If you are a food lover that prefers curated foods straight from the source, you likely already know about Blackbelly in Boulder. Founded as a food truck in 2011 by award-winning chef Hosea Rosenberg, the shop has evolved into a full-on dining and shopping experience at its brick-and-mortar store at 1606 Conestoga St.
Blackbelly’s restaurant opened in 2014 and its butcher shop in 2016. In 2023, Rosenberg has the place growing again (per 303 Magazine). As of February, Blackbelly opened its new private dining room, The Heritage Room (which also serves as overflow during nightly dining when not reserved, per Blackbelly marketing). And later this spring, the eatery and grocer will spill out onto the streets. Construction on space for 48 outdoor seats and outdoor eats is currently underway. This will over double the available capacity when added to the 45 seats inside. While the addition is welcome, it was not easy to build out while remaining open for business.
“We had to get creative with the flow of service and how to produce our menus. Continuing breakfast, lunch, butcher, dinner and catering businesses while in limbo is hard on everyone each day. We are extremely proud of our teams for sticking it out and getting to the finish line on the opening,” Blackbelly marketing/PR rep Lauren Feder Rosenberg told What Now Denver in an email.
The new out of doors supplement will also include a 28-seat covered patio available to reserve for private events during spring, summer, and fall. Not only are the west and south views ideal (per Rosenberg), this will allow better access to Blackbelly’s unmatched fresh eats. For breakfast, this means choosing between the “o.g.” breakfast burrito with farm eggs, hatch green chiles, tater tots, cheese or the butchers breakfast burrito with the addition of the butcher’s choice of meat. Lunch includes a panoply of sandwiches across the meat spectrum — roast pork banh mi, fried chicken, French dip, and an Italian trio inside an incomparable muffuletta. And dinner brings the experience to a whole new level with options like ora king salmon, lamb radiatore, and koji-cured heritage pork. Not a meat eater? Not to worry…
“We happen to have quite a few options for vegetarians or pescatarians, which people often don’t expect,” Rosenberg wrote.
Patrons looking to put together their own gourmet meal can find Blackbelly’s cuts buoyed by a wide variety of retail items — crackers, pastas, proteins, cured veggies, pastries, wine, bottled cocktails and more.
Breakfast and espresso are available from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Butcher and market hours are Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. In April, Blackbelly will stay open until 7 p.m and in May, the store will be open seven days a week.
