Blackbelly Market

Whoa, Blackbelly, Bam-Ba-Lam...

What's not to love about locally sourced meats and vegetables, a dynamite staff, and seasonal cocktails that are based on classic rock and roll albums?  Um, nothing.  Not a thing.  Therefore, stop reading this and go eat at Blackbelly Market immediately.  Thanks for playing.  Have a good day and thank you for supporting MenuManiacs.

Just kidding.  Don't worry, we'll tell you more.  Settle down.  Geez, you guys are so demanding.

Blackbelly Market is located on the west side of Boulder near the intersection of Arapahoe and 55th in a strip mall-slash-office park hybrid.  Blackbelly is not only a great restaurant but it is also a butchery.  Actually, it is two shops in one!  One half of the property is a butcher and deli that serves breakfast burritos and delicious sandwiches.  Next door to the butchery, they have a dining space that opens in the evenings.  Ian, the manager, was kind enough to show us around the deli side during our visit and we hope to get back soon to try breakfast or lunch, or breakfast AND lunch, or basically whatever they put in front of us because it's all delicious.

The restaurant has a blend of industrial and modern elements making it feel contemporary and cozy.  They have an amazing bar and we have to give a props to them for the incredible drinks we enjoyed. One of the things that sets Blackbelly apart from other places is their quirky sense of humor,  Each month their master mixologist creates new cocktails using music as inspiration.  In the month of June, the cocktail menu was based on songs off the Slippery People album by Talking Heads.  July's inspiration came from Van Halen's classic album, 1984.  We told them to surprise us with a cocktail.  What they brought was a delightful concoction called Jump!  Sparkling water with fresh blackberries, bitters, and of course Panama rum.  See what they did there?  Van Halen...Panama...Panama rum.  Oh, we just love that.  It was refreshing and fruity without being overly sweet which is exactly how one might describe Van Halen now that we think about it.  Huh.  Interesting.  Anyhoo, it was perfect for a hot afternoon.

Charcuterie and Cheese are some of the most popular items on the menu at Blackbelly.  In fact, they are in the process of opening a Charcuterie Bar where people can sit and watch the preparation of a variety of meats and cheeses.  We were told they have a state of the art slicer that creates very thin slices of meat.  After all, the thinner the slice, the more intense the flavor.  You can pick and choose your selections or you can order the grand selection of all the options Blackbelly has to offer.  We suggest the Genoa salami and their bay bleu cheese.  They are astounding.  If you can't decide, the staff is incredibly well versed in pairing meats and cheeses to your liking.

From the soup and salad section of the menu, we ordered the carrot-ginger soup and the local romaine wedge.  The soup was served warm which was unexpected.  When sampling carrot soup in the past at other establishments, it has been served chilled.  It was delicious with date mastardo, almonds, and spiced yogurt.  The soup was mild without being overpowered by either the ginger or carrots.  The salad was one of the best we have had in a while.  Their house made green goddess dressing was so flavorful and the fresh greens were amazing.

For dinner, we ordered the Colorado Angus Bavette Steak, the Golden Potato Gnocchi, Wild Sockeye Salmon, and Colorado Berkshire Pork.  We also added a side of marrow butter for something new and different.  From their sides selection, we ordered Creamed Greens and Roast Local Carrots.  Everything on this menu was excellent.  The meat served at Blackberry is some of the freshest and most delicious we have come across thus far.  Probably because 80-93% of the meat is sourced from local Boulder farms.  They acquire their salmon fresh from Washington state.  One of the interesting revelations of the evening involved the greens served with the meals.  They were so flavorful and fresh that the non-vegetable faction of our party actually grabbed second and third helpings.  That included fresh asparagus.  Asparagus, people.  Asparagus. 

For dessert, we selected three items.  The Triple Chocolate Espresso Torte with smoked sea salt caramel, huckleberries (insert Tombstone movie reference), and elderberries (insert Monty Python French taunter reference).  The Olive Oil Lemon Cake served with blueberry-thyme compote, crème fraiche ice cream, and crumbles was definitely the favorite dessert of the evening.   Finally, we ordered Evelyn's Famous Carrot Cake with candied pecan and ginger syrup.

We would like to commend the manager, Ian for being so personable and friendly.  He is very knowledgeable about wine and the entire menu.  Our night started out with a snafu regarding our reservation (not their fault), but the staff dealt with it without even a trace of bad attitude.  Erick and Makenna helped us with our meal delivery and both were fun and friendly.  Last but not least, Lenny our main server was hilarious, knowledgeable, and is basically our new best friend.  Also, as a side note, Lenny is a famous giver of hugs.  Be sure to request him when you visit.  He's the cherry on the sundae of the experience.

Blackberry is safely nestled in the upper echelon of our favorite restaurants.  We will definitely come back as soon as we can. We awarded them the coveted golden spoon simply because they are awesome.

Do yourselves a favor and get to Blackbelly immediately.  We're not kidding, they are that good.

....Wait, you're still reading this?  Seriously.  Go to Blackbelly.

The Officially Unofficial Voting Legend
Take it with a grain of salt, we're not professionals.
	Awesome place, we’ll shovel more food in our face!
	It was okay. Not our favorite, but we’ll take another stab at it.
	Didn’t make the cut.