Oskar Blues Rolls Out New Menu at Longmont Location

Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids in Longmont has revamped its food menu, with plans to roll out the changes to its other restaurant locations in Lyons, Denver and Colorado Springs after ironing out any wrinkles.

The refresh is aimed at pulling back on some of the COVID-era shift in focus, according to Oskar Blues Fooderies spokesperson Pate Katechis, son of founder Dale Katechis. The goal is to expand the value offered by Oskar Blues restaurants, rather than continuing the cost-cutting measures that helped them and other eateries stay afloat during and after the pandemic.

“I think the industry has kind of gotten stuck in that survival mode,” he says. “Our goal right now is to do cool things, revisit some of those Oskar Blues-esque things that we used to do before things got ugly with COVID.”

According to Ryan Sheridan, executive chef at the Longmont restaurant, the refreshed menu is rooted in Dale's original vision: to serve the sort of comfort food he grew up with in Alabama. Service at Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids now starts with free jalapeno hush puppies, taking the place of yeasty rolls that might open a meal at other restaurants.
“It's like our little lagniappe, instead of bread service,” Sheridan says, referring to the Cajun tradition of offering a little something extra at no charge.

A garlic-parmesan option has been added to the roster of flavors for Oskar Blues’ signature smoked wings; crispy polenta fries topped with toasted rosemary goat cheese and honey now appear on the appetizer menu, the fried pickle spears have transitioned to more shareable fried pickle chips. The new spring griller salad includes mixed greens, avocado, red onion, roasted corn, cherry tomatoes and julienned dates. For an optional protein, the steak option has been upgraded to flank steak.

Sheridan’s favorite item is the new shrimp and grits — smoked cheddar grits, seared blackened shrimp and a spicy Creole sauce. “I’m a big fan of the shrimp and grits. I like it as a breakfast. I like it as a lunch, and as a dinner,” he says.

Sheridan also leans on the smoker for a number of menu items at Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids, including the new prime rib dipper. “We've got this awesome four-tier rotisserie smoker out back that I cook everything I possibly can on. It gets our prime rib, it gets our wings, it gets the short ribs. Everything meat-related that I can smoke, I will,” he says. "I'm a big fan of our short rib pot roast. I've run short rib pot roast before, but never had such a big, beautiful smoker to work with. So now I can cut them down to size and smoke them first, and then sort of build the sauce on top of that and braise it, and they are spectacular.”


Over the years, the restaurant's menu had evolved into a mix of gastropub — with options like soft pretzels, beer cheese, and nachos — as well as the original Southern theme. This one brings the kitchen more into focus.

“The previous menu was great, but it sort of turned into this amalgamation of things we had done in the past (and) things that we wanted to try that were kind of new,” Sheridan says. “It was just kind of this hodgepodge of everything put together. If you're good at a bunch of things, you're not great at anything. So this was paring it down slightly, focused on elevated comfort food, keeping it Southern.”
Oskar Blues wants to do more than just serve food and drinks, Katechis adds. It recently celebrated its 28th anniversary with a party that featured a menu of $2.80 specials and local bands, raising more than $500 for Oskar Blues’ nonprofit Can’d Aid, which helps provide youth access to music, arts and the outdoors.

Live music has always been something the company takes seriously, he says. “We have live music every single weekend at all of our locations. We work with the artists to have a fun event and have it be this inclusive environment,” Katechis explains. “The goal here is to include as much of that community and social aspect as we can, to be more than just a restaurant.”

He hopes that learning further into those things will draw more people to southwest Longmont — away from more central locations like Main Street or even Boulder — by offering a great experience.

“Show up for dinner and stay for music. Hang out for a bit,” Katechis says. “You walk in expecting just a good meal and good beer but get something new you weren't expecting, whether it's price point or experiential, walking away and0 feeling like, ‘That was awesome. That felt good.’”

Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids and Solids is located at 1555 South Hover Street, Longmont, and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, contact oskarbluesfooderies.com/longmont.