Denver is home to a lot of great burgers in varying styles, but there are really only two contenders in the old-school smashburger category, and that’s a tale of two Burger Havens.
Long before Whataburger returned to Colorado in 2022, it operated several locations in the state back in the late ’50s. When that brand pulled out of Colorado, the location at 595 East 88th Avenue in Thornton went independent, when Jim and Arlene Moser founded Jim’s Burger Haven there in 1961.
Over the years, Jim’s expanded; a second location still operates today in Westminster — but by 1980, the only Denver location, at 23 South Federal Boulevard, had split off to become Grandpa’s Burger Haven. Last year, fans panicked as news broke about new owners at Grandpa’s, but the stand remains mostly the same today, with a few minor improvements…