No question here: Denver has always been a burger town. From the Cherry Cricket to My Brother’s Bar, we’ve been burger aficionados for decades. But with the number of brand-new burger joints opening at a frenzied pace, and most of them packing in the customers, it seems we’re hitting new heights of burger-mania.
The current wave started just a few years ago, when the SmashBurger chain started popping up all over town. Then Park Burger entered the fray on South Pearl Street (look for a second location on 17th Avenue in Denver soon). Diego Zhang’s soon hit the scene, Larkburger expanded into Greenwood Village from Boulder, and before you know it, a bona fide Denver-area burger revival was underway. Competition remains fierce, but so far, we don’t seem to have reached saturation. Denver’s appetite is limitless.
Here are a handful of new burger places that have opened in the past few months.
Eco-Burger
2817 E. Third Ave., 303-316-9100
Burgers: $6.75 and up.
Wedged into a small storefront with a big patio in Cherry Creek North, Eco-Burger is all about their eco-consciousness; in fact, they call their product “morally delicious.” Grass-fed beef, compostable packaging, beetle- kill pine paneling interior — this place is aiming for zero carbon output. Nice, but the name of the game here, as at all burger vendors, is big, meaty burgers on fresh buns with hot fries. Bonus: Cold Bull & Bush root beer on draft; or, choose a milkshake and add a shot of liquor to it — Eco-Burger has a display of airplane-sized booze bottles for sale.
Deluxe Burger
5325 E. Colfax Ave., 303-333-5683, deluxeburgerdenver.com
Burgers: $5.95-$7.95
Attached to the popular Mod Livin’ furniture and accessories store on East Colfax Avenue, this place is the brainchild of popular Denver chef Dylan Moore (Deluxe, Delite) and Mod Livin proprietors Erick Roorda and Jill Warner. The result is a pleasant mid-century-meets-pop-art room filled with Colfax hipsters munching on beefy burgers and tasty herbed fries. (Or truffle-Parm fries, for the fancy hipsters.) Place your order, grab a buzzer, and shop Mod Livin while you wait for your meal. Special burgers are often on the bill, such as a recent bahn mi-inspired burger (pork, cilantro, vegetables, etc., on a burger bun).
H Burger
1555 Blake St., (entrance on 16th), 720-524-4345, hburgerco.com
Burgers: $6.95-$12.95
With prime real estate on the 16th Street Mall, this place fills up fast on weekdays — if you aren’t sitting by noon, expect a wait for a table. Translation: Come early or late. If you’re craving meat on a bun, however, the wait’ll be worth it — these burgers are nicely seasoned, beautifully constructed and totally satisfying. Denver diners know executive chef Ian Kleinman from his celebrated days at O’s in Westminster; and they’ll recognize some signature Kleinman touches, like the creamy-fresh milkshakes made using liquid nitrogen. Smart service rounds out the meal. Best deal: Happy hour special ¼-pound burger and fries for $5.95.
Rueben’s Burger Bistro
1800 Broadway, Boulder, 303-443-5000, ruebensburgerbistro.com.
Burgers: $9-$14
Leave it to a Boulder shop to up the ante in the burger wars by specializing in Belgian beer pairings. Rueben’s Burger Bistro, which opened just two months ago, knows its city well — the slightly dopey but ultimately harmless gimmick is to give all the burgers a cycling-culture name like “the break away” (roasted beets, pepper jack and pancetta) or “the derailleur” (buffalo sauce, bacon, bleu cheese dressing, crunchy celery and cucumber), but the burgers satisfy, the beers (not all Belgian) complement them nicely, and the vibe is friendly and welcoming. (Rueben’s other gimmick, pretzel rolls, is iffy; the bottom buns tend to sog up under the saucier burgers.) Prices are higher than some of the burger joints on this list, but then, this is Boulder.
Walk-In Burgers
2255 Sheridan Blvd., Edgewater, 303-238-2002.
Burgers: $4.89-$5.85
Unsullied by too much gimmick or posturing, Walk-In Burgers is the most accessible, and most affordable, of the burger places listed here. On one recent visit, a four-top started out occupied by four white-collar types in button-down shirts and ties, then was quickly turned over to four blue- collar types in T-shirts and contractor jeans, then was soon turned over to three leather-collar types in Harley jackets and bandannas. This is an equal-opportunity burger-lover’s pitstop, with affordable and quality grub (all-natural beef, Colorado potatoes for the fries, and a very good quinoa burger). Open for lunch, but best enjoyed on a warm summer night. Nice view of Sloan’s Lake.