DENVER (KDVR) — Many states are famous for a fruit or a vegetable; like Idaho and its potatoes, California’s avocados and Iowa’s seemingly endless fields of corn. While there’s no official food of Colorado, many Coloradans say the state is known for Pueblo green chiles.
Those chiles have inspired dishes also famous in Colorado, like green chili and the Colorado-style burger known as the slopper.
A slopper is typically served as two open-faced cheeseburgers, smothered in green chili, with occasional toppings like onions and French fries.
The Colorado State Fair’s slopper recipe includes Colorado Beef, salad and pepper, buns, pepper jack cheese, and Pueblo green chili. (And just a couple of weeks ago, FOX31’s very own Greg Nieto won the slopper eating contest at the fair.)

Where did the slopper originate?
Its official origin is debatable, but Gray’s Coors Tavern and Star Bar are often credited with the sloppy invention.
Versions of the sandwich can be found on just about any menu in southern Colorado, but you can also find the sloppy dish in the Denver metro area and you can even find similar options, often constructed in a more typical closed-face style, nationally.
Here are some restaurants that serve the slopper near Denver:
- West Rail Tap and Grill — 195 S. Union Blvd. Lakewood
- Fat Boy Sports Bar and Grill — 10660 E. Alameda Ave. Aurora
- Flying Pig Burger Co. — 5935 S. Zang St. Littleton
- Stoney’s Bar and Grill — 1111 Lincoln St. Denver
- Dos Amigos Wheelz Grill — 2490 W. Hampden Ave. Englewood
- Honor Farm — 1526 Blake St. Denver
- 303 Sports Grill — 8025 W. Bowles Ave. Littleton
Smashburger offers a similar burger with pepper jack and cheddar cheese and chiles called the Colorado Burger.
You can make the dish yourself with minimal effort by going to one of the top-rated places for green chili near Denver, getting some chili to-go and pouring it over any burger.