Burgers be beefin’
Photos and story by Bryce Crawford
The New Guy
Bingo Burger
101 Central Plaza, Pueblo, bingoburger.com
The Old-Timer
Cy’s Drive In
1833 W. Uintah St., 630-7008
The Fast-but-Local
Short Stop
485 N. Circle Drive, 444-8428
A lovely, round toasted cornmeal Kaiser roll
that’s a little dry, but holds up well throughout
a prolonged assault on the burger.
Slightly over-toasted, but an otherwise nice
and fluffy sesame seed bun courtesy of the
Sara Lee Corporation. Well-matched to the
task of containing the fairly juicy beef.
A smashed, sesame-seed-laden version of
something that used to be fluffy, straight from
the school of fast, mass food. Successful only
in that it prevented me from having to hold the
beef patty directly.
Burger
A template for anybody confused about how
to source their product: The patty’s rich with
the flavor of incorporated fire-roasted Pueblo
chilies, while the meat is of the grass-fed variety from Cattlemen’s Choice Beef in Cañon
City. Unfortunately, the one we got was also a
little thin and dry.
A half-pound patty of hormone- and antibiotic-free meat from Ranch Foods Direct topped
with American cheese. Though it’s definitely
cooked well-done, instead of the requested
medium, this strong contender for best burger
holds moisture well and offers a juicy bite.
A thin, bland sliver of assumed beef and
American cheese. During one unfortunate bite,
I got all meat — thank God for the healing
crystalline sugar blast of Pepsi.
Fixins
Like most of the burgers listed here, Bingo
offers a fairly standard array, though a little on
the skimpy side, for its normal burger: fresh
lettuce, pickle and red onion and a gooey swirl
of cheddar.
Cy’s goes with the standard pickle, onion
and lettuce dressings, but these thick slices
stand above the average. For sauce aficionados, there’s the good ol’ mustard and ketchup
on the table.
I know there were toppings, because I saw
them. I did taste mayo and mustard, and some
lettuce fell on my shirt, so it must have been in
there, but ...
Some of the best we tried: Deeply potato-y
strands topped with chunky sea salt. The spuds
come via farmers in the San Luis Valley, who
then deliver them straight to the restaurant.
Anytime I see these basic versions, squareish and thick, I’m a little skeptical. These are
the fries of your childhood cafeteria, and that’s
not necessarily a good memory. Thankfully,
Cy’s are better — fried to a nice crisp, plentiful and well-salted.
Nothing wrong with these guys, McDonald’s clones that they are. Thin, salty, lightly
crispy and all golden, fatty deliciousness inside.
Addicting, and surely as lethal.
The Double-B’s strength is in burgers loaded
down with additional items like guacamole,
fried eggs or caramelized onions, or meats like
lamb, with a rosemary aioli. For purposes of
their house burger, $8.59 is too much to pay,
even with wonderful fries.
Cy’s overall cost of $6.82 comes in as one
of the cheaper meals on this list, and one of the
better-tasting. The burger is a sure two-hander,
while the 58-year-old atmosphere surrounding
this classic drive-in is hard to top.
The best thing about the burger from Short
Stop is that it’s fairly cheap — a burger and
fries ran $5.25. Unfortunately, then you have to
eat it. If there were a Wendy’s across the street,
it’d be a tough choice, but with contenders
like this list, the longtime local purveyors just
haven’t got what it takes to hang.
Bun
Fries
Value
| 18 | independent |
March 17-23, 2011
|
F
ind me the best burger in the area.
Hell, find me the best definition of a burger in Colorado Springs. Is it made
with lamb, or buffalo or foie gras-covered ostrich? (’Cause, you know, hook me
up if it is.) Is it topped with bacon, or aioli or fried eggs? Is the meat locally sourced?
Is it from a chain, or a diner, or your mom?
These questions, and more, we considered when putting together our quest to find
the best damn burger our burg has to offer, a natural progress ion from our previous
looks at the city’s best wings, ribs, taco trucks and farmers markets. We decided beef
was the way, with standard toppings: cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and the
like. Condiments could come as they would and sides would be fries, except when
they were Ruffles potato chips at the Keg Lounge.
As for scoring, no extra points were awarded for style or sourcing decisions; substance alone would be our guide. We looked at the bun, the beef, the toppings and the
sides. It’s a victual world out there, and we were determined to find our way so that
others might follow.
We even managed to learn a few things. Like, even if you ignore sourcing as an
end in itself, you can’t ignore its effect on our most important measure: taste. A patty
of Ranch Foods Direct beef may seem like any other when eaten in isolation. But
continued on p. 21 ➔
The Bar
Keg Lounge
730 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, 685-9531
Bun
Burger
Fixins
Fries
Value
The Diner
King’s Chef Diner
131 E. Bijou St., 110 E. Costilla St.,
kingschefdiner.com
The Do-It-Yourself
O’Malley’s Steak Pub
104 State Hwy. 105, Palmer Lake,
omalleyswings.com
A lukewarm toasted French roll in a rectangular shape from the Colorado Bread Company. Our server said it made it easier for the
restaurant to tell the difference between it and
the buffalo burger; my girlfriend was just glad
it made it easier for her to eat.
A very soft cornmeal bun that responds to
a gripping hand like memory foam. Perfect
for mashing the remains into your maw, or
imprinting new and exciting designs (for you
arty types).
An average sesame seed hamburger bun,
likely available at any grocery store. It does
hold up fine throughout the meal, however and
for this burger’s purposes, worked out fine.
At least an inch thick, this baby was serious.
Ordered medium, the hunk of beef from Ranch
Foods Direct arrived perfectly cooked, covered
in a gooey cheddar and packing enough juice
to change the lives of more than a few napkins.
Definitely one of the top burgers on this list.
Owner Gary Geiser says Denver-based
Mountain City Meat custom-makes the restaurant’s burger patties, allowing Geiser to control
the grind and percentage of fat and the like.
For its part, the medium-thick burger, topped
with American, is juicy and cooked perfectly.
Castle Rock Meats of Denver supplies an
average-sized patty with a greasy streak,
though that largely depends on how it’s cooked
— by you. Kudos for actual cheddar cheese,
instead of American.
Veggies arrive stacked on the side, separate
from the burger: pickles, tomato and a nice
punchy red onion. A ramekin of mayonnaise
sits on the side if you like your meat with a
little goo.
An about-what-you’d-expect trio of red
onions, pickles and lettuce stacked separate
from the burger. Though hardly unique, each
was juicy enough and complemented the
burger well.
A backyard affair of mustard, ketchup, mayo
and average cuts of lettuce, pickle and onion.
The plate arrives after you’ve been sent to the
grill with your meat, so don’t forget to grab it
from the table.
None, alas. The presence of utterly generic
Ruffles potato chips next to such a quality hamburger is a true bummer. Even some Tater Tots
would sate my need for an actual fried side.
There are people out there who appreciate a
fry that bends more than it breaks. I’m not one
— to me, the limp fries at KCD are among its
weaker offerings, though they come in big, peppery portions.
Though nicely hand-cut, these fries are too
greasy and over-fried into thick chewy-ness to
add much. Like the condiments, they also arrive
after you’ve been sent to the grill, so at least get
’em while they’re hot.
At $9.34, the Keg’s burger is one of the
more expensive on this list, though it mostly
feels worth it. There’s nothing in the way of
sides, but the pleasure of killing all that locally
sourced meat in one sitting is something any
barfly could appreciate.
A fine lunch, and at $8.59 a better value than
the like-priced Bingo Burger, but not the top of
the heap. Try its other versions, including the
famous covered-in-green-chili one or the New
Mexico Stomper challenge.
The draw of an O’Malley’s burger — damn
near the cheapest on this list at $6.68 — isn’t so
much the quality, which is as backyard barbecue as it gets, but the fact that you grill it yourself. It’s a totally fun and communal experience
that, unfortunately, carries no weight in this
competition.
independent | March 17-23, 2011 | 19 |
➔ continued from p. 19
munched next to the otherwise flavorful mass-production from our Best Of winner Five
Guys Burgers and Fries, it’s notable — and enjoyable — for its lack of grease.
So we cast our fate to the winds, seeking high and low for ground chuck products
famous for word-of-mouth hype, or historical significance, or their place in our collective culinary consciousness. We ate the steakhouse standard, the cook-your-own,
the greasy spoon and five others in between, from Pueblo to Palmer Lake.
Of course, and you know this by now, we didn’t make it to everywhere; mostly
because gas is now three small-to-medium-sized children per gallon, but also because
The Readers’ Pick
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
7252 N. Academy Blvd., fiveguys.com
we don’t know the burgers everywhere. We hear there are killer patties awaiting
destruction at the Margarita at PineCreek, the Wines of Colorado and other spots, but
we just couldn’t fit them in.
So that’s where you can help: If we missed it, and you know it, hit us up at scene@
csindy.com or forever hold your peace. Otherwise, grab some napkins and let’s fuckin’
eat. (A note: All prices include fries, cheese and tax.)
The Steakhouse
— [email protected]
Winner!
The Famous
31 N. Tejon St., thefamoussteakhouse.net
A smashed piece of sesame-seeded deliciousness that couldn’t hold this burger together to
save its life. By the midway point, the bottom
was soaked clear through and flopped around
between every bite. Tasty, though.
Bread that can act as an equal with the main course is a too-rare thing. But there are ciabattas
out there that will change your very life. And if they don’t change your life, or eating habits, they
might just taste really freaking good. This bun is one of those: thick and chewy house-baked sourdough topped with a crust of melted cheddar. It’s almost a meal itself, and holds up strong against a
burger patty dribbling juice left and right.
Burger
Two patties separated by swirls of molten
American cheese. Very greasy, with a tendency to crumble as the meal goes on, but
certainly satisfying if you’re not worried about
sudden death.
Take the scraps from some of the best ribeye and strip steaks this city has to offer. Grind them
in-house. Fashion them into an inch-and-a-half-thick patty, packed with meaty flavor and enough
juices to make a bib the smart move. Repeat, as you’re doing God’s work.
Fixins
Free with the burger, diners have the option
of any combination of ketchup, mustard, mayo,
relish, onion, lettuce, pickles, thick tomatoes,
grilled onions and mushrooms, jalapeño and
green peppers and more. On the one hand, no
burger can sustain such gluttony; on the other,
no person can resist it.
In addition to a killer burger and a perfect bun, The Famous offers a study in contrasts. In the one
hand, there’s carnivorous perfection from a restaurant that knows its meat, topped with crisp lettuce,
tomato and red onion. In the other hand, there’s bottles of Heinz ketchup and mustard dropped along
with it. Why I’d want to sully the Taj Mahal of hamburger creation with high-fructose corn syrup is
a mystery to me. So for future reference, dear steakhouse, just pander to me and offer me a kitchenmade, stone-ground something, to go along with my half-pickle and choice of cheese.
Fries
Not bad at all. These guys are lightly salted
and skin-on, with their city and state of origin
listed on a whiteboard by the cash register. (In
a shocking development, ours were from Idaho.)
Some will be in the cup they’re served in, but
even more will be inside the greased-up bag,
covering your burger.
Even more disappointing than the bottled badness are The Famous’ fries. Similar to Cy’s in that
they’re cafeteria-esque, but they never recover from that humble (read: bad) comparison. Though
very obviously not the restaurant’s focus, anything would be an improvement.
Value
$8.15 buys a lot of flavor and a lot of grease —
it even gets you the experience of trying to eat a
disintegrating lump of veggies, carbs and protein.
What it doesn’t get you is any amount of freshness
— other than that imparted by the veggies, which
are quickly overwhelmed by all the hot grease
action going on around them. In any event, it’s a
tasty burger, for sure, but a little over-priced.
A burger with a $13.91 price tag, like this one, has more to prove than its lesser-priced counterparts. If I can buy two meals from Cy’s or almost three from Short Stop for this price, it’s incumbent upon us to ask if it’s worth it. And in this case? It’s very close, but it is.
The drive-in, as well as the Keg Lounge, offer great options, but it’s the quality and depth of
flavor found here, examined all the harder for its price, that takes the cake. Also, coincidentally or
not, those two, along with The Famous, were the only ones to ask how we’d like the burger cooked.
This steakhouse’s house-made mound o’ beef just tastes too close to heaven to ignore. And even
better? It’s very splittable: I can eat entire four-legged mammals with little problem, but during this
visit, my girlfriend and I each took half (with our waitress’ blessing and assistance) and found ourselves on the receiving end of a solid post-lunch coma. So find a friend and dig in.
Bun
independent | March 17-23, 2011 | 21 |