Celebrate the advent of summer

This year, the calendar says summer officially arrives Friday, June 20 at 11:59 p.m. Since we always celebrate the changing of the season by getting together with friends, we began summer early with dinner on the 19 th. Growing up, summer always meant burgers and fries, so we had this solstice party at that "adult" burger joint, "Red Robin".

I can still remember eating my first burger when I was six years old. That was all it took for me to know this was something good I liked to eat and I was hooked. Apparently, others felt the same way. Burgers served with fries grew in popularity all throughout my youth. I can still remember Mom coming home with a "boxcar" of burgers from The Denver Drumstick for a Friday night dinner, and, despite health warnings and increased competition, burgers remain near the top of the food chain in the American diet. From Memorial Day, to The Fourth of July, to Labor Day and many Friday night dinners in between, the summer food of choice in America is still the burger.

For me, times have changed a bit. I am now vegetarian, so I have switched to veggie burgers, and the variety of burger offerings has increased incredibly. One of the new varieties that still puzzles me is the "gourmet" burger. Gourmet burger? I am pretty sure that's an oxymoron, but it is a good reason to charge higher prices. Oxymoron or not, I found a gourmet emporium that I like at Red Robin and they serve two varieties of veggie burger; the Garden burger and the Boca burger.

At Red Robin, a diner may substitute either the Garden patty or the Boca patty in any variety of "gourmet" burger on the menu. For the purist, they still offer the simple, basic veggie burger with special sauce, lettuce, pickle and tomato, except this time the tomatoes were left off do to concerns about salmonella. You get to add the ketchup and mustard yourself. To make customers feel better about paying $9.00 or more for a burger, they throw in bottomless fries and free refills on soft drinks. The fries and the soft drinks alone would have been enough to keep me coming back when I was a kid, and Red Robin is aware of this. They cater to your kids with special menus, an employee in a Robin suit and give crayons upon request. Throw in the alcoholic beverages for adults, and it's a good place not only for parents, but for big kids, like me, who never completely grew up.

Red Robin claims to have experts in "mixology" who can whip up some fantastic creations behind the bar, but I have never tried any. I always have the good, old-fashioned American beer. Although I did notice they are now serving Jamaican "Red Stripe" which I have tried in the past and enjoyed. As for the mixologist and the "foo foo" drinks, they are a bit pricy for a burger joint, but I imagine they are good, and, when you are trying to wrangle of table full of fourth graders, they might help calm your nerves.

At our Solstice Party, four of us had the veggie burgers, but, after proclaiming how good I thought their Garden Burgers were, they were out of stock. We had to go with the Boca variety, which were good, but not the same. Of the remaining four in our party, all went carnivorous with three eating burgers and one opting for a Caesar salad with salmon on top. We all enjoyed the bottomless fries, the drink refills and good conversation. It was nice to catch up and renew friendships before moving on to the challenge of summer, and hoping it would last longer than three months this year. Nothing starts the summer better for me than remembering friends and the summer days of youth spent putting away a few hamburgers, gourmet or not. Red Robin is a good place to do that.

Red Robin rates an "A". Yes, they are a bit pricy for burgers, but they have good service, they always greet you at the door, they do have bottomless fries and soft drinks, and, somehow, their Garden Burgers just taste better than others even though everyone used the same product. There are 15 Red Robin restaurants in the Denver area and you can find a location near you at www.redrobin.com. They have a nice variety of burger offerings, but do not be afraid to opt for the Garden burger at least once. Who knows? You may find a new, summer friend or at least be reminded of days gone by.

My Red Robin of choice is in, of course, Arvada, at 7460 W. 52 nd Avenue, phone (303) 431-6450. They are open 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 Sunday through Thursday and stay open an hour later on both Friday and Saturday night.