If a summer road trip takes you to Great Sand Dunes National Park, Santa Fe, or other points south, be sure to stop at Pueblo’s Bingo Burger. Just a few blocks off of I-25, this independently-owned, locals’ favorite reminds me that fast food can also be fantastic food. Husband-and-wife team Richard Warner and Mary Oreskovich (both graduates of the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York) serve build-your-own burgers with Colorado-raised beef, lamb, and chicken; potatoes grown in the nearby San Luis Valley; and challah, multigrain, and sweet potato buns from Denver’s Harvest Moon Baking Co. To mellow out the backseat drivers in your group, there’s also Colorado craft beer.

My suggestion: Order the lamb burger on a challah bun with blue cheese and extra Pueblo chiles. Ask for the Thai chile ketchup with your fries and grab a caramel milkshake (made with ice cream from Oreskovich’s Hopscotch Bakery) to go.

Not travelling this far south? Warner hopes to open a Bingo Burger outpost in Colorado Springs later this year.

Bingo Burger, 101 Central Plaza, Pueblo, 719-225-8363

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