Foster Burger
5339 SE Foster Road Portland, OR 97206
Foster Burger is a new burger bar in SE Portland near Foster & 54th. This visit was my first time in the area, and finding this place was pretty difficult. There are no signs outside of the building, and the address wasn’t viewable from the car, so I had to estimate where it should be and walk a few blocks before I actually found it. The only signifier of its existence are a few print-outs of their logo on the window pane. Once you actually find the building, you walk up a few stairs and go through a second set of doors. After you seat yourself, a server stops by and hands you a menu, which is small and to the point. They have burgers, a mushroom burger, a cod sandwich, a few sides, a salad, milkshakes, and booze. The menu description for the burger:
The Foster Burger – House ground Lindsey Ranch Beef and Sweet Briar Farms backfat, chargrilled, on a sesame roll baked next door at An Xuyen Bakery with lettuce, house-made pickles, onion, and Foster Sauce. $7.50
Add Sweet Briar Farms thick cut bacon – $2.00
Add Beecher’s 2 year old Cheddar cheese – $1.00
Add Rogue Blue cheese – $2.00
Add fried Sweet Briar Farms egg – $1.50
Add caramelized onions – $.50
I ordered the burger as-is, and waited for about 10 minutes for the burger to arrive. The burger:
Take a good look at the bun. Specifically, the amount of sauce between the bun and the lettuce. There is so much sauce, it is actually DRIPPING. It’s just like that scene in The Blob where the blob engulfs the movie theater and drips from the ceiling. This burger is exactly like that. All you want to do is enjoy the burger but you can’t because it’s completely covered in this fucking sauce and that’s all you can taste.
And another shot.
My sole gripe is the crazy amount of sauce that comes on the burgers. For the first 2 or 3 bites, this burger was fucking awesome. Reminds me of In-and-out, vaguely. After that, however, the overpowering taste of the sauce gets old quick, and it’s all I can taste and think about. The bun was very sweet, which was something totally different than what I am used to, but I liked it. The lettuce was crisp and the house-made pickles were amazing. Foster Burger certainly has potential.
Burger Ratings:
Burger: 6
You know, I have bitched about places slathering too much sauce/mayo all over my burger in previous posts, but this was absolutely ridiculous. There is no reason I can think of to ever put that much sauce on a burger – ever. Had the sauce not been poured on as much as it was, the burger would probably be an 8 or 9. As it was presented, it was just simply “good.” Lay off the sauce, dudes.
Side: 6
Apparently the french fries here are fresh and hand-cut, but they weren’t that impressive. The portion was very generous, but I left most of them as I got bored with eating them half-way through. They’re heavily seasoned and very crisp and crunchy. They are different, but not anything great.
Environment: 4
I know they’ve only been open for a week or so, but one would think most places would decorate a bit prior to opening. The walls were completely bare, and with the ceilings as high as they are – it made the room feel empty and cold. However,to their credit, they were playing The Undertones the whole time I was there, so that earned a few points.
Value: 7
If you get the standard Foster Burger without any add-ons, I would rate the value as a 9. However, if you want cheese, bacon, or any other topping on your burger, the price skyrockets. I feel like the prices on the other sandwiches are much too high (the mushroom equivalent of the burger is $10!) so overall I wold rate the value at a 7.
OVERALL BURGER REVIEW:
Foster Burger
5339 SE Foster Road Portland, OR 97206
(503) 775.2077
Tags: can't tag sauce enough, foster burger, portland, sauce, sauce shock, SE, SO MUCH SAUCE, the blob (of sauce), the undertones, tons of fucking sauce
Listed Under: 7 - Real Good