Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Larkburger

If you live in Denver, you've probably heard of Larkburger.  They've got a few locations scattered around Denver and Colorado, and I visited the one at Belleview and Ulster (north Tech Center) last night with my wife and some friends.

This burger review won't count towards the overall ratings, since I didn't have other reviewers with me...but let me say, it was WAY better than our current #2 burger from Flemings.  It's a tragedy Larkburger can't officially take the #2 slot yet...maybe we'll revisit it for an official Pure Burger review.

In brief, I was pleasantly surprised by this burger.  I stuck with the standard $5.95 Larkburger.  The buns are standard white (my wife got a gluten free option), the produce is fresh and tasty (green leaf lettuce instead of iceberg, red onion instead of white, and a slice of tomato), and my slice of cheddar cost me an extra $0.50 (the only cheese option is Tillamook cheddar).

I wish I would've delved into the burger sauce more.  There wasn't enough on my burger, but I think it was good.  I'll order a side next time.  I also ordered a side of their truffle aioli (that comes on a burger if you want it to).  We also opted for the parmesan truffle fries -- totally awesome.  I even scraped the remnants out of the cardboard tray with a fork.

One of the biggest blessings of this burger was the Angus beef.  I talked to one of the cooks for a while about it.  I'm sure he thought I was crazy.  But I digress.  Anyway, the beef comes to them unfrozen, and then they expertly pack the patties themselves.  Although not ground in-house, the packing job is perfect...loose packing, and a medium grind.  They do not press their patties at all, and grill them.  The product was a fine meat patty, just crumbly enough, with great flavor and and solidly pink the whole way through.  SO MANY other burger joints could learn from this.  Kudos, Larkburger.

Ben's overall rating: 7/10.  Better than Smashburger or 5 Guys for sure, but not quite at the level of 5 Star Burgers or Park Burger.  With some more cheese options, and the option of a double patty, and a bit more sauce, this burger might even muster an 8/10.




4 comments:

  1. Benny, we need to chat. First off, the larkburger looks delightful. specially the meet. But, Benny, I had the 5 star burger in southglenn and it was a 1 out of 10. NOW, I didn't get the green chile burger, but still. VERY poor. I am afraid you are becoming a burger apostate...

    ~Dave Anderson

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  2. Dave, as 5 Star is a new joint, I wonder if their consistency still needs work...how'd you have the meat cooked? What kinds of toppings did you get? All key components....

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  3. that Larkburger looks beautiful. Ben - your writing on burgers is like poetry to my burger shaped heart.

    -nick todd

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  4. I know I'm late to the game here but I must agree with Dave, I had the 5 Star Burger (Southglenn) back in Nov. (green chili burger) and ordered it medium. It was neither medium or very tasty. Cooked all the way through and the flavor was average at best, nothing stood out at all about the burger. 5 Star will have to campaign heavily to get my business again.

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