Cafe Open everyday 11am – 9pm Dine-in · Takeout · Delivery 4660 S Yosemite St, Greenwood Village dumplingfactoryco.com (720) 420-9461 continued from page 17 paint and some updates in the kitchen, but “we wanted to keep it familiar and comfort- able,” Graunke says. Also sticking around — even more promi- nently — is the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) theme. Like Owlbear, “Pit Fiend is a monster in D&D...so our joke is that Pit Fiend is the guy that makes the low-quality barbecue, so we want to try to rise above that and defeat the Pit Fiends,” Graunke explains. “It’s just a fun way to introduce our hobby into our cooking.” A line of sauces in the works will also boast D&D monster names. The logo, too, takes inspiration from the Tuesdays: $13 Pizza + Beer Wednesdays: Craft Can Night Saturday Afternoon Sessions: 2 slices + 3 drafts for $18. Happy Hour every Tuesday-Friday 3-6:30 p.m. Live music on the patio every Friday from 5-8 p.m. starting May 6 fi ery Pit Fiend and will honor Hudgins. It’s being designed by Sam Kuhn, an artist at Copperhead Tattoo next door. “Last sum- mer, [Teven] had a bit of an accident on one of those Lime scooters and knocked out his four front teeth,” Graunke recalls. “So we requested that [Sam] leave out the front teeth. It’s very subtle, but it’s very alternative methods to ensure that the team gets proper breaks and balance in their schedules. “We’re trying to make the barbe- cue work for us instead of working ourselves to the bone for the barbecue,” he explains. Another lesson: learning to accept support. “I didn’t know how to ask for help. I didn’t know how to take help when it was offered,” Fallenius says. “They’ve learned a lot from my mistakes. At least I hope they fucking did.” They did, the partners agree. “One of the things we want to learn from Owlbear is how can we take some of that burden off of ourselves by accepting help when it’s offered,” Llano says. “Because there are a lot of people that want to help us. It’s some- times hard to accept that help, but we need to. We’ve seen that we can’t do it alone. We can’t do it without other people supporting us, so we’re really fortunate to have that.” Much of that support has come from the community. “It’s been really invaluable how much encouragement we’ve gotten and how many people are looking out for us,” Llano adds. 3920 Tennyson St, Denver (303) 477-7000 Owlbear’s brisket will be on the menu at Pit Fiend. much an homage,” Llano adds. “A lot of what we do around here, we think of him. Not only because of what he already taught us, but also his voice in our heads telling us, like, ‘Ah, just try it, see what happens!’ Just encouraging. He was very encouraging...he really instilled confi dence. That was one of his biggest gifts, and that’s what we’re try- ing to do in tackling this big challenge, is to live up to that confi dence that he had in us.” Part of that challenge is moving on with- 18 We Deliver RedGingerDenver.com 720-627-5769 out Hudgins while refl ecting on lessons learned at Owlbear. While Fallenius was the sole owner, this trio has the benefi t of sharing responsibilities. “Holy fuck, I wish I’d had people with me,” Fallenius admits. “There was never a partnership like that. They’re in a place where they can really support each other and hold each other accountable.” “We work as a committee, and we defi - nitely check with each other on things and help each other out,” Llano says. “Cramming opening a business into fi ve months has been a huge challenge, but we’re getting close to the end of it, and it’s exciting.” Graunke, who started as the overnight cook at Owlbear, often working from mid- night until noon or even later before return- ing at midnight to do it again, is researching Other barbecue joints have been sup- portive, too. “In Denver, in particular, it’s more collaborative than competitive in the barbecue scene,” Graunke says. “It’s good to be able to swap ideas and talk shop with people in the fi eld and not feel like it’s a bunch of trade secrets, because barbecue is better when it’s open-sourced.” Also rooting for Pit Fiend: Fallenius, even though he’s still grieving the end of Owlbear. “It’ll be really great to see what they can do there,” he says, adding that Llano and Graunke “really are some of the best people I’ve ever met. I have all the faith in the world in those guys, and I think they’re going to make some- thing really special. ... As sad as I am that it’s not Owlbear, I’m glad it’s something.” And the team feels Hudgins rooting for them, too. “We spent so much time together in this space, so sometimes it’s diffi cult walk- ing in here. But we feel really inspired and driven to think of [Teven] as smiling down on us,” Llano says. “He had more to say,” Graunke concludes. Pit Fiend is located at 2826 Larimer Street and plans to open to the public on Friday, May 20; it will also be at Top Taco on June 23. For more information, visit pitfi endbbq.com. MAY 12-18, 2022 WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | westword.com EVAN SEMÓN