My friends and I have a diverse set of interests but there’s one thing that knits us all together: we like to eat. And not just that, but we like to eat good food while socializing. I’d been to Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar once before and liked it, but when the local Broomfield, Colorado restaurant asked me if I’d like to try their venue with a couple of buddies, I knew just who to ask and so last weekend four of us took over a prime outdoor table and ate.
In fact, see that outside table closest to the door? That’s where we held court, as people flowed around us for a few hours:
We were poised and ready to order off the menu, but, hey, that would be mundane, right? Instead, the general manager John knew we were coming and treated us like VIPs, bringing out food non-stop so we could try just about everything delicious on the menu. What would you do in a situation like that? We ate!
To start, none of us opted for beer, though they have an extensive beer menu and full bar. Instead I stuck with my mainstay of an iced tea and Steve got a chocolate malt that was ridiculously good:
Inspired, Brian ordered a Chunky Elvis shake with peanut butter, banana and plenty more. His was also good, but the peanut butter sort of clobbered any other flavor in the beverage, and.. no malt powder. Amazing that a dried and powdered grain can add so much to a shake!
We started our gastronomic excess with a round of popular appetizers: Bacon Queso with chips, Green Chile Cheese Tots and Housemade Potato Chips. The Cheese Tots were definitely the best and was worthy of becoming a regular indulgence:
With a name like Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, it’s no surprise that they pride themselves on burgers, but before we could place an order or try out their fun “order your own burger” order sheet, John reappeared with slider-side mini burgers, all the most popular items on the menu. He also had a basket of fries and another basket of sweet potato fries, both quite crisp and tasty.
Plate one featured two Fried Mozzarella burgers and a Sam I Am burger with a fried egg on top:
Plate two had another Sam I Am, but was dominated by a pair of the Pittsburgher burgers that had shoestring fries and garlic ketchup right on the burger. Darn convenient if you don’t want to go through the hassle of actually putting your burger down to eat some fries, right?
The third plate had two Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches alongside a standard cheeseburger with no bonus ingredients:
We also had a Maui Tuna Burger on one of the plates, but I think Brian was already eating it by the time I went to take these photos. So there’s technically no proof that we actually had one, right? Let’s just say we dreamt it up so our meal doesn’t look too excessive. 🙂
With that wide range of food options, my two favorites were on the third platter: the cheeseburger was simple and tasty, and the buffalo chicken was excellent, fast fried (e.g., not oily at all) with a spicy sauce and authentic blue cheese dressing. Least favorite of them all was the Sam I Am with the fried egg and pesto spread, though our server assured us that was one of the most popular burgers on the menu.
Much joking, movie talk and general guy conversation later we conceded that we were unable to finish what they served us, but that didn’t stop John from bringing out dessert! It was their most popular dessert on the menu, the banana pudding, and it was a beast:
We barely managed a spoonful or two before each of us cried “Uncle!” and collapsed on our chairs, beyond sated and slipped into our personal food comas.
Everyone agreed that we’d had a really great meal and that there’s much to really like on the menu. Possibly getting that much food was, uhm, excessive, but it did afford a way we could try lots of different menu items, so all’s well that ends well? In terms of price, the appetizers were about $6-$7, burgers are around $10 each. the shakes cost $5 and the banana pudding runs $5.
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar actually started in North Carolina and, to my surprise, it turns out that all the Colorado restaurants are run by burger fast-food restaurant Good Times. At this point there are 11 Bad Daddy’s outlets in Colorado, along with restaurants in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
Now to burn off a few of those calories before our next visit!
Disclosure: Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar paid for our meal in return for this writeup.
Well that looks DELICIOUS.