Burgerville In A Day

Earlier this afternoon, Sarah Mirk pointed me to the twitter feed of Ben Jenkins, a copywriter with a hankering for local fast food. He woke up early this morning for a green chile breakfast sandwich in Centralia, followed by a ham sandwich in Kelso, and a breakfast platter in Woodland. By noon, he’d had a breakfast burrito (washed down with a beer), a hot dog, a milkshake, a 1/2 lb. “colossal” cheeseburger, chicken strips, apple slices, another cheeseburger, a large Coke, a turkey club, and some Yukon Gold waffle fries . . . each from a different Burgerville location.

That left 25 franchises to go. His goal was to eat at every one of the chain’s 39 branches in a single day. At the time of this post, he’s logged 500 miles and has three restaurants he still needs to visit (if I’m reading this right: Newberg, Albany, and Monmouth).

Jenkins was kind enough to take a few moments in the St. Helens Burgerville drive-thru to answer a couple questions:

First off, couldn’t this have waited until the seasonal Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings were back on the menu?

I know, I miss the Walla Walla’s. But the Yukon Gold Waffle Fries are filling in nicely.

What was the impetus of your quest? Is it some kind of statement about local and sustainable food and the plausibility of incorporating it into big business, or were you just, you know, really hungry?

I’m a fan and was looking at their website and got to wondering if it was possible to make the trip in a day. No big message about local/sustainable, but if that comes through I’m all for it. I love that they are proponents of it. Been quite the adventure so far.

Were some locations better than others? Any location I should avoid?

Salmon Creek serves beer and is also the nicest. I would check that one out. Hope they are going to take that theme to more locations.

Any particular menu item you were thrilled with? Or particularly disappointed with?

All the breakfast was great. The fish and chips from The Dalles have been my favorite so far, besides the early morning beer in Salmon Creek. I won’t be having another Turkey Burger.

When all is said and done, how much money will you have spent? Was this a more more satisfying gastronomical experience than, say, a dinner at Beast?

Definitely more expensive than a nice meal at Beast. Probably around 200ish by time we finish. Though I’m getting 10% back on my BV rewards card. Have been enjoying trying all the different items. Optimistic that I will be able finish in Monmouth before they close.