Roaming Buffalo will close its restaurant at 2387 S. Downing St. in Denver on Sunday, November 29, ending an 11-year run as one of the city's most celebrated barbecue joints. The restaurant will keep regular hours right up until that final Sunday, after which owner Rachael Webb plans to keep the business alive in a different form: catering only, run out of the space next door.
According to Westword, Roaming Buffalo will continue operating as a catering business once the storefront shuts its doors, with catering becoming the only option available after November 29. Webb founded the restaurant with her then-husband, Coy Webb, and the business opened at the Downing Street location in 2015, per the outlet's reporting. A separate account from Texas Monthly places the opening a year earlier, in 2014, so the exact founding date remains a bit murky depending on which outlet you ask.
Over more than a decade, Roaming Buffalo built a reputation as an award-winning barbecue restaurant known for Colorado-style smoked lamb, bison and venison — a menu that leaned into local game rather than sticking strictly to traditional brisket-and-ribs territory. Texas Monthly's rundown of the restaurant's offerings included bison back ribs, pulled Colorado lamb shoulder and locally sourced elk sausage, distinguishing it from the Texas-style smokehouses that inspired it. Even after years of changes, the restaurant still uses many of Coy's recipes for its signature items, Westword reported.
A Marriage, a Divorce, and a Business That Kept Going
Rachael and Coy Webb met while working hospitality jobs in the Colorado mountains, according to the dossier's sourcing, before eventually opening the barbecue joint together. The pair divorced in 2021, and Coy now lives in Texas — but the restaurant kept running, with Rachael at the helm. She has run the business largely on her own for nearly half the life of her son, Carter, who is almost 12.
Webb told Westword that continuing catering while closing the restaurant gives her flexibility and time for herself and her child. She framed the decision as closing on her own terms, saying she'll still be able to care for people through catering even without the storefront.
Part of a Bigger Barbecue Boom
Roaming Buffalo has been part of the growth of Denver's barbecue scene, and Webb has noted how much that scene has changed since she and Coy first opened — she's said there are now far more barbecue options around the city than when they started. That shift tracks with broader observations about the city's food landscape; barbecue expert Adrian Miller has said Thrillist that Denver has experienced a barbecue renaissance in recent years.
The restaurant earned plenty of recognition along the way. Per a prior Westword report, Roaming Buffalo won the paper's award for best barbecue restaurant in a Best of Denver issue, and the same write-up noted the restaurant often sold out well before the dinner hour. A separate interview on Voyage Denver states the restaurant was named Best BBQ in Denver by Westword three times and was featured on the Travel Channel's Food Paradise program — accolades that reflect how far the operation came from its modest beginnings.
Before barbecue, Rachael Webb worked at White Fence Farm during high school and college, long before she and Coy built what Westword's original 2015 review described as Colorado craft barbecue — local lamb and bison smoked alongside more traditional pork, chicken and beef. Catering was always a significant part of that business model, according to the Voyage Denver interview, which makes the pivot to a catering-only operation less of a reinvention and more of a return to one of the company's original strengths.
What Comes Next for the Space
Westword reports that another locally owned food business is set to move into Roaming Buffalo's current storefront, though its identity has not yet been announced. For now, Webb says she hopes to continue serving long-time customers through catering and has floated the idea of hosting special neighborhood pop-ups down the road, giving regulars a way to still get their fix even without a storefront to walk into.
