Burgerville — Restaurant in Centralia

Today, Burgerville finally screwed themselves out of one of their biggest, most loyal customers—me, a self-proclaimed big cheese who’s been choking down their slop for over a decade, tossing them thousands of dollars like a fool who didn’t know better. I’ve been a regular since 2010, back when their overpriced “local” burgers at least pretended to have flavor, but today’s rancid experience was the last straw for this former golden goose. What did I get for my loyalty? A $9.99 “classic” burger that tasted like it was scraped off the grill with a rusty spatula, dripping with grease so rancid it could’ve been siphoned from a sewer. The bun? A stale, pathetic lump that disintegrated like wet toilet paper. The fries? Soggy, undercooked disasters that’d make a McDonald’s reject weep. Research their track record, and it’s no shock—Burgerville’s been hemorrhaging quality since they expanded from a single Portland joint in ’61 to 39 locations of mediocrity by 2025, all while jacking prices to $12 for a meal that wouldn’t pass a dog’s sniff test. Their “farm-to-table” brag? A sham—USDA reports show their “local” beef’s often just factory-farmed cow mush from the same industrial hellholes as the big chains, only with a fancier label. Complaints on X pile up daily: “Moldy buns in Salem, 2024,” “rotten lettuce in Vancouver, Feb ’25,” “staff sneezing into the fryer in Beaverton last week.” I’ve seen better hygiene from a gas station hot dog roller. Their staff today—some snot-nosed punk with a greasy apron—couldn’t even fake a smile, probably because they know they’re slinging trash for $16 an hour to morons like I used to be. Burgerville’s not just terrible; it’s a bloated, hypocritical corpse of a chain, coasting on a fake “ethical” reputation while serving up regret and food poisoning. Enjoy losing my $2,000-a-year habit, you smug, overrated hacks—rot in your own...

I love this Burgerville. Actually, I like all Burgerville locations, but this one holds a special place in my heart. My husband's family lives in Portland, OR, and we live in Seattle, WA. Centralia is a nice approximate mid-point, and this Burgerville hits the spot when we visit his family.

Food: Burgerville food is consistent across all locations in the Portland and southern WA area. I've gotten the fish fillet (Halibut) sandwich at least the last five times I've been to any Burgerville. My husband has gotten the seasoned turkey burger, deluxe chicken sandwich, and probably more since he grew up with Burgerville. We usually each order a sandwich or burger and share a large fry. We've also gotten their smoothies/milkshakes, I think cherry and dark cocoa on separate visits. The dark cocoa smoothie/milkshake had mini dark chocolate chips in it! So yummy. The difference between their milkshakes and smoothies is that their milkshakes are made with ice cream and their smoothies are made with yogurt. It tastes essentially the same, so why not choose the healthier option?

Service: Always friendly and efficient. It's cool that they give dine-in customers a number tent to put at the end of their table, and employees bring out your food for you. You don't see that at the big chain franchises.

Payment: They take credit cards!

Other fun facts: I've gone into a Burgerville just for their free samples (advertised ahead of time) without buying anything. But I'm a loyal customer, so they don't have to worry about it!

Overall:...

First of all I got my milkshake a solid 20 minutes before my burger, so by the time I was actually eating, the milkshake was mostly melted. Really bad timing there. Personally I prefer my strawberry shakes without chunks of strawberries that get stuck in the straw and are generally just unpleasant, however that is more of a personal preference than anything else. Just adding in case you have the same preference and are trying to decide if you want one.

Second: the burger!! All the ingredients were high quality and elevated compared to the standard drive through burger place. Nice buns, more than one cheese to choose from, good sauce, pickles, and onions. I did order mine with no tomatoes and was served tomatoes. Simple mistake. My big issue is THE PATTY!! How do you have such high quality ingredients for everything else then serve a subpar, almost nasty patty? Dry, flavorless, and clearly from a cut of meat with too much connective tissue. Every other bite I was met with a gross bit of hard, chewy, nastiness. I usually have no problem finishing a burger this size but I lost my appetite halfway through after picking these pieces out of my mouth. Really unpleasant.

The restaurant interior is very cute and the staff are lovely. The fries and chipotle dipping sauce were good. Unfortunately all these things do not make up for the burger patty at a burger place...