Missy and Stu Robinson want to cultivate an appetite for their barbecue and for the homey, intimate place they serve it from. 

“Hopefully we are giving you that craveable experience where you want to come back time and time again,” Missy Robinson said.

The couple opened Stuboy’s BBQ & Catering in Lone Tree last year after serving their smoked goodness at catered events for nearly a decade. 

With an abundance of great restaurants in the area, Robinson said it can be hard to stand out. Stuboy’s strives to provide a memorable experience by focusing on fabulous flavor in a fun space. 

“It always goes back to the food. Just offering a really great product on a very consistent basis. Stu, he’s been making sure everything tastes great,” Robinson said of her husband, the pit boss and manager of all things back-of-the-house. 

In addition to beef brisket and pork shoulder that’s been smoked for 12 hours, Stuboy’s offers chicken, ribs, fried catfish, collard greens and more. A rather unique item on the menu is the smoked bologna sandwich, Robinson said.

Not thin, not fried, not the sandwich your mother might have put in your lunchbox — this sandwich is made from a thick slice of the bologna logs that are smoked whole at Stuboy’s. Served on Texas toast, it can be ordered “Boss Style” which means adorned with cheese, slaw, jalapenos, pickles, onions and barbecue sauce. 

“It gets a lot of big eyes when people see it come out,” Robinson said. 

Stu Robinson grew up with Sunday fried chicken dinners and wanted to bring back that sense of a special, once-a-week family meal, his wife said. So on Sundays and Sundays only, Stuboy’s serves fried chicken and red beans and rice. 

“We have gotten quite the following for those two items,” she said.

Located near the intersection of C-470 and South Quebec, Stuboy’s shares space in a building with Madlom Real Estate. The restaurant’s small footprint and the conviviality of its “awesome” team leads to a warm, affable atmosphere, Robinson said. Regulars get to know the staff which includes a handful of student athletes and the Robinsons own teenage children. 

“Our loyal customers come in and they’ll ask, ‘How was the football game?’ or ‘How was your daughter’s volleyball game?” Robinson said. “They are kind of involved. We’ve gotten to know so many of them, where they just come in and we pick up like a friends’ conversation at their house. It’s kind of nice.”

Cooking for friends and neighbors is something her husband has always done, even back in his college days at Regis University, Robinson said. He’s been perfecting his recipes and flavor profile for years. In 2013, the couple’s neighbors asked if Stu would prepare the food for their wedding, and he’s catered parties and functions ever since. 

When the family was ready to make barbecue their full-time livelihood, they looked into getting a food truck but ultimately decided on a brick-and-mortar place because it would give them access to customers on a daily basis, Robinson said. 

“This was kind of the next step into having a constant flow of guests coming in the door and being able to enjoy some great barbecue.”