Burgerville — Restaurant in Portland

I'm torn. It was truly the best of meals and the worst of meals, all rolled up into one. Let's tease out the intertwined aspects.

Price. I'm immensely grateful for PDX serving food at street prices, without a screw-you airport markup (as does, for example, SeaTac). Being able to buy a burger that costs about as much as a burger is something not taken for granted by the frequent airport traveler, so there's that.

Convenience. Burgerville's preparation was quick but mindful enough that they asked me to wait for a fresh batch of fries rather than serve the existing supply. I'd expect that from a neighborhood restaurant but not of a fast-food place pushing food to hungry, rushing travelers. Kudos to the kitchen staff.

Service. Friendly, patient, cheerful, and wonderful at explaining the aspects of the menu (which, when you think of it, they have to do hundreds of times a day as waves of passengers flow on by). Nothing but really good thoughts about Burgerville's service.

Taste. In the end, this is the bit that matters most. The burger I had was competent, adequate, filling. The meat could've been more caramelized or crisped, to bring out the umami. The add-on ingredients were all ok, but there was a lack of salt, or acid, or something to make the whole thing pop. The bun just held things together without much fanfare, which felt like a letdown. A quick swipe of mayo and a moment on the grill and it would have been a party in my mouth.

Burgerville seems to be the go-to burger chain in Oregon, much like In-N-Out is in Central/Southern California. (Neither chain holds a candle to Little Big Burger (OR), Five Guys (west coast), or, swoon, Super Duper (CA).)

I'm glad I had reasonably inexpensive, filling food in an airport. That's what matters on a hectic travel day. I wish I could've had a four-star meal; it was so close, and could be done for a few moments of time with the existing ingredients at hand, and perhaps one day I'll ask to step into their kitchen and show them how...

Waffle fries great. Light, crispy, hot.

Manager/owner at PDX airport location is a master at customer service. Knows the customer is always right, even if he isn't. Even if the customer is kind of a jerk, at times. Thanks.

Maybe he knows that some of the customers sat on an airplane at the gate for almost 5 hours, only to have the flight canceled. Then, they waited an hour to get a meal ticket that won't even cover a salad, fries and drink at Burgerville. That customer missed today's reserved activity in Hawaii, and will arrive in the middle of the night and have to take a taxi rather than the city bus.

Previously I've had the breakfast fatty, oops voice introduced typo. The breakfast potato patty is greasy. Pressing that with a stack of 12 napkins still wasn't enough to get the excess grease out. Fries, yeah greasy.

But the menu has lots of tasty choices. No idea how they can serve a 220 calorie salad and make it taste good. Kudos.

You order a ribeye steak because of its taste, and don't care that it's a fattier cut of meat. You order a burgerville burger for the same reason.

The "original spread" and "garlic aioli" nail it. Not haute cuisine; they are simple mayo blends with perfect seasoning that will keep you coming...

I could not bring myself to give them only one star which is what they deserve. This business has been a staple in the Vancouver Washington area for decades and if it weren't for the awesome and amazing founder George Propstra passing away years ago they would not have been able to change one of their great assets (French fries) we think they now deep fry them in a toilet? George was one of Vancouvers biggest community and youth sports sponsors.. George you were a solid in this town.They have also trimmed the beef patties to be nearly as thin as a DVD? We have not returned for nearly 2 years about when they changed their fries and the only reason we stopped here was because we were at PDX, Portland International airport and thought I would give it a try what a huge mistake that was! I would also like to note that I have written emails to the corporate office on 2 different occasions with not one time did they even respond to me, even though I explained to them our family had been customers of theirs since they opened in the early...