The first cool Saturday of the season always sneaks up on people. One week you are still grilling in flip flops, and the next you are staring into the fridge at ten in the morning wondering how you are going to feed nine people before kickoff. Highlands Ranch is lucky here. We have a short list of places that do the heavy lifting better than any of us could at home, and knowing which one to call for which kind of afternoon is most of the battle. Here are three worth putting in your phone before the next big game, plus a few hosting habits that have nothing to do with cooking.
GQue BBQ
When the group text calls for meat, this is the call. GQue BBQ’s Lone Tree location sits at 8433 Park Meadows Center Drive, a short run from most of Highlands Ranch, and it is the rare barbecue counter with real competition credentials behind it. Founder Jason Ganahl built his name on the Kansas City Barbeque Society circuit before he ever opened a restaurant, and you can taste that discipline in the same-day smoked Black Angus brisket. Pork spare ribs, pulled pork, turkey, sausage, and chicken wings round out the board, and they smoke seven days a week. Two things matter on game day. The kitchen runs 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. or until it is gone, which is not marketing copy, so do not roll in at 7:45 expecting brisket. And they run a full catering operation with packages built for groups, which is the move if you are feeding more than eight.
Nicolo’s Chicago Style Pizza
Nicolo’s Chicago Style Pizza is the oldest pizza place in Highlands Ranch, locally owned and operated on South University Boulevard since 1994. Deep dish is the headliner, but the calzones and the rest of the homemade Italian menu hold up just as well on a folding table. They are open every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., they do free delivery, and you can order online or call. The practical advantage of deep dish on a football afternoon is that it stays hot far longer than a thin crust ever will, so a pie that lands at noon is still respectable at halftime. Order one more than you think you need. Cold deep dish the next morning is one of the genuine pleasures of fall.
The Sportsbook Bar and Grill
Some Sundays you do not want to host at all, and that is what The Sportsbook Bar and Grill at 52 W. Springer Drive is for. It is a locally owned sports bar with more than forty HDTVs and a giant LED wall, and they carry out of market games, which is the whole ballgame if you moved here from somewhere else and still bleed a different set of colors. Wings are the reason to go, with a sauce list long enough to start arguments, and Tuesday is all you can eat wings and fries, bone in or boneless. Weekend doors open at 9:30 with a breakfast menu until 1 p.m., the patio has heaters and a fireplace for the November games, and the kitchen stays open until midnight Friday through Sunday. Takeout is available too, if you want the wings without the crowd.
Hosting Tips That Actually Make the Day Easier
The best hosts have all landed on the same trick, which is to cook almost nothing. Pick up the protein, make one thing yourself so it feels personal, and spend your energy on logistics instead. Set the food somewhere other than the room with the television, because a table in the kitchen keeps traffic moving and keeps people from standing in front of the screen on third down. Put drinks in a cooler out on the porch. September afternoons here are warm enough that nobody minds the walk, and it saves your fridge for the food.
Timing beats everything else. Schedule pickup for ninety minutes before kickoff rather than thirty, because every other house in the neighborhood is calling at the same hour. Keep a stack of foil pans on hand. Sending leftovers home with people is the kindest thing you can do at the end of a long afternoon, and it means you are not eating brisket for six days straight.
Nobody remembers who won three weeks later, but they remember whose house they watched it at. Highlands Ranch makes that part easy. Between competition barbecue up the road, a pizza counter that has been here longer than most of us have lived in town, and a bar with a wall of screens for the days you want someone else doing dishes, you have everything you need for a good fall. Pick your spot, put the order in early, and go enjoy the game.