Burgerville

I feel a bit bad writing this post. Really, JLowe is the resident Burgerville expert. And he has a regular Wednesday night date with Burgerville, whereas I simply manipulated my wife into letting me take us there as we were running late for a meeting last night.

So, JLowe, whereever you may be, please feel free to chime in on Burgerville in a separate post. In fact, here's a new rule: all three of us reserve the right to write our own posts on the same restaurants the others have already discussed. And we reserve the right to write new posts on places we've already written old posts on. However, if more than one of us goes someplace at the same time, only one of us will write up that particular visit.

Anyway, all that said, I went to Burgerville last night. Burgerville is, in my estimation, the best local burger franchise in Oregon, and one of the better burger franchises I've been to nationally, period. And apparently I'm not alone, as the Food Network recently awarded Burgerville with it's "Better Burger" award, whatever that means.

Burgerville offers much more than burgers, though. They have fish and chips (usually a little too greasy for my liking), a wide array of milkshakes (including seasonal ones based on current fresh fruits -- right now, it's strawberry), and exceptionally good fries. And, throughout the year, other things hop on and off of their menu (sweet potato fries, Walla Walla onion rings, the recent Yukon Gold criss-cut fries) as ideas and food staples become fresh and available.

Now, when I was more corpulent, my usual BV run consisted of either two cheeseburgers with extra onion and extra pickle, or one so-altered cheeseburger and the spicy black bean garden burger. And, sometimes, fries, although I've been pretty good about not ordering those for a few years now, since it's essentially a stick of oiled-up calories. I've decided I'm too old to be such a pig, so now I limit myself to one thing. And, generally, that means the spicy black bean garden burger.

The SBBGB has been on the menu at BV now for about 4 years. The inspiration is entirely unclear to me, except perhaps that Gardenburger is a local company and, generally, BV sticks with vendors from the Pacific NW. Though the genesis of the idea isn't apparent, the goodness of it is. The burger is spicy throughout, with the patty offering a hint of spiciness which is complemented and accentuated and amplified by a delicious chipolte-mayo spread and pepper jack cheese. Mmmm!

Last night's was spicier than most. And a little spread-ier than most (they always give extra spread if asked, but I never do, so when the extra shows up, it's a nice surprise). It was, without a doubt, the best one I've ever had.

My wife ordered the fries, so I had a few of hers (she only likes the stiff and crispy ones, while I'm far less picky). The oil was clean, the fries were salted just-enough, and they were fresh and hot.

The other major plus, for me, is free refills. I didn't get them last night, because we were driving through, but BV offers free refills inside, so if you can, stay there for a bit and order a small soda to take advantage of their generosity. They are also one of the few places that consistently offers caffeine-free Diet Coke (if that matters to you) and iced tea that's actually been brewed.

JLowe informed me that he'd had a milkshake. That's his own story to tell -- since we went to different locations last night, that's allowed. The punchline is that the shake that he drank, all for himself, was the one he'd bought for his wife. Priceless.

Burgerville. It's where you go when you know.