This Burger Bracket battle features two Denver landmarks, each worthy of respect in their own regard. However, as most Denver folks would agree, The Cricket did not get the #1 seed in the bracket because they have the most recent Buck Hunter by the bar. Nope, they ascended to the number #1 seed based on their impressive reputation for bodacious burgers. But to confirm our true answer, let’s take a closer look at the match-up in the top half of the Broncos bracket.

(1) Cherry Cricket

My Cherry Cricket burger topped with cream cheese, fresh jalapenos, bacon, a fried egg, and an onion ring.

Known originally as Mary Zimmerman’s Bar in 1945, this local Cherry Creek landmark has seen it all. It’s just a good ole local hangout for anyone who is willing to forgot about their caloric intake for the day. That’s right, if it’s not the mac and cheese wedges driving up the cholesterol, then it’s probably enjoying a perfect, juicy, greasy, Cricket Burger.

What is a Cricket Burger, you ask? The Cricket Burger is a (1/2 pound) burger patty cooked to order and served with lettuce, tomato and a pickle spear. Sounds pretty weak, right? What if you added, cream cheese, jalapeños, bacon, fried egg, and put an onion ring on it? Well that sounds much better, doesn’t it? With over 35 toppings to choose from, deciding on what you want on your burger can be a real challenge. I opted to build the burger mentioned above. The generous portion of cream cheese mixed together with finely diced jalapeños gives the patty a nice blanket to place the bacon, fried egg and onion ring on top of. I’ll pay $10.00 for this burger any day.

Without much surprise to me, this burger was rock solid.

(8) Chubby’s Burger Drive In

A double Chubby burger

Back a handful of years ago, I had one heck of a green chile smothered burrito at this tiny location that has been around since 1967. With the restaurant still in the hands of the Cordova family, they are proudly serving their famous green chile on top of tacos, enchiladas, and yes, the burger. With the name of “Chubby’s Burger Drive In”, we figured it just had to included into the bracket. They have two types of burgers on the menu, the American burger served on a bun and the Mexican burger burrito. wrapped in a tortilla. For our battle, I opted for the bun version.

As I ordered, I figured “why not get the double cheeseburger deluxe”. I listened to my inner monologue, and unfortunately “deluxe” is not the word I call it, but rather “disappointing”. Unless I did something wrong when I ordered, the final product came out unlike I would have imagined from a local place serving out “gut bombs”. A few low points would include: the buns, which were a little burnt and the patties, which were super small and overcooked. However, what makes this just a little interesting, is the sauce they use. It was the mustard based sauce that did give the burger some life and was the silver lining. Also $4.50 for a double cheeseburger, is not too shabby.

Our Winner

At the end of the day, the Cordova’s proclaim themselves on their menu to be “The Winners In Life”, but not this time. Cherry Cricket wins this match-up by a landslide.