Manny Barella, whose skills in the kitchen carried him to fifth place in last year’s season of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” hid his nerves behind a wide grin as he saw his dream of cooking barbecue was being realized.
The chicken, beef brisket and pork ribs were ready after sitting in the smoker all day. All he and Patrick Klaiber, the former pitmaster of AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver, needed to do was shred it, cut it and plate it.
“This is to see if things are good or great,” Barella said from the back patio of his new restaurant on a recent Friday, accenting with a pointed index finger. “Good is the enemy of great.”
A plate of ribs and brisket at AJ's Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)He and partner Caleb Benton purchased AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q, at 2180 S. Delaware St., after it was seized for back taxes and auctioned off by the state in March. With his friend Klaiber on board as pitmaster and partner, they are reopening the restaurant as Riot BBQ on June 5, they said.
After what the AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q staff went through under previous owner Jared Leonard — who left Denver for Puerto Vallarta with a trail of unpaid taxes and money judgments engulfing his restaurant business — the trio are focused on their new menu and in bringing recognition back to Klaiber’s award-winning barbecue. That included a vaunted Bib Gourmand status it received from Michelin in 2023 and lost the following year.
“I’d love to get that Bib Gourmand back,” Klaiber said.
Barella, who most recently led the kitchen at Boulder’s Bellota, credited Klaiber with teaching him how to smoke a brisket. He approached him at AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q years ago with the goal of one day having his own barbecue business — a food truck or a series of pop-ups — and became his apprentice.
He shelved the barbecue plans after he was pegged for jobs as culinary director at out-of-state concept Jaguar Bolera and Camp Pickle, a national chain of pickleball complexes which had announced an expansion into Centennial.
Barella, who has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens, including Frasca in Boulder, and his family had just moved to nearby Lakewood when he got a call from a Punch Bowl Social executive saying that his services would no longer be needed since the Centennial complex was cancelled, he said. Months spent away from home for Jaguar Bolera took a toll on him and led him to switch to a consultant role instead.
Following the news that Klaiber and the staff of AJ’s Pit-Bar-B-Q had quit en masse after accusing Leonard of financial mismanagement, Barella reached out to his friend to offer consolation. Klaiber told Barella about the upcoming restaurant auction.
Related Articles
Great Divide Brewing closing both Denver taprooms Strange Craft brewery to open outpost in Buena Vista Michelin-recommended French restaurant closing in LoHi after 3 years Benzina owner plans new restaurant in same space One of Colorado’s best bakeries moving, expandingBarella and Benton bought the building’s contents — its smokers, kitchen equipment, furniture, fixtures and artwork — for $48,000 at auction, Benton said. They made Klaiber a partner and re-hired employees who had worked under his wing.
Chef Manny Barella, left, and pitmaster Patrick Klaiber prepare brisket, chicken, pork and ribs for customers at AJ's Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)Nick Roza, who worked at AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q for a year before the walkout, was playing golf with Klaiber last month when he told him they would be firing up the smokers again. His response to whether he wanted to come back was an unequivocal yes.
“I’m pretty sure my exact words were, ‘I would sacrifice my firstborn son to work for him again,'” he said.
Barella, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, said Riot BBQ could be best described as “Texas-style barbecue with a Mexican flair.”
“Not to be confused with Tex-Mex,” he added. Still, he drew inspiration from Texas hubs Hurtado Barbecue, Panther City BBQ and the now-shuttered Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ.
The main ‘must’ on his menu would be brisket tacos, Barella said. They are barbecuing chicken, technically a first for Klaiber, who cooked pulled chicken at his previous employer. On that recent Friday, they tested two different poultry seasonings: one with a ‘pibil’ flavor and crispy red skin and another with citrus juice and turmeric. (The ‘pibil’ will be sold only on Wednesdays, a restaurant publicist confirmed.)
Klaiber and Barella hope to bottle and sell the restaurant’s sauces. They include a Barella family recipe, a vinegar ‘mop’ sauce, and a sweet Carolina Gold variety. The pair also whipped up their own version of El Pollo Loco’s “salsa fresca”, with blended tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and onion.
Tarah Runco, left, and her husband Chas dine at AJ's Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)Apart from the wood picnic tables in the back, the interior of Riot BBQ looks the same as AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q, to an uncanny degree. With its faux furs, vintage signs and lightbulbs exposed and strung across its main hall, it resembles a barbecue spot found in south Texas, Benton said.
After working at AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q for seven years, Klaiber took a road trip through the southern states and spent much of the time eating barbecue and soul food, he said. He pushed off other job offers until Barella came through with his own.
“It all worked out perfectly in the end,” he said.
Barella and Klaiber even get to keep using the same industrial-sized smokers, continuing a practice from which they both hope to learn from the other.
Riot BBQ will be open Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘Top Chef’ alum bringing award-winning BBQ back to former AJ’s space )
Also on site :