Born, raised and grilled in Southern Colorado
How local burger joints are meeting a growing demand for locally, sustainably and humanely raised deliciousness.
By Alexis Kristan
The farm-to-table movement has been growing in popularity for years, and it’s easy to understand why. The idea that a restaurant can be held accountable for all of its ingredients, from breads baked in-house to produce harvested at local farms is comforting, and catching on across the country from health-conscious parents to Instagram hipsters.
In Colorado, and particularly Southern Colorado, it’s easy for restaurant owners to get their chiles and produce from the farms on Pueblo’s Mesa, just outside city limits, or the farms farther east along Highway 50. When you think of farm-to-table you probably think vegetables, but an interest in more complicated ingredients such as bacon, ground beef and chicken breast is gaining attention, especially at local eateries.
For as long as I’ve been interested in locally and humanely raised meat my grandfather has loved to talk to me about it. He is the owner of Cox Ranch, a small operation in the Southern Colorado foothills near Beulah. He advertises genuine Angus beef that is all natural and grass fed without hormones, antibiotics or steroids.
He often asserts that the best way to get good quality beef is to ensure that your cattle live in a stress free environment and that they are permitted to live as natural a life as possible. And this is what we talked about on a warm spring evening while dinner cooked in the other room and bull riding was muted on the TV.
My grandfather only makes private sales, and hasn’t sold commercially, but he does meet all of the Beef Quality Assurance standards and proudly hangs his certification on the ranch house wall by his dusty cowboy hat. His cattle respond when called by name and never hesitate to lean in for a good head scratch.
When I ask him what he thinks makes good beef we discussed everything from genetics to how to breed cattle for docility.
“Tense wired cattle would never make a good steak,” he said. “Cattle that are raised humanely and allowed to graze naturally on pasture make for the best meat. As the animal experiences more stress the cortisol increases in the meat. Less stress equals better meat.”
He even went so far as to compare his cattle to pets.
“It’s just like your dog, you want it to have the best life possible,” he said.
He agreed that there has been an increased trend in people wanting more humanely raised and better quality beef.
“We decrease the processing of our foods and the impact on the environment, while positively supporting our local economies. It’s a win-win-win for our customers, the environment and our communities.” — Tony Friel, the Director of Culinary Operations and Development at Larkburger
“I sell to very few but I always invite them to come see,” he told me. “I have no shame in how I raise my cattle. In fact, I believe they’re treated better than most.”
Perhaps the concern for animal welfare in addition to a desire for higher quality meat is what’s been driving people away from some commercialized wholesalers and closer to locally raised options.
Richard Warner owner and operator of the Pueblo-founded Bingo Burger, which has added a second location in Colorado Springs, is proud to be on what he calls the cutting edge of quick serve restaurants offering a farm-to-table experience, something that he says use to be exclusively a fine dining kind of thing.
When I asked him why he was interested in not only offering beef with Pueblo Chiles ground in, but beef that was locally, sustainably, and humanely raised his answer was simple.
“We know exactly what goes into our burgers and can be proud to know where our food comes from,” Warner said. “All of our meat is born, raised, and processed in Colorado. I’ve gone through six to eight suppliers since opening Bingo Burger because we’re always looking for the best.”
Warner says that he focuses on several things when it comes to looking for a meat supplier: Quality, how the animals are raised, ranching and farming practices, then price. Bingo Burger uses up to 1,500 pounds of ground beef a week so ensuring that a supplier can meet that demand is crucial.
As far as the other requirements go, Warner speaks to all of the ranchers directly in order to get “an overall feeling of sustainability and the humanely raised aspect.” He even speaks to other local ranches in the area to ensure that everything he is hearing from a potential supplier can be verified, something that would not be possible if he relied on a nationwide wholesale supplier.
Just down the street from Bingo Burger’s Colorado Springs location (132 North Tejon Street) is another burger spot offering a very similar experience.
Suzette Megyeri, the kind of gal who would prefer to skip the handshake and go straight for the hug, owns the Skirted Heifer.
She joked that her and Warner at Bingo Burger have a friendly rivalry going on. Two mindful Southern Colorado eateries competing to see who can turn out the best burger? It doesn’t get much better.
But Megyeri is adamant about one thing when it comes to beef. It has to be grass fed and grass finished.
The Skirted Heifer owner is quick to admit that she hadn’t known much about beef to start with, as she has never been a big meat-eater. But she wanted to be increasingly mindful when it came to opening The Skirted Heifer and had originally bought into the idea that cattle needed to be grass fed but grain finished until she talked with more farmers who told her that grass fed and finished was absolutely the way to go.
“That’s how I found Sangres Best,” she said.
Sangres Best is owned and operated by Elin Ganschow in Westcliffe, and one of the only businesses that boasts grass finished beef.
“Too much stress affects the beef. I’m paying more but it’s worth it,” Megyeri said. “Healthier, happier animals mean more nutritious food.”
And then she shared with me Sangres Best thought on the humanely raised aspect of cattle ranching: The company believes its cattle should only ever have one bad day.
Both spots are small, two locations tops. What happens when a restaurant continues to grow and costs increase? Providing high-quality ingredients and maintaining costs is a difficult equation to balance. Though, a Denver-based burger chain is making its mission of “keeping it natural” sustainable while expanding.
Larkburger, which has 12 Colorado locations and a Kansas opening in the works, has perfected the farm-to-table experience for “locavores” on a lunch-hour time crunch across the state.
Tony Friel, the Director of Culinary Operations and Development at Larkburger, puts the business model in perspective.
“Healthier, happier animals mean more nutritious food.” — Suzette Megyeri, owner of the Skirted Heifer,
“We decrease the processing of our foods and the impact on the environment, while positively supporting our local economies. It’s a win-win-win for our customers, the environment and our communities,” he said.
Friel also agreed that the demand for locally and sustainably raised meat is greater now than it has ever been.
“The quality of ingredients is of higher importance to more people than ever, and the demand is definitely increasing not only here in Southern Colorado but in all of Colorado, and beyond,” he said.
“This increase in demand has also created changes in the supply chain, with more fresh and local ingredients available for purchase than 10 years ago.”
Larkburger has caught the attention of the communities it does business. In 2011, the Fort Collins location was awarded an environmental business award. The downtown Denver location was named best burger in the area by Thrillist in 2014 and the Boulder location has earned several recognitions by local publications.
But the burger joint also caters to its communities, too. In Centennial, Larkburger is directly across from Arapahoe High School and features a community table with free wi-fi and a charging station, making it a prime spot for students. In Colorado Springs, military members get free fountain drinks.
On the national stage, it’s hard to tell how much good the overall movement is doing. A January 2015 report done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that determining the economic impact of direct-to-consumer products is actually very difficult because “existing literature has narrow geographic and market scope.”
“Data necessary to conduct economic impact analyses are costly to obtain, and researchers have yet to agree on a standard way of accounting for the opportunity costs involved when local foods are produced and purchased or on a standard set of economic modeling assumptions,” the report said.
The USDA added that many questions surrounding the economic impact of local foods remain unanswered — such as are local food systems good for the rural economy? And Might the economic benefits of expanding local food systems be unevenly distributed? But those could be addressed by future research.
But it doesn’t take that much evidence to convince the three burger joints that using local, fresh and humanely raised meat is good for everybody involved.
If you go:
The Skirted Heifer
204 N Tejon St, Colorado Springs | www.skirtedheifer.com
Recommended: The Pueblo Farmer: grass-fed beef, Pueblo Chiles, Pepper Jack cheese, and homemade guacamole on a sesame seed bun. Get sweet potato fries on the side and get your burger “skirted.”
Larkburger
Find a location at www.larkburger.com
Recommended: The Tuna Burger — a grilled ahi tuna steak, lettuce, tomato, onion, and wasabi ginger dressing
Bingo Burger
Two locations in Colorado Springs and Pueblo | www.bingoburger.com
Recommended: The signature Bingo Burger (all natural beef with Pueblo Chiles ground right in) with Pueblo Chile Jack Cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce
BONUS: Bounty and Yield Meat Market
2029 S Pueblo Blvd. Pueblo, CO 81005 | www.baysmeatmarket.com
Recommended: Bay’s Sampler — 2lbs of ground beef, 1lb of top sirloin steak, 1lb of ribeye steak, 2lbs of pork chops, 2lbs of market made link sausage, 1lb of bacon, 1lb of hot dogs, and 2lbs of chicken… it adds up to 12lbs of awesomeness!
