Brakeman's Smashed Burger Bar

Brakeman's Smashed Burgers may be my new favorite burger place in Colorado Springs. Tucked away in the old passenger depot, this railroad-themed restaurant serves up some seriously good burgers. The staff here are A+++ - very friendly, efficient and great with menu suggestions. The restaurant is spotlessly clean, decorated with funky retro railroad vibe. I had their Brakeman's Classic Smash and it was delicious. The 1942 sauce was flavorful with just a small spicy kick. The fries were cooked perfectly. I love there is a Union Pacific office next door with a caboose and locomotive if you're a railroad fan.

The burgers are freshly made, and the fries are incredibly good—crunchy and very satisfying. The burger meat is absolutely delicious. If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth the visit. The lady who took our order was friendly and welcoming and truly deserves kudos for her awesome customer service.

The best burgers downtown. Full of flavor and just made well. No nonsense with just how simple the menu is. Service is great and food is very quick. It is a casual restraunt with a pool table so you can definitely bring the family, your self or a friend. When the train passes by you can do 3$ shots, one of which are a pickle shot! Best value IMO is buring their happy hour where you can get a burger at an ever better value. Must visit if you love burgers :^)

While visiting my son stationed at Peterson space force base, my wife and I decided to give brakeman a try. We found the place because I am a rail fan and we were trackside watching Trains and noticed the joint. Brakemans serves crafted burgers that are on par with some of the best I’ve had. I had a smashed spicy chicken sandwich with grilled onions and jalapeños, and it was very tasty to say the least. My wife, my son and his girlfriend all had burgers of different types and they were all very well crafted beautifully presented and delicious. We also shared a truffle fries that could have been hotter. The decor is excellent for rail fans and historians as it is set in an old Rio Grande train depot. No complaints! If you love watching trains like I do and eating good food, Brakemans is absolutely recommended.

If you haven’t eaten at Brakemans in Colorado Springs, you have to try it!!! They do smash wagyu and chicken burgers! If a train goes by while you are here they ring a bell and offer $2.00 shots, overall cool experience! Our food came out in not even 15 minutes.

Cool smash burger place located in the old train depot. Burger was very tasty with their signature 1942 sauce. Fries were crispy and tasty. The server said trains do pass by, but we didn’t have the luck to see any this visit. Service was good, hope to go back again sometime.

One of the best kept secrets downtown Colorado Springs! Brakeman’s has the BEST smash burgers and fries. Their food is just all around amazing. Great atmosphere for families or an adult outing. Trains close by provide endless entertainment for kids. Great bar area with an array of drink options. We love it here. Highly recommend!

Major disappointment from 2 years ago. Apparently under new ownership. Burger has a funny taste, arrived in a pool of grease. They no longer have the Sundaes that were so good. The fries are weak compared to prior owner. We wont be back. Was really disappointed. Priced are still high but less of a value. I could have gotten a greasy burger at Wendis for less.

Brakeman's offers a very solid burger with some great fries. The Brakeman's Classic Smash'd is a very solid burger. The patties were crispy, cheese and onions on there are great, and plenty of pickles to add a little acidity. There were a bit too many pickles on my burger for my liking, but was still overall good. Main negative was the bun felt a bit soggy. Other than that, real perfection on the burger. I got the truffle fries with the burger and they were the highlight of the meal. Very well salted fries with some added Parmesan and truffle seasoning made these perfection. I usually don't like such thin fries but these are killer. The fried pickles were fried well and not too greasy. My main issue comes that I found most of the sauces here pretty bland. None of the sauces really stood out as fantastic but not terrible. The Ice Cream Sando is really just what you'd expect, ice cream between two cookies. The ice cream is a pretty standard vanilla with some pretty good soft cookies. Wouldn't really get these again as it feels just average. The vibe and location are very cool here and I would come back for the burger and fries again.

The burgers are really quite good. My only complaint would be they are very stingy with the french fries. I ordered the truffle fries and it was about the equivalent of a small handful of fries. For the up-charge I expected more.

We came here for lunch after Garden of the Gods and the atmosphere is great. Our server was attentive and friendly. The food was delicious as well. The chicken bacon ranch burger was my favorite chicken burger I've ever had.

Very good food and service. The train theme there is really cool as well. Would definitely recommend!

Super fun atmosphere being the old train station and right beside the tracks. It's a fairly basic menu but offers enough for a quick bite. We got the fried pickles to start and they were great; not too greasy! My husband had the classic smash burger with 2 patties and American cheese. He really enjoyed it. I had the only vegetarian option which was a falafel patty. I didn't love the patty but I did like the tzatziki, veggies, and mint. Overall a fine experience but probably wouldn't go back unless there were more vegetarian choices.

Great service , burgers are consistently good fresh toppings , and friendly staff Good fries , and it's fun when the train goes by. Ask me why

Brakeman's was bought and reimagined by the new owner so it's the same location but a totally different, more focused menu and the seating area is a smaller section for now until they do more renovations. The location and view of the railroad is still awesome, and there is free parking which is a bonus too. We visited on a snowy Saturday late afternoon and it was still packed and popular. Our server was Cam and he was really great. He was attentive, warm, kind and answered our questions really well. I was impressed by how he carried himself and his excellent service. We also got to meet the owner who I think is Aaron, and he was also warm, welcoming and gracious. We were told that the kitchen was running behind so they kept apologizing and thanking us for our patience. It wasn't too bad of a wait and we enjoyed our comfortable booth and great view! Like I said the menu is all new but we all really liked our food. We liked all the different sauces options. The fries were very good (but nothing like the old scoop fries- I do miss those). I got the smashed chicken tenders and they were different than I expected but tasty, and would probably make an awesome sandwich which is what I will try next time. The smashed burgers were devoured by my husband and friends. We appreciated that the restaurant participated in the downtown Colorado Springs Haute Chocolate Hop which is what brought us in, and the options they had were delicious and generous. This is a great place with great staff!

Great burgers!! We loved it so much we got carryout twice and dined in once on our 5 day trip to Colorado Springs. I tried the house salad which was phenomenal. We loved the smash burgers! The fries were average. The carryout service was efficient and the dine-in service was a little slower. Very very cool establishment! We loved the vibes.

The BEST burgers in Colorado Springs. Kinda hard to find off of Bijou, in an old train depot. Can actually see the old tracks from the windows! Bar has TV's playing live sports. Very simple menu executed well. Get the Scout's Style burger if you like mushrooms and garlic. The fries are SO CRISPY and served with great sauces! Small outdoor seating area on the front (road side) of the building

Great smashed burgers easy parking and great service! Downtown restaurant walking distance from The Antlers Hotel.

Great service. Loved the view from my table (amazing mountains and train tracks. I have a lot of dietary restrictions and they were super friendly about it. Ordered all animal products and a bit of avocado. Would go there again if I'm ever in town!

First off, the food was amazing! The smash burgers and smash tenders were a hit with our party of 7. Only thing that was disappointing: we walked in with our party of 7 and the sign says to seat yourself, so we sat at a large enough table. After the server came by we then found out that the table we were sitting at was actually reserved for a party of 12. We had no indication this table was reserved, as to why we sat there. We asked if we needed to move the server said no so we stayed. The party of 12 came in about 20min later and pretty much watched us eat our food, we felt rushed. There was only one server working so we ended up waiting 30min to get our check so we could leave.

Great burger it was smash type delicious , beer was cold and fresh and the service was spot on , I will be back

Went in during a Saturday for lunch, well staffed with friendly bartenders. Had a their standard smash and fries along with the Palmer. Both were fantastic and highly recommend.

Food is good. But to get fries it's an extra 5 dollars. To get ketchup or other sauces they are 50 cents to a dollar more. The pickle margarita has an unusually earthy rim of salt (maybe celery salt) we couldn't quite place. Service was good, waitress checked on us the perfect amount and also made the drink. Ice cream sando was very average. There is also a 2% BOH ( back of house?) fee. It was a Friday at 5:30pm and at about 10% capacity. Pricing may keep this place from staying in business IMO.

I love a good smash burger, and they definitely delivered her. The space is small, but can accommodate big groups. There's a full bar, booth and table seats, and a great view of pikes peak! You're greeted upon entry, and the staff is really friendly. The burgers were well made, and I loved the loaded fries. Be sure to check them out!

Consistency great burgers, friendly knowledgeable servers and casual ambiance with trains occasionally passing by.

Reading the other reviews I had to give mine. Some friends of ours recommended and met there for lunch. 2 had the lunch special and 2 ordered special burger and fries. It was really good. I also like their buns, easy to eat burger without falling apart. They fries were kind of shoe string, not wedges like in the picture and really good. So far this is one of our favorite burgers. We will be back. I recommend trying it for yourself.

What a truly quaint experience. Sitting at the bar and watching the train go by while eating felt so "old school". The 2 dollar shots as it's rolling by makes it fun! The burger was yummy and the fries crisp.

Honestly one of the worst smash burgers I've ever had, and one of the bartenders gaslighted me when I questioned if this was how it should have been made by telling me, "It appears to have been made to specs." And this was after he was trying to explain to me what a smash burger is. I'm intimately familiar with the concept my guy, and this ain't it. Unfortunately, I guess to prepared "to specs"means dry, way overdone patties that are all crunchy char bits with little else by way of texture. I legitimately felt like the burger was made out of the burnt pieces leftover in the fryer basket from the French Fries. What's the point of highlighting that it's wagyu beef when you're just going to cook it to Hell? First and last time for me.

Great view of the mountains, the railroads, and the inside is really well designed. Their original cheeseburger is phenomenal. I'm not one to put cucumbers on a cheeseburger, but was pleasantly surprised. Fries were ok, maybe a smidge more seasoning needed. Service was great, no issues there. Looking forward to bringing out-of-towners here when visiting. 100% going back to this place.

Best hamburgers EVER! We enjoyed every bite! First time trying this restaurant. Recommend

Food was great. Service was great. Would definitely recommend. I did have an issue with my credit card and reached out to management. Ms. Mallory responded immediately and fixed the issue right away. So, awesome customer service.

Went here for lunch with a group of 5. The place was not very busy at 1130 but picked up a bit when we were leaving. Service was spot on. My burger was really good. I'm typically not huge on fries, but something about how they were cut, made them really good. Only issue during our dining experience is one individual at the table ordered chili. It arrived cold. I will say, they were quick to correct. Overall, I would return and recommend.

This burger is DELISH!!! The sauce is really good and complements the flavors of the pickle and onion well. The servers are all very kind and and the restaurant feels clean and overall very welcoming. The fries and ranch are also really really good, I'll be back for sure. Not to mention, the happy hour deal is amazing for the burger (:

Delicious burger!! Corrie did a great job, very helpful and quick! Beautiful view of the mountains, and a delicious $7 Moscow mule! Will be back for sure :)

I took my 13-year old grandson here for dinner last Saturday before the Philharmonic Pops concert, and we both enjoyed our meals. We both had smashburgers with regular fries. The burgers (with cheese) were really good, and the fries were excellent - hot and crispy. The service was outstanding, very pleasant and on the spot. The ambiance is fitting for the location. The only thing that was lacking were the choices of beers and bourbons. I'm a fan of good Kentucky bourbon and I have a preference for Modelo negra. Neither was on the menu. Even so, what we had was really good! I would go back, and I recommend it.

You can't go wrong with the lunch special here! Smash burger, fries and a drink at a reasonable price. I love the smash burger with the crunchy well done bits. It's a good bun too which for me is important. The one drawback is that their fries are only ok. I wish they would up their fry game. Not a dealbreaker since it's such a great lunch deal. I like how the inside has been updated/changed a bit since it changed to a smash burger place. Service was good, place is clean and you get a great view of the mountains and trains as you eat.

A little hard to find but once you're inside, it's well worth it! Super cool atmosphere on the inside of what used to be a train depot. We came for a pretty early dinner so only one other table was occupied and we were seated by the window looking out at a train going by. Since we had just hiked, we decided to splurge on a shandy and a milkshake. Both were amazing, but the oreo shake definitely took the cake! It wasn't on the menu but if you ask for it, they'll make it for you. We each got a burger with the loaded fries and man, it was such a good dinner. I absolutely loved the smokehouse burger and recommend it for any BBQ and onion lovers out there. The service was great and we enjoyed the food so much we were sad to be finished with it. Great experience overall! Please check it out!

Pretty good burgers. It's not a ton of toppings/meat but the flavor is good. I would say the lunch special is one of the best in downtown for sure, and the smash chicken tenders were really tasty! Service seems like they are still kind of getting their footing, there was only one server in the whole place when I went on a Sunday evening. Overall, good but not great. Hoping they work the kinks out and are very successful here!

First visit today, lunch time. This place is destined to be a favorite! Fantastic service and I do mean fantastic, very attentive. Comfortable, casual. Booths, bar stools, and bar height tables with chairs and benches to sit on. Interesting historic decor. Windows face the railroad tracks. If you are sitting with your back to the tracks, you will have the pleasure of watching videos of trains. My husband and I have been looking for a great place to get a burger but also to be waited on, and we have hit the jackpot. My husband had the classic burger, I had the California zephyr. We both ordered with sauces on the side, and they were very accommodating. The burgers are pretty much perfect, smashed thin and crisp on the edges, just the right amount of toppings to not overwhelm the burger, great flavor combos. They also come with a cute little pepper as a garnish. The french fries are good, nothing particularly remarkable, but thin & crispy, delicious, and you have the option of many different sauces to choose from. I also ordered the side salad with garlic vinaigrette, and I absolutely loved it, so nice to have something light to offset the burgers. The flavor of the salad and garlic vinaigrette is a nod to Vietnamese flavors - finally diced cucumbers, red onions, crispy shallots, and the lightly sharp vinaigrette, so good. I didn't try any cocktails today but hope to return for that, as they have some interesting choices on their menu. If you're not into burgers, they have other choices, including main dish salads and spicy chicken sandwiches. Try this place--you won't be disappointed. The prices were also quite reasonable for the quality of the food (I would happily pay more, this gives me even more of an excuse to return soon).

We were passing though on a 12 hour trek from Texas and found Brakeman's. Really cool atmosphere right next the train track's, bonus for the kids, and great burgers. A must try over the corporate chains.

This place looked interesting, as it seems to be an old train station turned into a series of shops and places to eat. We stopped in for ice cream and food. The kids enjoyed the pizza (I tried it also and it was decent). My wife had the Angry Bird chicken sandwich with the well margarita and enjoyed both. I had the relleno burger, which had a deep-fried relleno with cheese and some aioli sauce. The burger was good, but it was heavy (the burger itself had cheese on it as well). It came out and I assumed I'd have room for ice cream, but I was stuffed. Everyone else got sundaes and enjoyed them a lot (and they were only $3 each!). I also had the Locomotive Lager, which I would have again. Rebekah, our server, was great and made sure we had everything we needed. We also got to see a train come by, which entertained the kids. Overall it was a good experience and I'm sure I'll stop in again.

The food is insanely delicious, top 3 burger I've had in my life and the fries were so crispy and salty. The people here are really sweet and the place is super cute. Will become a staple place for me. They've also got a great lunch deal and happy hour menu! Loved it!

Such a cool concept! Service was amazing! We were taken care of the entire duration. Food was delicious and flavorful - we got the lunch box deal - burger and fries with drink combo, as well as the truffle fries. All amazing! Next time we will need to see if we can add a patty to our burgers. Seeing the trains come by was such a treat for our toddler.

Delicious food and great games when the train passes the smash burgers are great with the add-ons they have

Amazing food and amazing service the staff was amazing and Cam was really nice. Can't wait to come back again

We rolled up and parked in the parking lot at 10:55 AM, 5 minutes before they opened. The OPEN sign was displayed on the door, so we decided to go in. A woman greeted us with we're not open yet, but come on in and we'll be with you soon. After 5 minutes or so we were waited on and ordered lunch. When the food came, the waitress explained that she screwed up our order, and we had to wait while they made the second burger. The burgers were pretty good, but the service was terrible and we won't be back. There are a lot of places to choose from in town, and only the ones that provide good food and good service will survive.

Ate here before the Switchback's game. Wasn't busy (but should have been!) Excellent/fast/friendly service, tasty food w/generous portions. Reasonably priced! I got the mushroom "burger" (subbed grilled chicken for beef) plus sweet potato fries and a beer. Left happy/full (& not broke). (Note: sandwich arrived breaded/fried-I ordered grilled-but situation was quickly remedied). A little gem of a place more people should visit!

Atmosphere still great, service still great, but since this place has been sold to new management, I'm not sure the food is still great. I'm being reserved in my new review as I got a salad this time around, but the chicken was very overcooked, very tough, overall an unenjoyable dish. My fellow diners got burgers and they still looked amazing, the fries and aioli as well, so I'll have to go again to see if it still lives up to my first visit and first burger.

From the moment we stepped into Brakeman's Burgers we were impressed. The atmosphere was so fun and you could see trains going by as you ate (we saw 3 go by in the hour we were there!). It wasn't really busy when we went for lunch at 1:30pm on a Friday but I did make a reservation because we had a big group. My sister ordered the peanut butter whiskey smoothie and it was AMAZING- and I hate whiskey normally. I must say that their pizza was probably the best thing on the menu. The burger salad was a nicer healthy option for burgers and the chili cheese fries were good but I would recommend the pizza over those two options. The fries were thinly sliced potatoes, which were very tasty! Check this place out for a fun, family friendly and delicious mealS

This place is amazing. Their prices are reasonable and the food is out standing. I tried the monthly special - birria burger and I got some chicken tenders. Both were exceptional , wife said they were the best chicken tenders she's had in recent memory. Looking forward to making this a regular place for us to enjoy.

Been wanting to try this place and we got to see 2 trains go by! Service was friendly but slow. We had to wait for the host and finally saw him coming with a roll of toilet paper in his hand. Why wasn't that done in off hours??? (More about this later) Never got our water but the beers got to the table in 10 minutes. We ordered our food and I specified gluten free. The burgers came and my bun looked just like my husband's. So verifying with Becka it was gluten free, to her credit she said no. I'm so appreciative of that. By the time my burger came back my husband had eaten half of his. And my fries had cooled down. The systems here really need to be fixed. As we were headed out I stopped in the ladies room. No toilet paper!!!! Really???? The dispenser is a two roll dispenser. Too much competition to return.

Really good smash burger & very quick service! Staff was friendly and the atmosphere was great!

Service was great and quick, and the food was fantastic. Highly recommend. Also love the train aesthetic and overall ambiance.

10/10 would recommend the chicken wings! I got em BONE-IN & NAKED and they were EXACTLY what I wanted!! 6.5/10 is what my husband rated his entire experience here at Brakeman's Burgers... As he said the meat was MEH... And the lack of Diet Coke ALWAYS brings his rating down a few points! 8/10 is what my 2.5 year old son would give his chicken fingers and fries, as he was very happy with all the chicken but felt the fries were sub par.

Heard about this spot from someone earlier in the week and decided to give it a try today for lunch. Pretty happy with how it turned out. We had the short rib nachos, so boneless wings, and a green chili burger. Everything tasted great and the hand cut fries were the highlight of the meal. Imagine no scoop fries that hold whatever you are scooping fried to a golden brown....perfect. Also, it's a cool place to stop right by the train tracks with a great view of Pikes Peak. A bit loud and crowded on Sunday with football in the bar area, but plenty of open seating everywhere else.

BB is located off of the 25 at the Bijou exit at the old train station. Good parking available, despite being downtown. Lots o' burger type stuff, but also salads and chicken including Korean wings. We had a business lunch there, and it was a nice quiet venue where we didn't need to raise our voices to get over the crowd. We partook in salads, including the burger salad, which had a nice honey vinagrette dressing, as well as a Caesar salad with chicken. The former was quite good, and the latter also good. The staff was adequate and savvy enough when we were in the midst of a discussion not to interrupt.

This place has a trifecta! Great food, great service, and great ambiance. Went with my wife for a lunch date. I ordered the southwest burger with the impossible patty, and onion rings. The burger was amazing, and the onion rings were on point! I'm a fan of the beer battered type onion rings, and these were that type, and delicious! My wife ordered the Smokehouse burger and the wild mushroom burger. She said they were both delicious as were the fries. We both also ordered shakes. She had the birthday cake shake, and I had the Chocolypse-Now. They were tasty, but not the best we've ever had. We were able to watch two trains from our table while having lunch. Overall I definitely recommend visiting here!!