Have you ever followed a tantalizing aroma, hoping it’s going to lead you to a delicious meal? Writer Ron Stern did that and found a great BBQ restaurant in Loveland. See what he discovered so you’ll know exactly where to go.

Discovering White Paper BBQ: “The Best BBQ that you’ve never heard of.”

What are the odds that I would accidentally stumble upon a new BBQ place in Northern Colorado that I’ve never tried? Well, in my case, not very likely. Being a smoked meat aficionado, I think I have tried everything around at least once. While shopping in West Loveland, however, I smelled the unmistakable wafting of BBQ in the air and followed my nose across the street to White Paper BBQ which the owner told me was “The best BBQ you’ve never heard of.”

Being tucked onto a corner hillside above the Berthoud Brewing Company would seem to defy the “location, location, location” axiom. Add to that not doing any advertising, which would typically spell doom for any budding restaurant. But in this case, you can throw out all the rules as word of mouth—and smell has propelled White Paper to exponential growth.

Wanting to be a bit different, the owners use white butcher paper instead of the traditional brown for their smoked meat and fixins. They decided to name their restaurant White Paper BBQ for this notable distinction.

What started as almost a joke among friends Jim and Tammy Rowan and Luke Davis led to Jim purchasing a BBQ smoker on a trailer in 2019. Both Jim and Luke were former executive chefs with a combined experience of 44 years in hospitality, hotels, and corporations as well as competition bar-be-que.

They decided to try out their skills with a food truck in Estes Park. Having sold out of everything they made in 3-4 hours got them thinking about a brick-and-mortar store. After a short stint in Berthoud, they ended up in West Loveland preparing their brand of an elevated Texas rub that they call “Texarado”.

What to expect when you go to White Paper BBQ

The sit-down restaurant décor is simple and unpretentious. Wooden floors and tables are the main seating area with some booths along the wall. They have a walk-up ordering window and make up the dishes to order. Country music plays in the background while outside, on the patio, a huge smoker creates the magic.

They use a reverse flow pit for the best effect and feed it large amounts of Post Oak from Texas making White Paper one of only a handful of Colorado BBQ’s using 100% smoke-fired meats. As for the meats, Jim says, “We don’t use any sugar in our rubs.” Rather, drawing on both chefs’ backgrounds, they created a proprietary rub of 16 spices, some of which are not commonly known. This includes blends from a wide variety of countries including Morocco. These spices add a depth of flavor that locals crave and have led to a huge word-of-mouth (forgive the pun) following.

I tried everything they had and was an instant fan of the meats. Their brisket, for example, is smoked for five hours unwrapped and then another five wrapped in foil. This process retains the flavor and moisture, resulting in a juicy, cooked-to- perfection product. I added just a tad of their tangy, sweet sauce to the brisket sandwich and wolfed it down in short order. I also tried their turkey, elk jalapeno sausage, pulled pork, and beef ribs, all of which were mouth-pleasingly delicious!

They offer a variety of sides including collard greens, green chili cheddar mashed potatoes, savory ranch beans, cornbread, and some of the best creamed corn I have ever tasted.

I was also there on a Friday night when they serve their wildly popular prime ribbed dinner. Featuring a low and slow oak-smoked prime rib with two sides for $30 was a bargain. My piece of meat was enough for two but I figured why share? Some things are best left to the professionals. The meat, which had just the right amount of salt and smoke, was almost fork tender and sumptuous.

If you love BBQ, you have to make your way to this somewhat hidden Texas-style eatery. You can easily indulge all your carnivore cravings in just one sitting and then top off your meal with either mud pie or banana pudding for just that just-finished feeling of BBQ satisfaction.

White Paper BBQ is located at 1480 Cascade Ave., Unit 201 in Loveland. Visit their website for more information.

-Story and photos by Ron Stern, The Global Gumshoe

Please note, Ron was hosted for this particular visit, but as is always In Good Taste policy, that does not influence our opinions which remain honest and true for our readers.