Review preview: Jabo's Bar-Be-Q

I used to frequent Jabo's Bar-Be-Q back when it was a three-day-a-week cart operation, feeding hordes of Tech Center lunchers and hooky-playing high-schoolers in a vacant lot off I-25. And I loved the joint, both for the food coming off the mobile smoker and for Jabo Lawson, the jovial man...

By Laura Shunk

February 22, 2011

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I used to frequent Jabo's Bar-Be-Q back when it was a three-day-a-week cart operation, feeding hordes of Tech Center lunchers and hooky-playing high-schoolers in a vacant lot off I-25. And I loved the joint, both for the food coming off the mobile smoker and for Jabo Lawson, the jovial man behind it.

I left town soon after Jabo's moved to a permanent address inside a Greenwood Village strip mall, though, and I didn't make it back until a few weeks ago.

The location change prompted Lawson to give up his mobile pit for a custom-made, stationary smoker, and the new piece of equipment also allowed him to expand his menu. For this week's review, I sampled those additions, supplementing them with the favorites I used to drool over during those lunches. And, of course, I waxed nostalgic with Lawson about where he came from -- and where he's going. How does Jabo's 'cue do now that it's made indoors? Find out tomorrow, when the review is posted here.

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Laura Shunk was Westword's restaurant critic from 2010 to 2012; she's also been food editor at the Village Voice and a dining columnist in Beijing. Her toughest assignment had her drinking ten martinis and eating ten Caesar salads over the course of 48 hours. She still drinks martinis, but remains lukewarm on Caesar salads.

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