Bluebird Barbecue, the longtime barbecue spot at 317 Riverside Avenue in Burlington, will shut down its smokers and serve its final batches of brisket, pulled pork and Pitmaster wings on Saturday, October 31.
“It’s time for Bluebird to say goodbye,” owner Sue Bette said in a press release on Thursday afternoon. “We wish Bluebird could continue on, but the conditions just aren’t lining up for Bluebird to be Bluebird.”
Bette launched the barbecue spot’s predecessor, Bluebird Tavern, in the former Tortilla Flat location on Riverside Avenue in 2009. Bluebird Barbecue opened there in 2012 after the gastropub moved downtown.
Bluebird Barbecue’s menu of regional American smoked-meat dishes — some of which had a Vermont twist, such as pulled-pork poutine and maple-doused barbecue sauce — featured in a January 2020 episode of Food Network‘s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.”
Bette had no further comment on the closure, a PR representative confirmed on Thursday.
The end of Bluebird’s run is unrelated to recent Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant buyouts at 389 and 505 Riverside Avenue. Burlington’s principal planner and zoning division manager, Scott Gustin, confirmed that the latter address, currently home to Kismayo Kitchen, is the only pending buyout on that road.
Bluebird fans can get a final meal this weekend: The restaurant is open Thursday to Saturday, October 29 to 31, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm, but only for curbside pickup.
“It’s a short farewell tour, and the best way for us at this time to say goodbye,” Bette said in the release.
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