The Cherry Cricket: Skip the swank and bring out the burgers
Published: Mar 25, 2009
It feels like you're getting away with something when you find The Cherry Cricket, an inexpensive restaurant in the middle of the swank, chic shops of super-nice Cherry Creek.
It's crowded and noisy, with casually dressed people filling up the tables and booths — but you'll like that, because you can relax and kick back. You'll also like the down-home atmosphere and the great selection of beers. And you'll probably love the hamburgers.
Hamburgers, of course, are what have drawn most of the patrons to the Cricket, voted by Westword Magazine as Denver's Best Burger Bar. With nearby restaurants serving steaks or lobster for upwards of $35 per entrée, the Cricket grills up a great half pound burger for only $6.25.
Toppings cost a little extra, but there are a lot of them, from barbecue sauce to your pick of cheese to some of the best green chile in town. Those trying to swear off red meat can order a chicken breast sandwich or a tuna melt.
There's not a lot at the Cricket for vegetarians. Still, the Mediterranean sandwich of hummus, feta and Greek salad isn't too shabby, and the cheese and onion enchiladas should do the trick for anyone with a taste for Mexican food.
Beer flows from the taps in foaming abundance: Bud Light and Fat Tire, Stella Artois and Killian's and nearly two dozen others. Happy Hour is celebrated from 4:30-6 p.m. and from 10 p.m.-midnight
The Cricket's conviviality does not get in the way of its family-friendly atmosphere. In the back room, young men and women shoot pool, while just off the main room, teenage boys work a couple of video games — and a real, old-fashioned pinball machine, with bells ringing and flashing lights.
The Cricket itself seems something of an old-fashioned anomaly in a sleek, modern part of town. City codes no longer allow the kind of neon sign that rotates out front, but the Cricket has been around for years, and its famous sign was "grandfathered in." In glowing tones of yellow and green, it seems to invite people inside to a more relaxed and a happier time.
- by David Zindell, Denver Reporter for HelloMetro
(Click to leave a message)
