If you haven’t eaten the delicious Lebanese food at Hoda’s, remedy that immediately. It is so good, and so are Hoda’s concoctions for Burger Week. For carnivores, there’s the Beirut Burger, a hamburger made with a substantial patty of grass-fed beef layered with fire-roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, zaatar, basil, tomatoes, and walnuts, on a perfectly toasted, locally sourced bun. The pickles and tomatoes add freshness to the thick, generously sized patty, and the fire-roasted peppers give the whole thing a spicy kick. The combination of spicy, salty, and pickle-y flavors is delightful, and a pleasant deviation from the usual patty/plastic cheese/ketchup routine. It’ll have you cheering “Ground beef! Ground beef!” in no time. But if that chant just made you roll your eyes into the back of your head, don’t worry: Hoda’s is also offering a veggie burger for Burger Week called the Local Veg Burger. Instead of faking meat (a fool’s errand, yet all too common in vegetarian cuisine), this one is almost entirely tasty vegetables on a bun, with locally sourced organic zucchini and eggplant and mozzarella. (It can also be modified to accommodate vegans.) It’s a filling burger that won’t leave you feeling like a case of angina is coming on. MEGAN BURBANK

The Portland Mercury’s Burger Week—AKA the best week of your life—runs from Aug 8-13. Feast on amazing $5 burgers at 35 restaurants… and while you’re at it, we challenge you to donate $5 to Oregon Food Bank for every burger you eat!

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