100 Favorite Dishes: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's

By Lori Midson Tue., Dec. 7 2010 at 4:08 PM

Categories: 100 Favorite Dishes, 100 Favorite Dishes of 2011, Midson: Gastronaughty

Lori Midson

Last December, we embarked on a culinary sojourn that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact -- as a precursor to the Best of Denver issue. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up by the time the Best of Denver 2011 hits the streets on March 31. In the meantime, if there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at lori.midson@westword.com.

No. 99: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's

Tarbell's is not the first restaurant to elevate the burger to lofty, beasty, Herculean-size status, but while size is in the shoe of the beholder, Tarbell's double-decker burger -- all six, quite possibly seven inches of it -- is buns down, the best burger, if not in the state, then certainly in Denver. The freshly ground beef, loose and hand-formed into two impossibly thick patties, is judiciously salted and peppered, drooling with juices that blush scarlet, grilled to a perfect mid-rare and shoved between a soft, slightly sweet bun that's paved with a secret sauce and skyscraped with lettuce, tomato slices and squares of American cheese that melt into the depths of your fluttering heart.

And those fries? Stupid good.

Hungry for more? All the dishes in our countdown are linked below:

No. 100: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean

In late 2009, we embarked on a culinary journey that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact -- as a precursor to the Best of Denver issue. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up by the time the Best of Denver 2011 hits the streets on March 31. In the meantime, if there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about it in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at lori.midson@westword.com.

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