4 Barrel Bar & Bbq

Stopped in with another couple to check out this place. Wait staff was friendly and attentive — welcomed us and explained the brews and menu — happy to answer any questions we had. They came by with some fresh pork rinds, which were great (not ordered, just offered). The food was good — some of the BBQ was a little dry, but the variety of sauces was good. We would go again — except — in the ‘family’ spirit they had a large Jenga game for the kids. We didn’t know it was there, until the CRASH — OMG, we almost jumped off our seats. REALLY??? Lose the Jenga game — the little monsters should bring their iPads.

If you like paying high dollar for dried brisket and potato salad that comes out of a box and onto your plate, go for it. The place is disappointing. Staff are good but food and management are both highly disappointing. Owned by little pub company. This is their 26^th bar and generic food place.

The 4 Barrel is a welcome addition to Olde Towne Arvada! We went the first night they opened and ya there were the kinks to work out,
but we have been back several times and really enjoy the atmosphere and especially the «tots! The Arvada Hash is really an awesome and filling appetizer. This is really a neighborhood bar with more than decent BBQ. Each time we have met friends there or have dropped in for a beer or cocktail the staff has been incredible and friendly! Go here relax with friends and have a fun evening!
OOPS, meant to change the «stars» to 5!
This is my first review on Unilocal so I’ll watch that from here on out! LOL YUM!

Love this spot. It’s not the biggest place but the food is delicious! Everything is smoked on site so they do run out of stuff from time to time. The portions are good for a bbq place. It probably would get a 5 star from me if they change a few small things like expanding the draft list and not putting the food on butcher paper that falls apart. Other than that this place is great. Get the half chicken!

It should be understood that my following review is based upon the food and the food alone. While the ambiance and the service were both decent, my meal was bad enough that nothing else could bring me back a second time.
Firstly, please entirely stay away from the smoked eggs. I won’t spend more time discussing them, just take my word for the warning it is.
I ordered the three meat platter of pork butt, brisket and jalapeño brat and a side salad. When the food arrived it was cold, not even lukewarm. It was chilled enough that the fatty bits of the brisket were congealed and nasty, which also made me question just how fresh everything was. Of the three meats, the jalapeño brat was the worst as it tasted more like it should be placed on a bun with ketchup than anything you mix with bbq.
Now, I am forced to eat gluten free due to allergies. They do have two bbq sauces that are free of gluten, the house and the Sriracha. Both were fairly good, but sadly that is the only food complement I can afford this place. The only side item listed on their menu that does not contain gluten or come into contact with gluten is the side salad, and since the platter comes with two sides, I got two side salads. So, for GF, it is very limited.
Because the meal was so cold, not fresh and the smoked eggs so nasty, I cannot recommend this place to anyone hungry.

Disappointment.
Stopped in on a recent Saturday afternoon to take in some college football, beers and que. When you walk in, you’re hit with that unmistakable heavenly smoke aroma that tells you there’s a real smoker on site, and your mouth starts to water.…
4 Barrel took over the property after one of our favorite restaurants, Bella Bistro, gave up the ghost over a year ago. They’ve done an extensive remodel, taking it from Italian cook’s kitchen to roadside joint. It’s comfy and inviting.
Sat at the bar, and ordered the Arvada Hash and a three-​meat sampler (Brisket, ribs & sausage). Bartender was attentive (there were about 10 patrons in the place) and the beer was good, even though the selections are limited. Had our game on a TV right in front of us and were content.
Then the Hash came. Now if you’re not on a calorie restriction, this dish was kind of tasty in a sinister way. Smashed Tater Tots mixed with cheese and chopped barbecued pork, cheese and smothered in Green Chile. Plan on walking around the block to get this one to move on down.…
Then the meat was served. It was just, well,. .. poor. Maybe I’m a Q snob. I’ve had it in Charleston, KC, Austin, STL, Chicago. .. .. 4 Barrel broke the first sin in the BBQ business, and cooked every last drop of moisture out of the brisket and ribs. UNFORGIVABLE. How exactly do you smoke a brisket so that there is still 50% fat on it, but the meat is mummified? The sausage was OK, but unless you make your own link on site, then you’re just warming up something you bought anyway, so that doesn’t even count. I found the rub on the ribs to be off-​putting, but since there was no juice to soften things up, I was simply eating a bone/​rub lollipop. .. they obviously didn’t taste the food themselves before serving.
I’ll go back for a beer sometime. I’ll probably give in and try the meat again, one more time. I don’t hold out hope for an improvement. I’m still waiting for good real Bar B Que to pop up somewhere in the Denver area, and not Famous Dave’s or Bennett’s. .. .

What an epic disappointment! This place was very promising and I love good BBQ. I’ve never been to Kansas City or St. Louis so my standards for BBQ are pretty low. Almost everything on the menu looks great but that’s where it ended. The atmosphere is decent, but it was too dark and the zipper walls don’t hold the heat in, so it was rather cold in there.
We ordered the smoked eggs to start and OMG they were gag worthy. It was like eating a rubber ash tray. I had never had smoked eggs anywhere before, but I will never have them anywhere again because I don’t know if that is what they’re supposed to taste like or not, but it’s not worth the risk.
I ordered the brisket, sausage, and ribs with french fries and potato salad. My wife ordered brisket and pork butt with tater tots and a side salad. My brother was also with us and ordered some of the same things. When the food arrived, it was cold, very cold, with the exception of the french fries and tater tots. Those were warm, but they were over cooked and crunchy. It turns out that we like crunchy fries and tots, but by the standard definition, they were way over cooked. The sausage choices were a spicy polish, a jalapeño brat or an Italian. Those were weird choices for sausage in a BBQ place. I went with the brat, but it turned out that having a brat with BBQ was weird, especially since it was quite cold. The potato salad was not homemade. I think it was purchased at the grocery store. When I say the food was cold, I mean like it had been pulled out of the refrigerator and put onto our plates.
The server was nice, but the service was slow because she was the only server for the entire restaurant. She was working hard there just weren’t enough servers. Our expectations were high based on how great everything on the menu sounded, but we were so let down that we can’t ever go there again or even jokingly recommend it to someone just in case they take us seriously.

Can you give zero stars??? BBQ, everyone loves BBQ! So we walk in and are greeted «take a seat anywhere». Place is at 35% capacity… About eight minutes after we set the bartender comes over and says hi, takes the drink order at the table next to us and then walks away. Another couple minutes later she decides to bring us over some menus and asks us if we like to drink.
The beer selection, well let’s just call it what it is, the four beers that they have available on tap are severely limited.
So she takes our order (my fiancé asks for an orange in her beer) and then walks away. A couple of minutes later she comes back and asks if we ordered tater tarts or french fries with the brisket sandwich. I kindly reminded her that we ordered a salad with ranch on the side. (Try writing things down if you have a bad memory)
The beers come… No orange… We ask again, «you bet»… She comes back again… Forgot the orange… Leaves and comes back 3^rd time… Orange? We don’t have any.
Current score: 0 for service
Waiting on our food to come out now… Hopefully we don’t need another beer…
Oh wow, I thought maybe the other guy was wrong but if you like really dry, crumbly brisket, the kind that reminds you of pressed sawdust, this will be perfect for you.
Certainly are first and definitely our last time ever hear, this place sucks. Oh and the other nice part was one of the barbecue sauces was stopped up and then sprayed out and some sprayed it on my ladies shirt, and the waitress watched from the bar as she stood there with water trying to clean it off instead of offering her club soda or something…

Awesome BBQ! Great drink specials during all Pro Football games. Went on a Monday night and had good food, service and vibes. Outdoor fire pit is a major bonus!

Awesome food and great service — bottom line. We live in the area and walked around the hood looking for the perfect spot for some beer and food. The BBQ is on point (I know BBQ) and they have an awesome Coors Light special during pro football, $ 2.50 for a pint! My kind of place. The have games are on the big screens and they have games (i.e. Giant Jenga) in the enclosed patio– PLUS A FIRE PIT out front! An A+++ from me, coming from NYC, it can be hard to impress but this place is up and coming and I almost wanna keep it my secret! But I also want this place to stick around — so I’m sharing. Definitely walking my ass back here in the very near future.

After I had a baby I was afraid I’d be destined to eat a Applebee’s and Denny’s for the rest of my life. I like that this place is just a bit trendy, has decent food, and is still family friendly. The burgers are amazing, so are their wings. My one complaint is that I feel like it’s slightly overpriced.

Sad. Looking forward to a great new restaurant in Arvada to be so!!! Disappointed. If you into a skater want to be to wait on you with attitude you will love this place, but save your money go to Arvada tavern they at least know how to teat you like your a paying customer.
But if your a want to be skater, looking to have bad food and bad service this is the place to go

The service was terrible, absolutely ridiculous. We got there as a party of 9
Ordered regular drinks and food right away. It took them an hour and 10 minutes to bring us our appetizer and another 20 minutes before we got food. The brown haired waitress only checked our drinks once! About 45 minutes in we asked the waitress about our food she said, «our kitchen is only so big, and we only have two cooks»… And an hour in she saids «you never specified you where in a rush» like seriously! Then there was no manager to talk to! Never ever ever going to come to this shit hole again!

I was recommended this restaurant by a friend who lived in Kansas City for a good part of his life. He said this was the only BBQ that came even remotely close to what he remembers from home. So I grabbed the wife and we checked it out. The place was very nice. Seemed clean. And the food, specifically the barbecued meat, was incredible. I would personally not go there for the sides as they were far from special. The green chili was good.
In the future I will order off of the «By the pound» part of the menu. Overall a great place for barbecued meats!

My husband and I had heard mixed reviews this summer from our friends so we thought we would let the kinks of a new restaurant work themselves out before we gave it a try. We went there last night and had a nice experience. When we first got there we were a little worried as there were only 2 other patrons in the restaurant. NOTE: it was cold and a Monday at 4:30pm so this should not be surprising. Anyhow we sat down and immediately the bartender (no server on staff — again it was a monday) brought us menus and right away offered to bring our toddler so milk. 2 minutes later she returned with milk and asked us for our drink orders. We were both on the fence so she offered us samples. Mine came with a lime which significantly added to the flavor of my beer which I ended up ordering. She forgot to bring the lime with my first beer and we had to ask twice with the second beer. Odd since this was a recommendation on her part to begin with?
My husband and I both ordered the St. Louis Style ribs which were AMAZING! I mean FALL OFF THE BONE amazing! There was a caddy with six sauces to choose from which were all very good. My favorite was the Original and my husband loved the siracha. I got the coleslaw which was very good not too much mayo and my husband got the potato salad (mustard and dill base) Very good. Our son had a kids burger and tots which were also very good and well cooked. We did not like the Ketchup that they use… I’m from Pittsburgh PA so I’m a Heinz Ketchup girl no exceptions so I asked my husband and he agreed that it tasted like tomato soup or sauce out of a can. Yuck.
The ambiance is great, they have a fantastic 3 season patio that also has a life size connect four and jenga which was a lot of fun for our son.
We really liked this place and would definitely go back. If we ever get a date night this would be a fun place close to home to hang out! Good Luck!

Come on, guys. What’s with the dry brisket? If it gets dry, don’t serve it. Simple enough. Go to Austin, see how they do it. If you’re going to charge as much as you do for your food (and beer), it better be perfect.
Also, this place is wayyyy overpriced.
Friendly service, nice location. Otherwise, I was completely unimpressed.

We met a friend there on ⁹⁄₁₀ and sat outside. Not busy when we arrived but had to go inside to get beer. Unfortunately the service was slow for food and they forgot a beer we ordered. The food was average but tasty. The Arvada Hash appetizer was a treat and worth the trip. Overall a fun visit but service could improve and be
more welcoming and attentive.

4 Barrel Bbq is a tricky one to review. First things first, I really like the spot. It’s well air-​conditioned and was able to seat my 10 person group easily with all its picnic bench seating. Parts of the décor seems at odds with itself with the roomier space contrasting with bar.
For the food, well, their portions are large. I’m convinced now having finished my leftovers that the hash could feed 2 people easily. That dish was the clear winner. Crumbled hash browns, pulled pork, green chili and cheese — pure deliciousness. Running a close second were the boneless chicken wings with tangy BBQ sauce. I was on an unhealthy streak apparently. Sampling a friend’s jalapeño hush puppy kept me going that direction too. Note: needs more jalapeño.
The one fail from my meal were the smoked eggs. It sounded so promising — smoked egg, sugar cured bacon, jalapeño, cheddar cheese. I’m not convinced the smoked egg overpowered everything so much as the other flavors didn’t live up to their billing. The jalapeño was super mild. The bacon lacked the porky salty richness I typically love and crave. And there was no sweet. You see where I’m going, right? You expect smoke, salty, sugar, and spice and only get smoke and egg.
Regardless, I’ll probably try them again and after their meats more.

So I went here cause I heard they have smoked wings and they are supposed to be just like the ones from Old Man. Wings are the same and they are awesome. Crispy on the outside cause they flash dry them after they are smoked. They come naked with the sauce on the side so you can put any of their sauces or mix n match your own.
I also tried the smoked eggs app, can’t go wrong with the eggs topped with bacon, Jalepeño and cheddar slices. Comes with a mustard sauce on the side which was really good.

We had a wonderful experience at 4 Barrel just a couple of days after they first opened. I’m willing to forgive them for the brief delay in getting our meals out while they are working out the kinks of a new restaurant. Making it easier to deal with was how they handled the situation like seasoned pros. They were up front about the possible delay, apologetic and even compensated with a round of drinks. But most of all, I’m willing to look past it because their food was so damn good!
When we sat down, the waiter pointed out a table on the patio that had pulled pork sliders… compliments of the chef. I could have filled up on these little guys. The pulled pork was moist and delicious,. The sauces are where 4 Barrel really shines. My favorites in order were: House Sriracha, White BBQ, Tangy Mustard and House. I would have been happy with any of them if they were the only option, but I delightfully mopped, slopped and squirted all of them as I made my way through the meal.
We chose the three meat combo so we could sample several items. The brisket and ribs were both excellent. Sadly, they had run out of the jalepeno brat, so we tried the spicy polish instead. It was wonderful as well.
I am eager to return to 4 Barrel to try items like the Tater Tot Crisp, burgers and the afore mentioned jalepeno brat.