Champa St. Burger Works

Last week, I visited a place I've trying to avoid: Champa Street Burger Works (hereafter referred to as CSBW).  Here's why.  I got a coupon from them in the mail, and I didn't like the vibe it was putting out.  Weird, I know...but my suspicions were somewhat confirmed when I checked their Yelp reviews.  Although there were a few good reviews, on the whole it seemed like people were saying, "It's not bad."  Hardly a compliment.

Well, I'm a snob.  I'm an arrogant burger-consumer.  But I'm an adult, this is America, and I feel like I owe it to myself to screen the burgers that I feast upon.  But my conscience got the better of me, so I swallowed my pride and my friend Jeff and I used a BOGO coupon on a couple combo meals.  We went to the Belmar location in Lakewood, but you can also find a CSBW in Parker.  If anyone actually lives out there.

You know, it wasn't too shabby.  Mind you, it wasn't amazing...and I get the sense they might be the type of place that has bad days and good days...but if I were stranded on a desert island and they had a huge shopping complex there and the shopping complex had a CSBW, I wouldn't be overly disheartened.

The beef is from Anderson meats, and they use a 80/20 chuck.  No blends here, but they make the patties in house.  They use a not-often-seen dual grill setup, much like 5 Star Burgers in Southglenn: they start the burger on an open flame grill to impart some grill marks and flavor, then the burgers are finished off on a traditional flat top.  Makes a medium-rare burger hard to come by, and our burgers ended up in the medium to medium-well range.  Still acceptably juicy, however!

The buns are very buttery but inconsistently toasted...your basic white egg bun, and decent flavor if toasted well.  Mine was a bit too cold still.

Here's a great aspect of their cheeseburgers: 2 slices of cheese!  In fact, ratio was probably the best part of this burger.  Great meat to bun to cheese ratio.

Lastly, the produce.  They have a little bar where you can doctor up your burger.  (Anyone been to Fuddruckers?)  Not extensive, but they've got LTO, jalepenos, banana peppers, and some condiments.  I hate shredded iceberg, by the way.

So, all in all, with better consistency in bun toasting and burger temperature...I think CSBW could make an acceptable burger.  I'd have to agree with my fellow Yelp reviewers: "It's not bad!"

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