Skirted Heiffer - Colorado Springs Day 2

Skirted Heiffer

(204 N Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903)

                What can I say about this place?  It’s small, there’s apparently always a line, and even when you finally do order, and if its later in the afternoon, you’ll still have to wait about 30-35 minutes for your order.  So you’re thinking, “Man alive, waiting for 45 minutes for a burger and fries!?!! Nope, next place.”  Let me tell you my friend, you’d be doing your taste buds a great injustice.  Regardless of the wait and the cramped (real estate agents would consider it “cozy”) quarters, this eatery is not one to pass up. 

               The Skirted Heiffer was the first dining establishment that was recommended to me by my Lyft driver after landing in Colorado Springs.  I have to say, “Well played sir, strong work on the recommendation.” 

                Here’s their story/concept local "grass-fed beef and grass finished beef", eggs from local farmers and even the bread from local sources.  They make their own sauces for crying out loud, homemade house ketchup and homemade “Heiffer Sauce,” more on that later.  Not only do they support the community they believe in those three R’s that we learned as kids (at least while I was a kid) reduce, reuse and recycle.  The owners took this concept to heart and ran with it, just go to their website to learn more www.skirtedheifer.com.  Let’s get onto the most important thing of a food blog…the food (the menu in the pictures below).

 

      Burgers!!! That’s what this place specializes and it doesn’t disappoint.  Instead of ordering one of their “No Brainers,” a choice between seven specialty burgers, I opted to make my own.  Of course I chose a “Skirted Heifer.”  I mean, why would I come to a burger joint that named their restaurant after their signature burger and not choose to order it?  Since I was on vacation, I wasn't really worried about being healthy so I didn’t order the turkey or veggie skirted heifer, though I'm sure they would have been on par with their burger. So I ordered a Skirted Heifer with ketchup, mayo, caramelized onions, shredded lettuce and peach-wood smoked bacon on a garlic focaccia bun.  I also added a side of Belgian Fries and a fountain drink. My goodness this burger was good.  There is something to be said about having fresh, local ingredients and that word is DELICIOUS!
                 Let's start with the bun and go from there.  The Garlic Focaccia bun was surprisingly sturdy, able to take on the mass of the burger, condiments and my added toppings.  The bread was distinctly garlicky, without being too overpowering and thereby not masking the favor of the beef.  I happen to love garlic and to me, the intensity of the garlic flavor was perfect.  The onions were grilled with butter on a flat top griddle and just to the point of caramelization, so they still had a good bite all the while keeping the natural sweetness of the onions.  The bacon was thick, crisp and had a nice hint of smokiness to them.  Though I've never consumed anything that was smoked by Peachwood before, I'm going to assume the sweet and yet soft smoke flavor that I was able to isolate was from being smoked with the Peachwood.  Now for the skirt.  If you've been wondering what a "skirt" has anything to do with a burger, here's the scoop.  To create a "skirt", you top a burger with a bunch of cheddar cheese on a hot griddle, through some water around the burger so it steams and immediately cover it with a lid.  What transpires is what you see after removing the lid and letting the cheese cool.
                  The beef patty...oh the patty...I can't find anything negative to say about the patty.  The beef was tender, seasoned masterfully and not by any means dry.  The 1/3 pound (I'm not really sure about the actual weight since they don't mention the size anywhere on the menu or in the store itself) of beef basically melted upon contact with your tongue and coated it with a deluge of piquancy.
I have to say, this burger ranks as one of the top three burgers that I've ever had, which includes burgers from fancier restaurants that charge three times the price.
                 I probably should have went with a more adventurous selection, but I played it safe (which I kinda regret) and went with the Belgian Fries instead of the Sweet Potato Fries that the Skirted Heiffer offered.  Not that the fries weren't good, they were.  They tasted like french fries, nothing less, but nothing really more.  After tasting the burger and I was kinda expecting the fries to have had something done to them to make them stand out from other fresh cut fries that I've tried.  What I can say is that, though the fries were a bit regular, the homemade ketchup and Heiffer sauces were excellent. In fact they were so complementary to the fries that I almost want to assume that the fries were purposely left bland to enhance the deliciousness of the sauces.  I obviously do not have any proof of that assumption, but its what I want to believe.   Anyway, the ketchup was peppery, smokey, tangy, sweat and salty all at once.  The Heiffer sauce, I was originally hesitant to try, but did so for science.  The Heiffer sauce is a combination of their homemade ketchup, mayonnaise and pickle juice.  I had never even heard of such a concoction, let alone seen or tried it, maybe its just a Colorado thing, who knows.  But the Heiffer sauce was amazing.

Take all the descriptors of the ketchup, but now add a smoothness that came from the mayonnaise and a tartness from the pickle juice.  I have a bunch of flavor profiles stored and taking up more memory in my head than it probably should, but I never thought of putting those flavors together.  I know that they work together since I like pickles, but I never would have thought to add pickle juice to mayo and ketchup.  Brilliant, just brilliant.
                In a nutshell, this 1000+ word conglomeration of a blog is trying to say is, go check out the Skirted Heiffer if you're ever in Colorado Springs, you won't be sorry.  So until next time, I bid y'all happy eating.

-Henry