Burgerville

Where have you been all my life, Burgerville? My mom, Scott, and I chanced upon Burgerville on our first trip to Albany (about 15 minutes west of Lebanon). We were hungry, looking for a place to stop and eat lunch, and Burgerville happened to be the first fast food restaurant we saw. It was destiny!

First a little background: Burgerville is a chain of restaurants in Washington and Oregon, which would explain why I have never seen nor eaten here until moving to Lebanon. Burgerville's mission statement really says it all "Fresh - Local - Sustainable." All of Burgerville's packaging is recyclable/recycled materials. Ingredients are sourced locally and efforts are made for sustainable farming and eating practices. Burgerville is also very involved in local charities and environmental causes. With a mission like that, and good tasting food to boot, I began to wonder how many tree huggers have turned carnivore under Burgerville's roof.

I knew we had hit gold even from the parking lot, where there were signs for fresh Alaskan halibut (not farmed, they were specific), farm fresh salads, the season special featuring local strawberry desserts, and Tillamook Cheeseburgers. Even though I was already professing love based on the advertisements, I decided I would take a bite first before blogging about the place. I saw, I ate, I blogged. Fantastico! They even show your order's caloric intake on your receipt (mine reported minus 17 calories for requesting no ketchup on my Tillamook cheeseburger)!

I can't say enough good things about Burgerville! At our anniversary Burgerville lunch Scott said to me, "I don't know why you like this place so much. The burger isn't much better than Burger King." Blasphemous! He said it had to be mostly psychological due to my great love and bias towards Tillamook. He continued to think unreasonable thoughts, all the way up until he tried their fresh strawberry shake. Better than any he's had before, he said. He even liked it better than my fresh strawberry shortcake, topped with nonfat frozen yogurt.

Is your mouth watering yet? Though the meal will cost more than the typical fast food restaurant, Burgerville's spread is definitely worth the visit. It is my new restaurant of choice when eating out in Albany! And Burgerville is celebrating their 50th anniversary by having parties throughout the summer and fall at each of their restaurant locations. Albany's party is scheduled for October 22. Happy Birthday, Scott! We're going to Burgerville!!