A few years ago, (between selling one house and purchasing another), my family and I decided to rent an apartment for a short time in downtown Denver.
Having lived in metropolis cities most of my life, living in suburban cities immediately after moving to Denver, was quite a change. One of the things I missed most about urban living was the ability to walk outside and simply choose a restaurant based on whim. (Needless to say that I realized pretty quickly that with two young children, the life I wanted to re-create was no longer a viable option and moving back to more of a suburban neighborhood was not such a bad idea after all.)
But those nine months in the center of downtown Denver definitely allowed me to get acquainted with so many of Denver’s amazing restaurants, bars and nightlife.
Recently, while returning one evening to the Pavilions on 16th Street mall, my husband and I both commented on a delicious smell of burgers that made its way to us. We let our senses guide us and reached the entrance of a new and unfamiliar restaurant, the 5280 Burger Bar.
The modern, ultra-chicly designed restaurant was the second great surprise (after the incredible smell). We were greeted and seated by a very friendly hostess and sat to overlook the menu. While chatting for a few minutes weighing our options, we noticed a man who was going from table to table introducing himself as the owner, suggesting items on the menu and shaking nearly every patron’s hand. Now, I know this might not seem unusual to most of you and definitely not the first time you witnessed a manager/owner greeting patrons, but this was different.
When he came to our table he introduced himself as, Clay McPhail part owner of 5280 Burger Bar, and went on to recommend us some great options. They all seemed so great that we mentioned aloud “How do we choose?”. He then let us know that 5280 Burger Bar has an option on the menu called (wait for it)… “I Can’t Decide”, where you can choose two different types of Burgers in a smaller version, exactly for this predicament!
When the food arrived it was DELICIOUS as expected.
So now the details:
The idea behind 5280 Burger Bar started with two guys who love really good, high-quality burgers.
They serve chef-crafted burgers made from Colorado beef, (never treated with hormones or antibiotics), salads, appetizers and sides made from local, fresh, all-natural ingredients. They also source as much of their produce as possible from local and regional farms.
They make many of the toppings for their burgers in-house, from their homemade American cheese, all of their sauces and ketchup, to their house-made buns baked fresh daily by their own baker.
5280 Burger Bar also offers 12 Colorado craft beers on tap daily, cocktails and “Shaketinis”, (one of their signature adult milkshakes).
Here is another fun part… they also created 5280 Ice Cream, a creamery right next to 5280 Burger Bar. That churns their own ice cream from scratch, offer 16 flavors, eight every day flavors for the chocolate and vanilla lovers and eight flavors that rotate.
5280 Burger Bar is now offering the readers of The Denver Ear an EXCLUSIVE introductory…
Print out the photo below and show it to your waiter, and for the next 60 days(!), you will receive a FREE 16oz Colorado Draft beer with a purchase of an entrée.
Now that is what I call service and amazingly good food!
5280 Burger Bar
Sunday – Wednesday 11:00am – 10:00pm
Thursday, Friday & Saturday 11:00am – 11:00pm
Happy Hour weekdays from 2:30pm – 6:30pm ($5 wings and $5 cheeseburger egg rolls)
500 16th Street, Denver, CO 80202