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Fat Shack ~ national chain : Thornton, Colorado


First visit: Apr 2025 (120th Ave)

---4/7/25

Mrs. RJG and I had a family event in Brighton (NE Denver suburb) the night before and stayed in a nearby hotel. The next day we decided to hit some thrift shops before lunch. Now we're hungry, where to go? We were in the Northglenn / Thornton area, so not an area we are familiar with at all. That's when Fat Shack popped up. Looks exactly what we're after. Let's give it a shot. As noted in the Locations section, they have two locations here at home. If I had known that, I would not have come here. I'd never even heard of Fat Shack before. And honestly I thought it was an independent all the way up until I started researching today.

Location: A little dive place inside of a hidden strip mall center, next to a tattoo parlor. These are clues...

Food: They specialize in creative hot sandwiches (no deli meats though), along with chicken, wings, hamburgers, and Philly cheesesteaks. I had a cheeseburger and Mrs. RJG ordered the Philly. I figured based on the price, mine would be a bit bigger than it was. I would say they "do the needful". It's a pretty boring burger save the sauce they use. We also got one order of fries and they were definitely hot temperature and delicious. This time it's Mrs. RJG that won the prize. The Philly was great. Hot to the last bite. At first she thought it might be mushy, but they use the right kind of bread - chewy and tasty. Similar to Amoroso rolls (and could very well be them, though usually restaurants mention it). The meats and cheese were mixed perfectly. She loved it.

Drinks: Soda fountain and milkshakes. We didn't dare try the latter. I'm sure they would've been great.

Overall: So I saved the conclusion to the end, but if you follow the clues above, it becomes clear what Fat Shack is: Fulfill the Munchies man! Their tagline is "Late Night Done Right". It's not as stoner themed as Cheba Hut, but they definitely cater to the college and young adult crowd. And if you look at where their locations reside, that tends to be the theme. I would say their locations look a lot like a Democrat Party blue pin map. When we left I didn't think it had a chance for the Rotation because I'm rarely up this far north in the Denver area, and if I am, I'd want to try other places. Now that I know they're here in COS, we'll go back sooner rather than later. Certainly for the Philly and perhaps other options. Skip the burger though.

Locations: 30 total. Fort Collins is where they started and Colorado has the lion's share at 10, including two in Colorado Springs (see below). Texas has 6, but nothing really in the vicinity of NE Tarrant. Fort Worth in the TCU area being the closest.

4/6/25 

4/7/25 (new entry)

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