Larkburger alert in Boulder

Shortly after returning home from lunch today at El Taco de Mexico (Friday afternoon habit), I got an email from a friend alerting me to good news on the restaurant front, namely that earth muffins Boulderites have a new burger barn to fry them to the moon. Only it's not just any burger barn: It's Larkburger, the second offshoot from owner Thomas Salamunovich's righteous, planet-conscious burger shack, which started in Edwards and will soon become a trio of hamburger hamlets when the third outpost opens later this year in the Tech Center.

Boulder's Larkburger, at 2525 Arapahoe, held its grand opening today, and when I called to get all the juicy details, the guy on the horn was frazzled (the background ruckus sounded like a semi skidding on ice), but he quickly confirmed what I already knew: The Black Angus beef is all natural, the buns all natural, too. The lone salad on the menu is made with as many organic ingredients as possible; the cups and salad containers are constructed from corn-based products; the cutlery made from corn starch or potatoes.

But despite the earth mother manifesto, the menu doesn't preach elitism. Instead, it's a simple stage of burgers -- naked beef, tuna, roasted portabella and all-natural turkey -- cooked to order, dressed with leaf lettuce, tomatoes, onions and the joint's housemade sauce. True, the hand-cut fries dusted with Parmesan and drizzled with truffle oil are highbrow, but the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shakes are people's fair food -- even in the People's Republic of Boulder.