27 Best Burgers in Portland

As the esteemed, late food writer Josh Ozersky said so perfectly: “The burger is omnipotent and irresistible . . . it can never be weakened, it can never be slowed down, it can never stop. The burger is the most single powerful force in the food universe.” We’re very excited to share our guide to the Best Burgers in Portland, a long, worthwhile endeavor spanning several months and over 100 burgers. In this guide, you’ll find a little bit of everything from simple, no-frills burgers to sophisticated burgers that resemble a work of art. Not included in this guide: places outside Portland proper, nor any chains.

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27. Ate-Oh-Ate

Meat: Thick, juicy and crusty single patty
Cheese: None
Vegetables: Shredded lettuce, shaved sweet onion, Kimchee relish
Sauce: Spicy Mayo
Bun: Sesame

26. PDX Sliders

(Many choices on the menu)
Meat: Single slider patty
Cheese: Choices
Vegetables: Varies
Sauce: Depends
Bun: White

25. Bar Bar

Meat: Thin soft single patty
Cheese: Varies (I had the Burger of the Month, the Yeezy, no cheese)
Vegetables: Pickled pepper, pickle and tomato
Sauce: Yellow mustard
Bun: Good old soft white

24. Ecliptic Brewing

Meat: Tighter grind, 1/2 lb. with pancetta
Cheese: Gruyere
Vegetables: Arugula, red onion
Sauce: Russian dressing
Bun: Potato

23. Interurban

Meat: Boar
Cheese: Queso botanero
Vegetables: Chiles, fried unions, pickled jalapenos
Sauce: Aioli
Bun: Toasted white

22. Slowbar

Meat: Medium thick patty, 1/2 lb.
Cheese: Differs
Vegetables: Fried onion rings, red cabbage slaw
Sauce: Aioli
Bun: Sesame

21. Swift & Union

Meat: Single patty, juicy
Cheese: Bleu (I ordered the Swift Burger)
Vegetables: Butter lettuce
Sauce: Bacon-Onion jam
Bun: Brioche

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20. Q

Meat: Thick, juicy, smaller patty
Cheese: White Cheddar
Vegetables: House pickled vegetables
Sauce: Remoulade
Bun: Delicious ciabatta

19. Higgins

Meat: Big fat thick patty, juicy (Carman ranch grass fed beef)
Cheese: White Cheddar
Vegetables: Negative
Sauce: Classic
Bun: Toasted hearth baked roll

18. Dick’s Primal Burger

Meat: All grass-fed, always, single patty
Cheese: Choices; I had the French Onion Soup Burger, so Swiss
Vegetables: Carmelized Onion
Sauce: Broth/Meat Juice
Bun: White

17. Cibo: Best French Fry Accompaniment

Meat: Piedmontese grass-fed single patty AND parma prosciutto
Cheese: Cave-aged fontina
Vegetables: Arugula
Sauce: None
Bun: House made white
Bonus:  TUSCAN FRIES, with whole garlic cloves, for the win

16. Besaws

Meat: Single medium thick patty
Cheese: American
Vegetables: Shaved romaine, raw red onion
Sauce: Red relish, avocado mayo
Bun: White

15. Lardo

Meat: Double patty, medium thin
Cheese: American
Vegetables: Dill Pickle, shredded lettuce, onion
Sauce: Big Nick’s sauce
Bun: Sesame

14. Laurelhurst Market

Meat: In-house ground beef patty
Cheese: White Cheddar
Vegetables: Jardiniere, Greens
Sauce: Aioli
Bun: Ciabatta roll

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13. La Moule

Meat: Medium thick patty, juicy PLUS a handlebar moustache of thick bacon
Cheese: Brie
Vegetables: Raw Red Onion
Sauce: Dijon Mustard
Bun: Ken’s Artisan Brioche

12. Guero No. 1 Tortas:  Best Maximalist Burger

Guero started as a humble food-pod cart and this year moved into a brick and mortar restaurant.  Their version of a “Mexican street hamburguesa” comes loaded with a chicharron queso, American cheese, tamarind tomato, habanero coleslaw, guacamole, pickled jalapeno, shredded iceberg and mayo.  This is the one maximalist burger even a purist will love.

11. Mike’s Drive-In:  Best Classic Sauce Burger – Temporarily Closed

With a face like this, who can resist a Mike’s Drive-In Burger.  This classic-style burger with all the accompaniments and a ton of sauce, is the burger you want after a long run or bike ride, and will send you diving for bed in the hopes of a long nap.

10. Le Pigeon:  The French Connection Burger

Le Pigeon home to another James Beard award-winning, pedigreed Portland chef:  Gabriel Rucker, who also runs Little Bird Bistro.  It’s the only place I know of in Portland where you can get foie gras, beef cheek bourguignon, dry sherry and a burger that riffs off of Wendy’s.  There are a very limited number of these square patty burgers per night, and they come with grilled and pickled onions, extra sharp white cheddar, iceberg lettuce, and spicy dijon aioli.  This was by far the messiest burger I ate, and very worth it.

9. Helvetia Tavern:  Best Burger with a View

This is the burger that pushed my “Portland proper” rule to the rolling country hills of Hillsboro, where I found a delicious, classic style burger nearly the size of a small hubcap.  Featuring a giant thin patty, American cheese, dressing, shredded lettuce and pickle, Helvetia Tavern serves one of Portland’s most commonly named best burgers in a lovely farmland-esque setting.

8. Tabor Tavern

Tabor Tavern is another neighborhood (Mt. Tabor) pub with great gastropub fare in a rustic, wood-decked setting, featuring outdoor tables, multiple TVs and a delicious classic style burger with a 1/2 lb patty, shredded lettuce, and Russian dressing on a brioche bun.

7. Paymaster: Best Hipster Burger

Paymaster is a low-key bar in the Northwest neighborhood, with a throwback ambiance and serving pub food including a wonderfully simple burger with cheese, raw chopped onion, lettuce, tomato, and pickle and served with tater tots.

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6. Bless Your Heart Burgers:  Best Fast Burger

Read all about this fast and fantastic burger here.

5. Sammich: Personal Favorite

When a nice, handsome and young man with a kind smile who is the age of your only son, cooks and serves you a delicious burger from a food truck that is on your direct path home on your work commute, you’ve found a personal favorite.  Pastrami Zombie is my soft spot burger place, and I’d hedge a bet it will be yours soon, too.

4. Lay Low Tavern:  Best No Frills Burger

Lay Low Tavern is an old, dark dive-bar/lounge in the Foster/Powell neighborhood that was recently revamped and re-conceptualized by two modern restaurant renovators.  It’s so dark inside Lay Low that you can’t read the menu.  You can still smoke on the patio.  More importantly, you can get one of Portland’s best, simple burgers here.  Meat, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickle and cheese, wrapped in paper.  Get fries or tater tots for a complete, no-frills, escape-the-crowds dining experience.

3.  Pollo Bravo: Best Non-Classic Sauce Burger

Pollo Bravo is the younger cousin of Toro Bravo, the wildly popular and distinguished Spanish-esque restaurant, who set up shop in Pine Street Market in 2016.  This burger has an addictive romesco sauce, is served with thinly sliced avocado and sprouts and comes on a wonderful black-sesame seeded bun.

2.  Expatriate:  Best Beguiling in Appearance Burger

Of all the burgers that hit me to the core, Expatriate’s is the only one that wasn’t in the double-patty-saucey-no vedge genre.  The moment my plate landed at Expatriate I just sighed . . . . “oh yes.”  Just look at them. Each diminutive 1/4 lb. burger is a piece of artwork: perfect in scale, minimalist in garnishes with two phantom white slices of onion, and finished off with those bold contrasting primary colors of red ketchup and yellow mustard.  Expatriate is small, dimly lit boozy space that sports an exotic, slightly baroque and mysterious vibe, and they are the only restaurant that I know of that serves the irreplaceable James Beard Onion sandwich.  Definitely worth several visits.

1.  Burger Stevens:  Best Pioneer Square Courthouse Burger

I’m still thinking about my Burger Stevens burger. I am a big fan of the self-employed chef who’s broken from corporate restaurant tethers and out there pounding the pavement to follow a passion and a calling, so when I read about chef Don Salamone, who’s done his time with Michelin-starred restaurants, and his wife Kate opening up Burger Stevens in a little blue food truck in a pod on the corner of Wilson High School in Hillsdale, I knew I had to make a visit.

This burger took a while, but was well worth it.  A classic old-school burger, cooked on a flat top griddle with a nice firm crust and wrapped in a paper package, Burger Stevens’ burger was a study in perfect construction:  thin burger, crisp lettuce, tomato, raw onion, special sauce and from there you can add bacon, avocado, fried egg, jalapeno and and extra patty.

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Finally, here’s a handy list of honorable mention burgers:

Little Big Burger

Little Big Burger:  For the smaller appetites, includes veggie option  (Various locations).

Killer Burger

Killer Burger:  King of the Peanut Butter Sauce Burger; Loud music, TVs and grass-fed burgers, always including bacon and fries (Various locations).

Burgerville

Burgerville:  Dependable and tasty fast burgers and seasonal sides and shakes (Various locations).