pit: Largest BBQ franchise in the U.S. with dine-in, takeout, and catering. Operates at a much larger scale but competes in the same casual BBQ category.
• Famous Dave's: National BBQ casual-dining chain operating company-owned and franchised locations. Closest publicly comparable multi-unit BBQ concept with a similar dine-in, catering, and retail sauce model to Smokin' Dave's.
• Sonny's BBQ: Large franchised BBQ chain with dine-in, catering, and to-go offerings. Comparable multi-unit BBQ operating model and menu positioning to Smokin' Dave's.
• Bandana's Bar-B-Q: Mid-size BBQ chain operating dine-in restaurants, takeout, and catering across multiple states. Comparable multi-unit BBQ operating model to Smokin' Dave's.
• Smokey Bones: Casual-dining BBQ and American grill chain with dine-in, bar program, and catering. Overlapping category (BBQ + draft beer) and broader scale.

Emerging players

• Billy Sims BBQ: Franchised BBQ concept with dine-in, takeout, and catering. Comparable multi-unit casual BBQ positioning with smaller average unit volume than the national leaders.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/smokindavesbbq
• Instagraminstagram.com/smokindavesbbqdenver
• Xx.com/DavesBBQ_LM

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Brew