Carb Crisis Averted: Big Buns Are Back at Jim’s Burger Haven

When a local business recently went into crisis mode, a family-owned bakery was able to step in, creating a win-win-win situation for Jim’s Burger Haven, San Antonio Panaderia and hungry Jim’s fans.

Earlier this month, beloved staple Jim’s Burger Haven found itself in a bun conundrum when its longtime supplier, Aspen Baking Company, shut down with no warning.

Jim’s, which has been in business since 1961 and currently operates locations in Thornton and Arvada, is famous for its big burgers served on six-inch buns, which Aspen Baking Company had been delivering for fifteen years. Then, on the first weekend in March, the delivery never showed up.

“Please note that as of Friday, March 6th, Aspen Baking Company entered a transitional period and is in the process of being acquired. While details cannot be shared just yet, this transition is happening quickly. As a result, Aspen Baking Company ceased all direct store delivery operations effective on Friday, March 6th,” the company wrote in an autoreply to a request for comment.

“It’s almost like COVID all over again,” Ralston told Westword at the time, talking about the unexpected challenge of sourcing a new, custom bun.

A temporary supply of five-inch buns was brought in as the search for a replacement kicked off. Ralston spoke to many of the bigger local suppliers in town but found that “they’re very focused on what they do — that’s what makes them the big guys. So it was hard because we have such a unique product.”

What Ralston really needed was a smaller operation with the bandwidth to perfect recreating the product while also having the capability to make enough buns to supply both Jim’s locations.

As it turns out, the perfect bakery found her. Tiana Ramierez’s father-in-law, Francisco Ramirez, grew up baking in central Mexico and, with his wife, Anna, founded San Antonio Panaderia in 2012. Today, he runs it alongside his son, Francisco “Cisco” Ramierez, and it has locations on Federal Boulevard, in Aurora, and in Thornton, not far from the OG Jim’s.

It was Tiana’s father who read the Westword story detailing Jim’s bun conundrum, passing along the info to his daughter, who shared the news with her husband and father-in-law and suggested that San Antonio Panaderia step in to make the buns. “My aunt’s been going [to Jim’s] for years, she talks about going there when she was little,” Tiana recalls, “so I thought, this would be a cool spot to help out.”

It was great timing for the bakery, which had done some small-scale wholesale business for operations like food trucks but was ready to expand that part of its operations.

Tiana contacted Ralston and “literally she was in my restaurant two hours later,” says Ralston, who’d held onto some of the Aspen Baking Company buns as samples. She gave samples of both the four-inch and six-inch buns to Tiana, and the Ramierez family went to work.

After a few rounds of testing, “we were able to get there,” Ralston says. One priority was ensuring that the new bun looks exactly like the old one, and “they absolutely nailed it.” But there’s even better bun news: the flavor, Ralston says, is an improvement. “With these big life-changing events, you always hope to come out better on the other side. I think we did,” thanks in large part to a twenty-hour fermentation process that creates a richer, more complex taste.

“We launched yesterday, and we only heard good reviews,” notes Ralston, including from employees who have given the new buns their seal of approval.

“They are a little bit different, but for the better. Visually, you’re going to have a hard time telling,” Ralston notes of the big buns. The smaller buns are an improvement as well, benefiting from the same new flavor profile and a slightly updated look. “The old, four-inch buns were done in a bun can. … The way that [San Antonio Panaderia] is making them, they’re not using the bun can, so it’s just a smaller version of the big one.”

“It’s kind of magical,” Ralston says of how the whole situation worked out.

Our next mission: revisiting our Jim’s vs. Grandpa’s Burger Haven battle. Last year, Grandpa’s got the edge — largely because we found the bun at Jim’s to be lacking. With a new bun in place, Jim’s could take back the number one Burger Haven status.

Jim’s Burger Haven has locations at 595 East 88th Avenue in Thornton and 7855 Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster. Both are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit jimsburgerhaven.com or follow @jimsburgerhaven on Instagram.

For more information on San Antonio Panaderia and its three metro area locations, visit panaderiasanantonio.com or follow @PanaderiaSanAntonio on Instagram.