Trevor Phipps
Food buffs in Teller County seem to always anticipate a brand-new culinary arrival, which then suddenly makes its way up to the mountains.
When it first infiltrated social media pages in Woodland Park, mystery surrounded the new “Popup Cheesesteaks” eatery that promised to feature delicious sandwiches and award-winning chili.
Well now over a month later from this original promise, Popup Cheesesteaks located at Jess’ Place Pool Hall in downtown Woodland Park has become the talk of the town. The mystery is over.
The “pop-up” eatery pioneered by longtime Woodland Park resident Daren Stoeckel launched earlier this year, serving delicious cheesesteaks every Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The eatery also provides food for certain special events that take place at the pool hall.
The WP culinary entrepreneur offers classic cheesesteaks with a choice of beef or chicken, and also includes all of the fixings, such as peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese (and even Cheese Whiz). Stoeckel also offers a couple of sandwiches that offer a spicy kick for those who like it hot. Moreover, his customers have already said that they love his soup of the day, and award-winning red chili.
“I have wanted to do a cheesesteak truck for several years, and I have been practicing at the house and trying to get recipes of dishes I wanted to do,” Stoeckel said. “I have been a longtime cook, and I love doing it and making different, delicious meals. I enjoy serving other people food, and I just thought it would be a great deal to kick something off like this that Woodland Park really needs.”
When he is not grilling up cheesesteaks, Stoeckel runs a bison ranch north of Woodland Park. His work at the ranch helped him come up with his menu item names
“The menu item names come from all of the different animals on the ranch,” the Popup Cheesesteaks entrepreneur said. “’Red Dog’ is the baby bison, the calf. And ‘Waylon’ is our big breeder bull, and the ‘Homestead’ is what we live on. ‘Bossy’ comes after another bison because she’s bossy, so it comes spicy with a little bit of jalapenos. So, it’s all based off the animals from our homestead.”
Anyone can enjoy the cheesesteaks at Jess’ Place Pool Hall, or they can order a meal to go. All of the sandwiches offered come with Boulder chips. Or it’s always wise to get a cup/bowl of soup or chili to truly satisfy that culinary urge.
