Skip to main content

Good Times Burgers & Frozen Custard ~ Colorado chain : Parker


Latest visit: Apr 2024 (Parker)

First visit: Apr 1995 (Denver - Havana @ Mississippi)

HQ: Golden (founded: 1968 in Boulder)

Locations: 29, almost all of them in the Denver metro area, with Fort Collins representing their northernmost location. They have been contracting slowly over the years. The first visit location I went to is still going strong it appears.

Time for my twice annual dentist appointment, which remains up in Parker (and probably always will). As is often the case, I was on a tight timeline and didn't have the opportunity for a more leisurely lunch. Mostly this was due to a last minute change in the planned schedule and going on a Tuesday is just asking for trouble during the workweek (especially given it's a 90 minute roundtrip drive). I usually never leave the house for anything on a Tuesday for this reason. No matter as it's been a full three years since I last went to a Good Times, a place I used to frequent at least once a week in the mid 1990s. For whatever reason I didn't notice that this Good Times actually has a dining area. In fact, I didn't think any of them did. When I arrived today, I wasn't interested in the drive-thru, and was looking forward to the walk-up option just like at Chiltepin that I just revisited. They have the patio furniture, but no window. Huh? Oh wait, this is like a regular fast food place. So I went inside to a Good Times for the first time ever - 29 years since my first visit.

For today's lunch, I grabbed a double cheeseburger (I was starving) and a Frozen Custard. Which they elaborate by calling them "Spoonbenders". I had the Caramel Toffee Crunch. I think I was just in the mood for both, but boy did they taste great! Of course I had a perfectly clean mouth to go with it haha. 

Nice clean restaurant with friendly service too. I'm not up this way too much, and there's so many other places to try. But if in a hurry, I know where to go...

---original 4/16/21 review

All these years, and I haven't penned a single word for Good Times. And I almost forgot again, until I was reviewing our Denver list. See, there's no Good Times in Colorado Springs, but they are all over the Denver area. And there was a period when Good Times was my go-to when I was starving, and wanted something fast to take home to my apartment (1995-1997). I was really quite fond of their spicy chicken sandwich back then. Later, there was one within walking distance of our former summer townhome (Hampton @ Yosemite 2009-2011), which reintroduced me to them again. As it turns out, their furthest southern location happens to be right across the street from the RJG's official dentist, a dentist office I've been going to since our days of living in the Pinery (~1998-2002). There was no Good Times in the area back then though. So this provides me a great opportunity to revisit a long time favorite. Good Times doesn't break new ground. They are your classic drive through shack with burgers and chicken sandwiches - and now frozen custard, which I tried for the first time. They're better than the megachains (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's...), but aren't going to win awards otherwise. I'm perfectly fine grabbing one of their burgers, parking, and devouring. They've been reliable all these years, and while I rarely frequent them, they are worthy of at least a yearly visit. And I know exactly when that will be...

4//1995; 1996; 1997; 10//02; 2009; 6/7/10; 2011; 4/18/12; 11/17/13; 4/16/21 (new entry); 4/30/24

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Guys Burgers and Fries ~ national chain : Colorado Springs, Colorado

Latest visit: Oct 2023 (Colorado Springs - Interquest) First visit: Jan 2007 (Reston, VA) Locations: 49 states + DC. Only Alaska is missing. There are 30 in Colorado (4 in the Springs). That's +3 from last year. Texas has 68 (our former locale of Southlake is closed, so Hurst would have been the closest). There are 123 in California which is their largest state presence. The original Reston location that I first went to is still going.  In what appears to be a recurring theme, I state each year this will be my last visit to Five Guys. Only to return anyway. This year's excuse is I wanted to try their new location, which very recently opened up close to our house. This is definitely the closest we've ever lived to a Five Guys - even the Reston location was further from my office at the time. And I thought maybe it would make a good choice for a weekday lunch while working from home, thus putting Five Guys back into the rotation. I put that idea to the test here this Saturda...

Denver's Old School Italian Restaurants

I know, I know... I haven't posted anything in 6 months. You were checking back every week, then every month and now I've fallen completely off your radar. Sorry about that. My only lame excuse is that I've been "saving up" for a good one. I've been wanting to write about Denver's Italian restaurants since we returned part-time last year. And you all know how the RJG feels about this style of restaurant . As someone who grew up in Dallas, perhaps I've been more drawn to cities that embrace their history rather than completely demolish it. Only recently has Dallas become more acutely aware of their past. Previously, any buildings not in use have been razed as fast as possible, to make way for the next brand new shopping center - all in the latest architecture naturally. Contrarily you have cities like St. Louis that are 19th and 20th century industrial ghost towns - places frozen in time because for most everyone who could, they just up and left to ...

Taco Casa ~ regional chain : Keller, Texas

Latest visit: Oct 2018 (Keller, TX)  First visit: 1992 (Durant, OK) We snuck into DFW to move the RJG's official Mom to Colorado Springs this past October. This was our only restaurant visit, as we were on a tight schedule. Could this be the last RJG visit in DFW (other than the airport of course)? It could very well be... wow, seems strange. Hard to believe the majority of the below review is now 10.5 years old. --- The RJG likes him some tacos. We mentioned in other posts that while Italian and Thai probably constitute our favorite restaurant experiences, taco places represent our favorite fast food excursion. And we'll boldly admit that it isn't even the authentic Mexican taco / taqueria stand that has been in vogue these last 25 years (though we like those too!). No, we like the good old fashioned American styled, crunchy taco. Taco Bell may be its iconic image, but it's hardly the best representative. Most taco chains are of the regional variety. And we've ...