How is it that we never discovered this place till this summer? Maybe it's because of its out-of-the-way location, on Rolling Road practically underneath the I-70 overpass. Or maybe it's because Pioneer Pit Beef doesn't really have a sign out front, so much as it just has "pit beef" written across the roof of its little square takeout building in big, block letters. No matter, though--now that we've found this place, which has been serving pit beef, turkey, and ham in the same location since the 1970s, we'll be going back. Often. As soon as you get out of your car, you're hit with the smoky smell that means you are moments away from having a mound of delicious wood-fired meat on a roll, cooked the way you like it--we recommend medium rare--in hand and ready to be eaten. Before you get your sandwich, the guy behind the counter at this cash-only spot offers you a freshly sliced sample to make sure it's cooked to your liking, and once you give the thumbs-up, it's piled on a kaiser roll with your choice of condiment (we always go with the tiger sauce, which is just a fancy name for mayo and horseradish). Pioneer's pit beef is hot, fresh, flavorful, juicy, quite literally the best pit beef we've ever tasted.
