CAÑON CITY • The woman stepping up to order at the window is obviously new here. 

“How big are your burgers?” she asks. 

Regina Misurelli holds up the to-go box that will just barely contain the burger. “This is the bun,” she says, holding up the other containment that is about the size of the customer’s face. 

The woman’s eyes widen. But she shouldn’t be all that surprised. 

This is, after all, Big Burger World. 

This is an institution in Cañon City, this red-and white-striped drive-up retaining its 1960s charm. And retaining its epic proportions.

Misurelli and her husband moved into the business and the neighboring house in 1991. “Big burgers were always here,” she says. “So we kept it.” 

They kept the picnic tables. They kept calling out orders from a microphone. The ice cream cones, the milkshakes made the old-fashioned way, the onion rings, mozzarella sticks and other fried delights — they kept all that, too. And in turn generations of locals keep coming back to the nostalgic retreat tucked back in the neighborhood off 9th Street. 

And yes, along comes the occasional newcomer, perhaps unaware due to Big Burger World’s lack of an online presence. This is only fitting, says Misurelli’s daughter and top helper.

“If you grew up in our era, there was no internet,” Kirby Eacker says. “That’s still how it is here. It’s still the same.”

Still the same big, juicy bite. It’s a time-honored tradition explained by a sign posted here around the picnic tables: “Cooked to order and handcrafted. Everything you order is prepared just for you — only after you order.” 

Many order the half-pound Big Burger. Many more order the Big Dave Burger, named for Misurelli’s late husband. The Big Dave Burger stacks two half-pound patties, which are specially shaped and pounded. 

“A lot of the secret is just not to have it frozen, fresh,” Misurelli says. “You can buy half-pound patties, but the machine takes the moisture out of it. So that’s why I pound it every morning, just to keep it from losing that moisture.” 

She’ll pound the burgers, while now and then her brother mans the deep fryer. Jay Miller has assumed the role in retirement, decades after he watched his sister build the business into a success that did not always seem likely. Far from it. 

Maybe there’s more to the secret — more than the fresh, handcrafted ethic. 

“What’s the secret? She worked hard,” Miller says of his sibling into her 60s. “I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as her.” 

Hard work is in the family’s blood; Misurelli was raised on a San Luis Valley farm before her parents moved to town. In South Fork, she worked in restaurants through her teenage years and 20s. This was the work she knew as she started a family with Dave. 

As he was bound for work at the gold mine near Cripple Creek, Cañon City’s old drive-in caught their eye. 

“I wanted to be a mom, and yet I still wanted to work,” Misurelli says.

Plus: “We wanted to invest in something. It was just a cute place to invest in, and to raise the kids and teach the kids how to work.” 

And conveniently, the carry-out burger joint wouldn’t have all the overhead expenses of a sit-down, full-service restaurant. “We wanted to keep it simple,” Misurelli says. 

It would not be simple. 

Dave’s paycheck from the mine was stretched between the house, the neighboring business that cost more than it earned and the three kids. The youngest was not yet 2. Their daughter was 4, and she would indeed learn how to work. She’d feel compelled by late night talks she overhead between her mom and dad. 

“It was scary,” Eacker says. “You’re in fourth, fifth grade, and you hear your parents talking about electricity and all this. It’s like, ‘All right, are we gonna be able to afford electricity?’ So then you’re like, ‘Well, what do I need to do? What can I do to help?'” 

She helped however she could, just as her dad did between shifts at the mine. “When (the business) wasn’t making money, he was busting his butt up at Cripple Creek, driving that nasty road back and forth,” Eacker says. 

And she watched her mom work day and night. By day slinging burgers and catering barbecue, by night scrubbing grease and mopping floors and prepping for business the next day. Prep could have been made easier without the homemade chili, soups and sauces, without the sauteed toppings for specialty burgers she added to the menu. But Misurelli was convinced such efforts would pay off. 

Right she was. 

“Our customers are loyal customers,” Eacker says. “They will come out here in a blizzard.” 

In the summer, they will pack the parking lot and form a line of traffic down 9th Street. It is the visible symbol of what has become a community staple, while recently there was a less visible, more telling symbol: Amid the government shutdown and federal paycheck freeze, someone footed the bill for an afternoon of meals. 

It was an emotional day for Misurelli.

“There were days when she was like, I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to keep it going,” Eacker says. “There are days now where she’s like, ‘I went from praying for this, and now that I have it, it’s more than I could ever imagine.'”

More than her husband could have imagined during those long, rough drives to the mine. Sometimes he’d take a four-wheeler up through the mountains. 

“That’s what made it fun,” Misurelli says. “You can’t be all serious all the time.” 

It was a lesson from her fun-loving husband, Big Dave. “His life was full of love & craziness,” read his obituary in 2022. 

Love and craziness — it’s on full display at Big Burger World. 

“I like to come down here and give people a hard time,” Miller jokes at the busy fryer. Eacker leans away from the grill and throws her arm around her uncle. “He comes because he misses me.” 

No one comes on Sundays or Mondays. Business could boom on Sundays, but Misurelli knows Sundays to be for church and rest. On Mondays, she’s been known to deep-clean and prep.

She’s been known to close on other occasions, including a week for her son’s wedding. 

“You can look at it as I did lose out on a lot of money that week,” she told The Cañon City Daily Record, “but when I have my kids close to me, I feel like I’m rich.”

Her daughter is always close. And sometimes Eacker’s daughter is here working, her 16-year-old, the eldest of four. 

Yes, Big Burger World is safe in the hands of the next generation.

“It’s just the all-American dream,” Eacker says. “I get to hang out with my family. I just love it.”

Soon she’ll run to pick up the kids from school. She’ll be with them through the evening, while Misurelli will be back to work until close. 

And Misurelli will be back in the morning — to make sure those burgers are properly shaped and pounded. 

ON THE MENU

A  half-pound patty forms the Big Burger ($10.90*, with choice of toppings), and two of those patties form the one-pound Big Dave Burger ($16.50*). Smaller singles ($4.70*) and doubles ($7.90*) also are available. 

Speciality burgers are made in sizes ranging from small, half-pound and full pound ($8-$19*). Bacon is piled high on several, stacked with sauteed mushrooms, swiss and a homemade barbecue-ranch sauce. The Wild Burger lives up to its name: sauteed mushrooms, onion, green peppers, jalapeno, swiss, mayo, mustard lettuce and tomato. Other specialties feature guacamole and green chile. 

Big Burger World has also been proud of its barbecue pork sandwiches over the years. Chicken strips have been another go-to. Among recommended sides, other than fries and onion rings: garlic cheese curds, spicy cheese tots and fried okra. 

Shakes with all the classic flavors, along with, soft serve cones, root beer floats and slushies. 

*Prices vary 

DETAILS

Big Burger World at 1205 S. 9th Street in Cañon City, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 719-275-8079

ABOUT THE SERIES

Craving Colorado is a regular dive into the culinary character of the Centennial State. Send your recommendations to seth.boster@gazette.com