Portland Mercury Promotion
Last year’s Burger Week saw 13 local restaurants sell well over 20,000 $5 burgers. Chefs strove to outdo one another, offering towering, even outlandish creations that would normally have cost two or three times that much. You, the customer, were treated to awesome food at a ridiculous price.
This year, we have 20 participating restaurants, and we’ve prepared them for the mayhem. The burgers are once again $5, and the kitchens know you’re coming. Visit portlandburgerweek.com for large, gastrographic (a pretty bad play on pornographic, sorry), full-color pics of these charred, juicy beauties.
That said, Burger Week creates such strong, lusty, even insane feelings, that we decided it needed its own little religion-type screed. Please read on.
1. THEY WILL RUN OUT
These restaurants nearly got demolished last year. The top performers sold nearly 2,500 burgers during Burger Week 2013. They are getting hit like never in their histories. So, if a place runs out toward the end of a shift, take it like a man: go back the next day, earlier, order your burger, and thank them for working their asses off to do this for you. Do Not Be A Shit To Our Restaurants.
2. THERE WILL BE WAITS
People have been talking about Burger Week 2014 for weeks. It has become an institution in a single year. Don’t be surprised if restaurants have waits. In fact, be surprised if they don’t.
3. YOU WILL TIP
$5 brings out the cheap in all of us, but really, you’re getting a $10-$15 burger (many restaurants go way overboard with ingredients, trying to outdo each other), so please tip at least 20%. The people who are serving you are working harder during Burger Week than at any other point in the year. A kind word will also be welcome—these people are our friends and neighbors.
4. YOU REALLY SHOULD BUY A DRINK AND/OR OTHER FOODS
While extra purchases are not a requirement, I think it says something good about you if you show a little love to a restaurant going above and beyond to bring you an awesome burger. Pick up some fries and a pint of Widmer, or a shot of Kentucky Fire! You’ll enjoy yourself more.
5. CHECK TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM
Restaurants are encouraged to post their waits and remaining burgers for the day. Go to portlandburgerweek.com and don’t forget to tag your Instagram photos and tweets with #portlandburgerweek
THANK YOU
A huge and heartfelt thanks to our sponsors! Once again the wonderful and always-supportive Nicky USA (meats), as well as ever-generous Widmer Brothers Brewing (beer), and now newcomer Jim Beam Kentucky Fire (delicious cinnamon whiskey)!
Click here for the Burger Map!
| Ate-Oh-Ate 2454 E Burnside Daily 11am-9pm CHAR SIU BURGER |
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| Bar Bar 3939 N Mississippi Daily 11am-2am STATE FAIR BURGER |
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| Burnside Brewing 701 E Burnside Mon-Tues 3pm-10pm ,Wed-Sat 11am-12am , Sun 11am-10pm CLASSIC CHEESEBURGER |
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| Club 21 2035 NE Glisan Daily 11:30am-2:30am SHADOW BURGER |
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| Double Barrel 2002 SE Division Daily 2pm-2:30am BURNIN’ LOVE BURGER |
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| Doug Fir 830 E Burnside Daily 7am-2:30am SPICY CANDIED BACON CHEESEBURGER / BURGER DFX |
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| Foster Burger 5339 SE Foster Daily 11am-10pm PEPPERJACK BACON BURGER |
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| Hop & Vine 1914 N Killingsworth Mon-Wed 3pm-11pm, Thurs-Fri 3pm-12am, Sat 10am-12am, Sun 10am-11pm *Available after 3pm every day. VENISON FOCACCIA BURGER |
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| Mi Mero Mole 32 NW 5th Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri 11am-10pm, Sat Noon-10pm *Offer begins at 2pm each day. Available at downtown location ONLY! SONORAN CHILE RELLENO BURGER |
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| North Light 3746 N Misissippi Mon-Fri 4pm-12am, Sat-Sun 9am-12am STUFFED CHEESE CURD BURGER |
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| Rialto 529 SW 4th 11am-2:30am THE RIALTO CHEESEBURGER |
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| Rockin’ Robyn’s Sassy Burger 3423 SE Belmont Wed-Thurs 12pm-7pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-10pm, Sun 12pm-6pm BUFFALO BURGER |
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| Slowburger 2329 NE Glisan Daily 11am-11pm BANH MI BURGER (Same as Slow Bar) |
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| Slow Bar 533 SE Grand Daily 11:30am-2:30am BANH MI BURGER |
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| Smallwares 4605 NE Fremont Daily 5pm-10pm THE SMALLWARES CHEESEBURGER |
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| Spirit of ’77 *Veggie!* 500 NE MLK Mon-Fri 4pm-12am, Sat 12pm-12am, Sun 12pm-10pm HOUSEMADE VEGGIE BURGER |
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| The Station 2703 NE Alberta Mon-Fri 4pm-Late, Sat-Sun 12pm-Late OUTLAW BURGER |
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| Tilt 1355 NW Everett Suite 120 Mon-Thurs – 8am – 11pm Fri-Sat 8am – 12am Sun – 8am – 11pm *Burger Available after 8am. EASTERN BLOCK |
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| Tilt 3449 N Anchor Mon-Thurs 11am-8pm, Fri 11am-9pm, Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 9am-3pm EASTERN BLOCK |
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| White Owl Social Club *Veggie!* 1305 SE 8th Daily 3pm-Late WHITE OWL SOCIAL CLUB HAZELNUT BEET BURGER |
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| Widmer Brothers Pub 929 N Russell Sun-Thurs 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-1am *Offer begins at 2pm each day. AMERICAN KOBE CHEESEBURGER |
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View <a href=”http://batchgeo.com/map/95f5d90067612083e4a835b72
Laurelhurst Markets burger beats most of these into the ground.
Well lucky for you they’re open 5pm – 10pm every day. Lucky for us you won’t be adding to the Burger Week crowds. We all win!
For comparison, I went to the Laurelhurst Market’s website to check the menu. Are you referring to their FOURTEEN FUCKING DOLLAR HAMBURGER? Yes? Then shut your stupid trap. Fourteen is bigger than five, unless you think spending nine dollars on french fries is justified.
Or you could ride your longboard down Burnside to Ate-Oh-Ate and try their musubi burger for five bucks. They’ll be using Laurelhurst’s meat, since you’re hung up on them.
Add to this list: Crush Bar (1400 SE Morrison,) will also be celebrating the delicious, perfect food known as the burger:
All burgers fresh ground American beef, 6 oz. $5 ala carte until we run out.
Featuring a unique, special burger creation EACH DAY of burger week – more info at http://www.CrushBar.com
Are the burgers sold all day, or is this an after work/5pm situation?
I’m confused by the Double Barrel Burnin’ Love burger, it’s completely different from the one they’re advertising on Facebook & in the separate profile you guys have on them. Where can I actually find this pimento cheese/fried jalapeno burger, if not at Double Barrel?!
Good follow-up on L-Hurst Market commenter – their burger is THE best, but nearly 3 X the price, so…
However, doofus idea about COMMANDMENTS for a Burger Week…it ignores the FIRST COMMANDMENT – THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! These are businesses, not hobbies – or at least the establishments that want to stay around for more than a week should be RUN like a business. FIVE DOLLARS IS STILL TOO MUCH TO PAY FOR (A) A CRAPPY BURGER, (B) CRAPPY SERVICE, OR © BOTH.
I was introduced to Foster Burger through Burger Week, and got a great burger AND service for $5 – put up with the really long wait…and I keep coming back. I just put up (today) with crappy attitude about a burger that was missing an advertised ingredient at an unnamed participant – let’s just say they take their time – (3 blocks from my place), probably won’t be back!
The customer isn’t always right. Some customers are entitled dickheads that refuse to acknowledge that restaurants are run by human beings with limited space, time, and resources. For example, you can tell people “they will run out” a thousand times yet you’ll still have some idiots mad when places run out. You’ll have people mad that there are waits when you can look around and tell that the business has a lot more customers than they typically handle.
You’ve been warned that supplies are limited and that crowds are you be expected. If you can’t handle that, kindly close your browser and forget that any of these places exist for the next week.
And if you get a crappy burger? That sucks, cut your losses and try somewhere else the next day. At least it’s only $5.
“The customer is always right” < "The customer is often a rude fuckface who believes his decision to part with money in exchange for cooked food should be unfailingly met with a groveling obsequiousness that he commands precisely nowhere else in life."
Foster Burger is a flop! Small burger… Smaller than their regular burger and okay at best. Sauce was tasteless and pretty dry. What a disappointment!
I had a juicy burger at Widmer, rare to medium rare , much better than I remember last year’s offering. They also had a great Porter and a champange something or other beer, all in all very pleasant.
I tried 3 other places most were dry and well done. Burger needs some fat to be juicy, doesn’t matter if it is Painted Hills or whatever. One would keep off the special sauce one wouldn’t. Little Big burger beats these easily.
I had a burger at Foster Burger. It was deee lish!
Wow. Went to Double Barrel last night for the one night I could go out this week for this event. Over an hour wait for my order of a burger that looked NOTHING like the burger in the picture above. All I saw was bun when it came out. I was so excited before it and the look on my friends faces was pretty priceless. I wouldn’t pay $4 normally for that burger. Not sure if it was the end of the week and they ran out of meat, but wow, not what I was expecting.
After seeing pics from my friend’s night out at Tilt, I was really hoping it would look just like the picture. My friends also waited over an hour for an order of onion rings. I knew to expect waits, but really?
Bottom line: If you want to be part of this week, make sure you have what is expected. I hate giving bad reviews, but I felt totally bait and switched.
I succeeded in getting into North Light for a burger (I tried Wednesday but it was packed, with a line, so I went back Thursday right at 4 p.m., their opening time.) One of the reasons I picked that place is the description says it’s served rare, and the one in the photo looks nice and rare, as I like it. (So many burger places around here are unwilling or unable to prepare a rare burger, with the notable exception of Little Big Burger, which always accommodates.) Just to be sure at North Light, I asked the server to make it rare and he said OK. Nope — it came out pink, I guess that’s medium or medium rare, but certainly not rare. Other than that it was OK — very nice bun, the kimchi and cheese are good, and my drink and salad were good. But I don’t really enjoy a burger cooked past rare. Since this was a special $5 deal, I didn’t send it back, just ate it. But I have to give this place low marks for that, sorry.
Who put The Mercury in charge of Burgers? Every week is Burger Week. All these people waiting in ridiculous lines, being told what they’ll have on their burgers and what you won’t, being treated like garbage by over-worked staff and lectured by The Mercury on how to behave, think and tip… just to save $4-5?! Dumb.
OK, I have achieved burger nirvana, and at a place I wouldn’t have expected: Widmer Gasthaus! They being out a whole bunch’a burgers at once, not bothering to ask how you want it done. I was steeling myself for another overcooked one. But no! Kobe beef on potato bun, perfectly rare, nicely seasoned, multitextured and yummy! Good and varied beer selection too — the Saison is killer, so is the SXNW if you want somethin heavier. Highly recommended.