Call this the case of the baffling burger brouhaha that became boffo for one of Denver's favorite eateries.

When local TV stations got a news release last week saying that the Wall Street Journal would name the Cherry Cricket the No. 3 best burger in the country, Fox-31 and CW2 reporters bit the bun and broadcast stories from the Cherry Creek restaurant.

Oooops. On Monday, the Journal's PR firm was performing the Heimlich maneuver on the story, because the final printed version that ran Saturday listed the top nine burgers in the country - with no mention of the Cricket.

But don't blame Eating Out reporter Raymond Sokolov. He meant to try the half-pound Cricket Burger, but our December and January storms kept him at bay.

Jennifer Roche of Dan Klores Communications, the New York firm that represents the Journal, said she was excited when she received the original graphic for the story that included the Cricket. "I'm from Denver, and I love the Cricket," she said.

But between the time Roche sent a news release to the top 10 burger burgs and the day the story hit the streets, Sokolov and his editors changed the angle of the story to only include burger joints that the writer had personally visited. So the final version deleted the Cricket in the No. 3 position and listed nine best-burger eateries.

Jamie Webb (no relation to our former mayor), spokeswoman for the Wynkoop Brewing Co., owner of the Cherry Cricket, said the nonstory caused so much media attention that the restaurant still did big biz over the weekend.

"We never ran out of burgers because (the restaurant) stocked up once we heard about the award," said Webb, who had been contacted by the paper's art department last Tuesday asking for glamour shots of the burger and the Cricket.

"When I got the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, I thought I was losing my mind," Webb said. "I didn't see us in there."

Even though the Cricket was omitted, Webb has no beef: "I have not contacted the writer because we don't care. We got great press from it, and we're thrilled they even considered us."

TALK-SHOW TIME: Mike Jones, the Denver male prostitute who brought down evangelical minister Ted Haggard, founder and former chief pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, will appear at 10 a.m. today on The Montel Williams Show on Fox-31. Haggard's fall from grace came after Jones exposed a three-year sexual relationship with the church leader.

JAVA JIVE: Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee conglomerate, is giving away free cuppa cuppa joe from 10 a.m. to noon today. The Starbucks Coffee Break will offer free 12-ounce cups of coffee at all Starbucks outlets.

THE SEEN: Ivanka and Ivana Trump shopping for lotions, potions, soaps and shampoos at LUSH Aspen this week.

EAVESDROPPING on a man giving a Santa suit to a clerk at Dependable Cleaners in Highlands Ranch: "Last name?"

"Claus."

"First initial?"

"S."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.