Sunday Night Burger Bash

Last night, my burger buddies and I made our own "Juicy Lucy's" and they were nomnom. Check out our chow down!
The Preparations, I can barely contain my enthusiasm!
Fry Guy and Burger Bestie Jen digging in.
Burger Roomie Tom butts in
  Caught in the act!!!

Special thanks to Burger Bestie Jen, without her this night would not be possible. And Fry Guy, for frying them up :) And Wild Irish Rose....

Foster on Foster St

Last Sunday, my Fry Guy and I were feeling weak and in desperate need of sustenance, particularly of the burger variety. It was a Lazy Sunday, the kind where you wake up in the late afternoon, call Parnell just to see what he's doin' and so on. We settled on a joint that was unanimously liked by the many "Best Burger in PDX" articles, Foster Burger. Admittedly, this is a lazy way to do it, but as I've made clear, it was that kind of Sunday

As you can see for yourselves, this place gets pretty hoppin' on a Sunday afternoon, but luckily we were able to find our own little red bench in the dense crowd. The waitress was very friendly and had the decency to switch the music when Radiohead's "Creep" got a little too whiny. I could have hugged her. It looked like there was a place to art on the wall outside, but sadly no chalk could be found, so it is not clear whether or not the wall was supposed to be drawn on. You be the judge- next time I'm bringing chalk.

The menu is your basic hamburger and fries, so don't go there planning to eat a turkey sandwich... that is, unless, it's a ground turkey and bacon patty. We wanted to see what they were made of, so we chose one of their specialty burgers- The Burner ($7.50). The Burner is generously topped with roasted jalapenos, crunchy onion strings, sriracha, cheddar and American cheese. It was big, messy and just what the doctor ordered. For those of you who LOVE spice like yours truly, be forewarned that this is not actually a very spicy burger. However if you're a sissy, then this may rate just right for you on the Scoville scale. The flavor was bold and satisfying, the patty cooked medium. Be aware that they cook all their patties medium unless you say otherwise. About 20 napkins later, we were ready to lounge and digest.

Along with the burger, we ordered a "small" side of poutine ($6)- don't get the bigger size unless you have 3 or more people. For those of you unfortunate souls who have never had poutine (terrible name, delicious dish), it's essentially a basket of fries and cheese curds smothered in warm gravy. I was shocked to learn that my French Fry Guy had never had poutine! (He's going to have to earn his title) Once he tried it, he was shocked he had never had it either. I told him of other magical places with more palitable poutine he needed to try. This was the birth of the PNW Poutine Play-offs. And now you know the rest of the story.

Foster's poutine was decent, though we would not have minded a couple more curds with our fries. There were more extravagant versions of poutine on the menu that piqued my interest, but we stuck to the basic for his first time as it could have been overwhelming. We must have looked like starving Ethiopians because the waitress brought it out first to keep our hunger at bay.

Burger brethren, I am happy to report that this is NOT a cash only eatery unlike the many PDX taverns who like to surprise you with this information, as they point you to their ATM in the corner, at the end of your meal. Overall, a happy experience and I would go back, but it may be awhile because there are plenty of other burgers in the sea to try first. I give it 7.75/10 sesame seeds, the lack of cheese curds took it down .25. Don't skimp on my cheese. Ever

Herrrrre We Go Again!

Hi folks! Due to the cruel world of autosave, my original post got deleted when I attempted to edit it, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I'm back in action in Portland and ready to take on burgers all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond! This timed I'm armed with some inspirational socks, hundreds of new beefy opportunities and my French Fry Guy. Along with my burgers, I'll be investigating corresponding happy hours and introducing the PNW Poutine Play-offs, so buckle up and prepare yourselves for some serious hamburglary!

Burger Brittany Takes on Seattle's Dick's

Dick's- the burger place.. you sick-o. 

On my winter break, I ventured to the Pacific Northwest where Christmas trees litter each block and exhibitionists find a place to fit in. I went to visit my burger boy-toy, Christopher, who lives only a couple blocks from the well-known (to Capitol Hill, at least) Dick's Burgers. He even got me an orange Dick's t-shirt! 

Dick's is a fast food, walk up and order type place. They have one table/steel counter where you can stand and eat, or you can just take it home. You can't go indoors. This seems strange in a place that gets about the most rain in the nation, but if there's one thing I've learned about Seattle, it's that they don't give a flying french 

fry about rain. At Dick's you have to just go up and order. Don't be picky or take too long, since there's probably a line behind. The menu is short, the basic burger, fries and shakes. Their standard burger just comes with ketchup and mustard already on it, which wasn't a problem because they hardly put any on. The problem/annoyance was having to buy extra ketchup or sauce because they charge 5 cents each. A petty thing to charge, in my opinion. The burgers were good. One time, we took them back to boy-toy's apartment and fried an egg to put on top. Delicious! I was not, however, a fan of their fries. Mostly soggy, but boy-toy likes them a lot, so you be the judge. At Dick's, you get what you pay for and it's easy when you want something quick. Just watch out for the burger beggars!

Thank you, Burger Buddy Casagrand... 7/10 sesame seeds!

Burger Rage!!!

This woman makes a stand for her burger. Just an everyday hero.

The Counter

I know, I rave about every other burger. But The Counter impressed me. This fancy little place offers CUSTOM burgers. Did you hear me?... Custom! You're saying, "Burger Brittany, c'mon, when can't you customize your burger?". Well, friend, when can you order a burger with grilled pineapple, grilled onion, lettuce, tomato, sharp provolone and BBQ sauce?! This puppy was messy AND delicious. Burger Buddy Andrew introduced me to this little delight in the heart of Walnut Creek, CA. Inside is decorated to imitate a diner, but at the same time, a classier, up-to-date bar. An interesting angle surely, but I am most impressed to see a purely burger restaurant that is not, in any way, fast food. Yes, there's the Burger Bar, but it was pretty measly and overpriced for the type of burger I ate. Trust me, those toppings weren't offered in that fancy little "burger bar". Just look at the Build-Your-Own-Burger menu shown above! Look at those options. First, you pick your amount of beef (I went with the 1/3 pounder, to keep my lady-like figure, you know). Then the cheese, I was torn between Imported Swiss or Sharp Provolone, but do not fear, you have 10 different cheeses to choose from. And then, you pick 4 out of the 18 toppings to choose from. If you choose to pay the dollar extra, you can choose out of 28 different toppings! Top it off with whichever bun you like, and you have a quality, custom-made burger for about $8. 

Burger Buddy Andrew chose this monster of a burger shown below. If I recall correctly, it is a mountain of grilled onions, bacon, guacamole, beef and perhaps BBQ sauce. I'm not sure how you even begin to tackle this beast, but he tackled and even tamed her. We paired our burgers with a side a half french fries and half onion strings. Yes, onion strings, not onion rings. They 

were unique and delicious, but very heavy. Come to this classy diner with an appetite. Andrew and I were both nearly incapacitated after this hefty meal. Also, a picture of him enjoying his beastly beef can be viewed in the post of burger buddies eating burgers. Check it out!

I give the counter a 9.5/10, because they didn't bring our fries and strings before the meal, like we hungry hooligans requested!

Christmas Eve Inspiration

Hello Burger Buddies,

My deep and sincere apologies for my month long hiatus. Between finals, traveling and painting, I have neglected my blog and this is unacceptable. Luckily, I watched Julie & Julia tonight and was inspired . Just so my readers know, while I may have neglected my blog, I have certainly not neglected burgers. In fact, there have been burgers galore, including both Culver's and In-N-Out. As far as new burger joints, there have plenty of those as well. You must check out my burger boy toy having his very first In-N-Out burger.. how cute!
First and foremost, Jack's Brewing Company, a nice bar and grill in San Ramon, CA, right off of Crow Canyon. My parents took me to this friendly little joint on my first night back home in November. First, I ordered the beer sampler, because what could be better than beer and burgers? I challenge you to find better burger bliss. For you Columbians in Missouri, I would liken this place to Flat Branch (which happens to be the birthplace of the Burger Brittany persona, but this is another story for another blog post). At Jack's, I ordered the Blackjack burger- a burger "loaded with Cajun spices, grilled onions, jack cheese and bleu cheese dressing" (copied from menu). The Blackjack was amaZING. All that gooey, dripping cheese with the tangy grilled onions... my mouth is watering in rememberance and reverence of the unabashedly topped burger. Whether it was the beer or the burger, I left with an afterglow of satisfaction that lasted for hours. I give this burger a 10/10 and you know what put it over the top?.. The helpful, friendly service that chatted with my family and smiled every time they stopped by. Even the owner paused at our table for some bouyant conversation!
The Burger Bar in San Francisco. Now, I do not believe San Francisco is the appropriate place for burger cuisine and I think the Burger Bar kind of proved it. San Francisco is liberal, environmentally conscious and perhaps make an excellent veggie burger.. somewhere.. But beef, fat and frying may not be this city's thing. In fact, I should probably pursue the best veggie burger while I'm here in the Bay Area. Bottom line, this particular burger was mediocre, overpriced and not worth choosing over the Cheesecake Factory, which happens to also be in the same building (Macy's!). Luckily for the Burger Bar, I was in a good mood that day. On this particular day, I was with my ruggedly handsome burger boy toy. He came all the way from Washington to visit me for my birthday, which also happened to be on this day. I know what you're thinking, how dare the Burger Bar serve Burger Brittany a mediocre burger on her burger birthday?! It's OK, french fried friends, I was happy regardless. I give the restaurant a 6/10, but I give their sexy milkshake advertising a perfect 10!