The Ten Best Locally Owned Burger Bars in Denver

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Denver is brimming with burger bars.

Courtesy of 5280 Burger Bar

Juicy burgers, housemade buns and a variety of creative toppings make 5280 Burger Bar a great choice for gourmet burger lovers. Stick with fresh ground beef or venture into bison or lamb for something more unusual. Even the basic burger is made with Black Angus, but the 5280 Prime takes quality a step above, with 7X Ranch Prime wagyu as the base. Visit the 16th Street Mall original or mix it up a little at the newer Westminster outpost.

Bob's Atomic Burgers sits in the shadow of Table Mountain in Golden.

Mark Antonation

1310 Ford Street, Golden
bobsatomicburgers.net

Bob's Atomic Burgers in Golden doesn't have a roster filled with goofy names and crazy ingredients. If you want a burger, it's just called a hamburger. Extras for your mountainous mouthful are either free — like tomato, onion and pickled jalapeños  — or cost about a buck each for the likes of bacon, green chile, guacamole, cheese or a fried egg. Whatever you choose, it will be mounded on a six-ounce patty formed to order from fresh-ground beef. And while that beef is cooked to a pink-free medium, the fat-to-lean ratio definitely leans toward fat, so your burger will be juicy and dripping. If you insist on a burger with a name, stop by for occasional specials like the Shaq Attack (cherry peppers, cheddar and bacon), or Pastor Al's Hamburguesa (topped with pineapple-chili pork).

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Carm & Gia Metropolitan is one of the city's newest burger joints.

Courtesy Carm & Gia Metropolitan

This mid-mod joint opened in a refurbished beauty parlor last February, offering juicy burgers, hot dogs and breakfast burritos. Go classic with the Metropolitan, or choose from a list of burgers named for Denver neighborhoods. The Globeville, for example, comes loaded with chorizo, pico de gallo, lettuce, jalapeños, Monterey Jack, avocado and chipotle mayo. Whichever option you choose, be ready for bold flavors and beefy goodness from 100 percent, never-frozen Angus patties.

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The Cherry Cricket is Denver's longest-running burger bar.

Courtesy of the Cherry Cricket

Denver's oldest burger bar lets you mess around with toppings if you want, but a char-grilled Cricket Burger is all you really need. And, okay, throw on some green chiles if you must (we definitely must). The Cherry Creek original keeps getting more iconic — and more iconoclastic — as the rest of the neighborhood grows and modernizes around it. A second location that opened in spring 2018 added the restaurant's classic appeal to the Ballpark neighborhood.

Is the Luther burger breakfast or lunch?

Crave Real Burgers/Facebook

If you want to get crazy, Crave is the place to do it. Sure, you can stick with the Plain Jane and be happy, but why not try the Fatty Melt, which cradles a beef patty between two grilled-cheese sandwiches, or the infamous Luther, which uses two doughnuts instead of a bun? Other outlandish toppings include whole jalapeño poppers, pulled pork, grilled pineapple and hot dogs. You'll be craving a couch after a burger at Crave.

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The burger and condiment caddie at My Brother's Bar is one of Denver's most familiar sights.

Westword

Yes, My Brother’s Bar has a fascinating history that stretches back to the 1870s and encompasses Neal Cassady and the Beat Generation. But Denver denizens come for burgers and beers — and good conversation from the bartenders and servers. Natives will argue about which is better, the JCB (that's jalapeño cream cheese to you noobs), the cheesier Johnny Burger or the original, unadulterated Steerburger. Whichever you choose, don't expect a classy presentation (not even a plate!), but be sure to include a mixed basket of fries and onion rings.

Park Burger is Denver's go-to neighborhood burger bar.

Danielle Lirette

Park Burger is one of Denver's favorite neighborhood burger joints; from the original on South Pearl Street and the newer outposts in Highland, RiNo and Hilltop. Good value and a few fun topping combos are the signatures here, with the Royale (grilled onions, bleu cheese and bacon), the Croque (ham, Swiss and a fried egg) and the Chilango (cheddar, jalapeños and guacamole) as standouts. But the traditional Park Burger or even the quarter-pound Mini Park Burger are perfect for purists.

Snarfburger is coming to Denver from Boulder.

Westword

Jimmy Seidel, who founded the Snarf’s sandwich chain in 1996, says he liked to cook burgers for his employees “just for fun, and they loved them, and I kinda always wanted to give a burger place a shot.” So in 2013, he turned a former barbecue shack in Boulder into the first Snarfburger, and “now I’m in the sandwich-and-burger business,” says Seidel. Snarfburger is a casual spot that emphasizes basic burgers with the same delicious, humorous twists that have become a hallmark of Snarf’s.