March 1, 2026

 By Charles Dubow

Photographs by Sundae Media

You know you’ve had a really excellent meal when all you can talk about on the drive home from the restaurant is how much you can’t wait to go back again. That was the experience my wife, Melinda, and I had the other night returning from Cowboy Butter, the new(ish) barbecue restaurant in New Milford.

Opened this past July on Bank Street, it is the latest offering from Jeff Schmidt and his partner Nicole Minard, whose Waterbury barbecue joint, Hindsight, has been winning raves since 2020. “I sort of backed into this whole barbecue thing,” says Schmidt, a genial, bearded bear of a man. “It was a hobby at first—until it wasn’t.” A local boy, Schmidt comes from a restaurant background. His mother, Jayne Lanphear, is co-owner of @The Corner in Litchfield. “I was a restaurant rat. Basically I grew up doing my homework in the booths,” he laughs.

When he decided to get serious about barbecue, he went to Austin, Texas, where he learned the ropes at the Michelin-starred LeRoy & Lewis, and then followed up by studying with a Kansas City pit master. “The craft barbecue community is pretty tight. Everybody knows everybody else. So I was able to pick up all different kinds of techniques. That’s why we offer a little bit of everything. But it still comes down to starting around 4 or 5 in the morning and living that wood-smoke lifestyle.”

For Schmidt’s patrons, I can easily say that he and his team’s hard work really pays off. To start we had Texas Twinkies that, as one might assume, have nothing to do with the Hostess sponge cake. Instead these are a thing in Texas, and Cowboy Butter’s version is piquant, smoked, bacon-wrapped jalapeños stuffed with brisket and cheese, with a lime crema for dipping. Insanely good. Of course, we also had to have their melt-in-your-mouth burnt ends (glazed smoked pork belly with Whistlepig BBQ sauce) “Cowboy Candy” bacon jam, and pork rind cracklins. Now, normally when tasting a restaurant’s menu I try not to overeat—but in this case I couldn’t help myself, and polished everything off.

We still had plenty of room, though, which was a good thing because next up came a sampling of smoked meats, which is the primary reason to come to a barbecue restaurant—and Cowboy Butter did not disappoint. The prime beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey breast, and baby back pork ribs were succulent, tangy, and perfectly cooked. (Meats are also available by the pound or full rack, to eat in or take out.) Other carnivorous highlights on the menu include their chimichurri tri-tip, Cowboy Butter steak, Cowboy Ribeye, and their decadent hand-cut beef tallow fries. And while it might seem silly to order a burger in a barbecue joint, do yourself a favor and order their American Wagyu Butter Burger. With cheese, grilled onions, pickles, and garlic aioli on a seeded toasted bun, it’s one of the best I’ve ever eaten.

Cowboy Butter, 59 Bank St.,
New Milford—cowboybutterbbq.com