Visit date: July 21, 2012
So much hope; so much potential; so disappointing. When the Sunset Highway is jammed up in the morning I sometimes take Multnomah Blvd to Barbur and pass this cute little burger joint. And back in the day when the kids were little we'd go to the Humdinger near Sunset High School. But before you can get the question out of your mouth "are the 2 Humdingers related?" you get a curt "No". I guess they've been asked that question a few times. Apparently they were related about 45 years ago, but not today.It was only three of on this day: Howard, John, and Jay. Jay missed out on our last couple of visits because he was up at Hood Canal. Since he was in town, we wanted to make sure we could get out. Ray and Norm were travelling.
 |
| Looks like a perfect burger joint |
 |
| Just 4 tables inside. More seating outside. |
 |
| Look at all that bacon! Too bad it tasted bad. Greasy fries and notice the cheese that broke in half. |
 |
| Looks good. But in actuality. Not so much. |
The Oregonian Top 10 Classic Burger had this place rated 7th, which is about right; but had them above Stanich's and Dea's In-And-Out. No way.
Ratings
Burger
John
Nothing great about this one. Bad 'american' cheese (two of them.) Not good to start with and not melted. The sesame bun was dry. Skimpy amount of shredded lettuce. Mayo is the special sauce. Tomato was there. The patty was dry. This was a bacon burger and this is where, I guess, the management tries to make up for the rest of it. This thing had a fistful of it sitting on top of all the rest. Usually I wouldn't complain, but there was too much of it, it wasn't particularly flavorful, and it was over-cooked a bit, really curled up, increasing the size of the whole thing. Overpriced mediocrity.
Jay
IThe huge burger was all flash (It looked really good at a distance) and no form. American cheese (or maybe it was Velvetta Cheese) makes better trout bait than burger cheese. The 6 strips of bacon were too much and over cooked. There was no secret sauce and the meat was dry - a solid 3.
Howard
All show, no go. Looked good at first with a huge pile of bacon. But on further review the bacon was charred and hard. The American cheese was poor quality and non at all melted on the burger. Bun was a little stale. All in all just a crummy hamburger. I didn't even finish.
Side
John
Crinkle cut french fries. Nice color. The centers were mushy. Okay taste.
Jay
Just your average tots.
Howard
Okay tots.
Drink
John
Chocolate shake. Soft serve ice cream. Plenty of syrup. Good taste. Overpriced.
Jay
It was a really good soft ice cream root beer float. It came with extra root and adequate ice cream.
Howard
It was nice that I got an extra cup of root beer to add to the ice cream as I made my way through the float. Hard ice cream would have been better.
Atmosphere
John
Kind of a cool, older, roadside burger joint. Homemade, DIY decor. Very compact, yet lots of seating, in and outside. Clean.
Jay
The outside tables, benches and umbrella poles were sticky. The old plates used for baskets were unique.
Howard
Definitely a summer place; just 4 tables inside and a few outside spots. This could have been rated 4 or 5 for ambience, but the tables were totally grimy.
Service
John
Nothing special
Jay
The counter guy was friendly and had a good patter. The service was very slow. It took about 30 minutes for our order to appear.
Howard
Long wait; cashier wasn't rude but had a bit of an attitude
Overall
John
It was a beautiful day. The place was okay. The meal was not.
Jay
The meal was entertaining, but the food wasn't part of the entertainment. It was interesting to check out one the Oregonian's top burger joints. The overall dining experience was average.
Howard
I had such high hopes but they were dashed to the ground like so many helpless puppies. OregonLive had this place ranked 7th. I'd rank it at the bottom of the places we visited, maybe tied with Mike's Drive-In.
Sounds like you boys didn't like this place. Not sorry I missed this trip. - ng
ReplyDelete