Hamburger Stand ~ regional chain : Aurora, Colorado

Latest visit: Apr 2025 (Havana St.)

First visit: sometime in 1994 (Colorado Springs)

---4/14/25

I saw a nice looking estate sale up in Denver on this fine Thursday, so I decided to "work" the city. I keep putting work in quotes because it's just me digging for inventory or my personal collection. Pure retirement hobby activities. The location of this sale was right next to where I used to live from 1995 to 1997. This is at the time I met Mrs. RJG, Rude Dante, Old Boss, and others. I haven't been to "the old neighborhood" in years, so it was great to be back. I lived in the fancy schmancy "Breakers", which now has a different name apparently. It was a very nice apartment / condo complex set in a much more modest area of town. Best of both worlds as far as I was concerned. So many great little divey restaurants nearby, though I was spoiled to live in a very nice one bedroom apartment with my two cats. It was to be the end of my bachelor days. Haha - long ago. In any case, I was at the sale for probably two hours and was starving afterwards. Oh my, look what just came up on Google Maps? Gotta go for the memories.

Personal history: Before I moved to Denver I lived here in Colorado Springs (1993-1995). That's when and where I was introduced to the The Original Hamburger Stand. I believe they were off of Powers back when it was a two lane road. I remember making a long journey to get there from my apartment off of Woodmen. After moving to Denver, I had this exact location very close by as noted above. I probably only went once a year, and I doubt I made any effort in '97. When we had the summer townhome in Denver, which also wasn't that far away, I went to this location one more time in a nostalgia fit. Just as I'm doing now...

Location: Havana is such a classic old school Denver area avenue. A mix of old and new and should be forgotten and hopefully never forgotten places. The apartments that line the street are either multi-thousand dollar a month modern structures or rundown brick sh*t holes that remind me of Chicago. Gentrification has taken hold but there's still plenty of 1960s Denver to absorb here. And 1990s which was my experience. This Hamburger Stand looks like it always has: Fast Food 101.

Food / Drink: So here's the deal with Hamburger Stand (fka The Original Hamburger Stand). They were started by - and continue to be owned by - the same group that runs Wienerschnitzel. Hence the co-branding. Says "since 1982" but it seems more like "since 1952". Apparently it was their attempt to capture the fast food burger market. It's just cheap fast food honestly. Foodstuff. The needful. Look at that photo. The only thing missing is the copay card. Cheap burger, cheap hot dog, and cheap fries. But for $10 bucks including a giant Coke Zero that lasted me all day, not too bad a deal.

Overall: I wouldn't suggest anyone goes here too often for health reasons. I really have no intention of coming back, but it seems every 15 years I get nostalgic about it. I would imagine any dietician would agree. Maybe never actually, but it's good to set off your immune system every once in awhile.

Locations: 12; Denver area (6); Tucson-AZ (3); Yuma-AZ (1); Casper-WY (1); El Centro-CA (1)

Denver (Havana St.): 1996; 8/12/10; 4/10/25
Colorado Springs (closed): 1994; 1995

4/14/25 (new entry)

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 ...

Pietro's Italian ~ Dallas, Texas CLOSED

Last visit: Feb 2016 First visit: Sometime in 1984 When Mr. Music told me this earlier in the year, my heart sunk. It was reason enough to stop talking and writing about restaurants. All I can say is this: We did give you advance notice. The below was published on March 28, 2010 , so Pietro gave you a good 7 years to check it out. If you missed it, then I'm sorry to say there is no replacement. No other place like it. A part of me went with it too... January 2014 update: Pietro's is as magnificent as ever. Mrs RJG and I just had another exquisite meal here. It remains my all-time favorite restaurant even after 30 years of going here. I beg and urge you all to try it at least once if you have a hankering for Old School Italian food. I'm sure it will not be here forever. Pietro must be close to 80 now, and it's hard to imagine the restaurant without him. We try to go 3 to 4 times a year, almost always on a Saturday or Sunday because of the traffic to get to inner Dalla...

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