by Jaime Vázquez for pdxguide.com
March 2007

In Portland terms, Tigard might as well be in Timbuktu. The township-that-could often gets lumped in with all of Portland’s other suburbs because it means (gasp!) going south of the Terwilliger curves. As suburbs go, though, Tigard is really Portland’s backyard, so exploring the culinary gems it has to offer usually only means a fifteen-minute car ride. And when you come across a place like George’s Giant Hamburgers, the trek is worth it.

George’s is a little yellow side-of-the-road burger joint on Highway 99W, right off of I-5 at exit 294. The décor is a bit of a throwback to yesteryear diners, so much so that when I pulled up for the first time I half expected a waitress on roller skates to appear. Walking in, I noticed the cleanliness of the dining room—a big step up from most fast food establishments—but what immediately got my attention was the mouthwatering smell of grease cooking. It was like a family summer cook-out, without the uncle burning the food and making bad jokes; the kind of smell that can make one instantly ravenous.

The main area of George’s is a small counter with a burger dressing bar, which barely conceals the grill in the back that’s always simmering and popping with fresh meat. The dressing bar lets you customize your hamburger however you want, offering fresh pickles, lettuce, relish, and all the usual suspects. While this is pretty standard stuff, the quality and freshness of the condiments are worth noting, because it’s not every day that the things you put on your hamburgers are as good as the burger itself.

We placed our orders, and by the time I was done I knew that I’d asked for way more food than I could eat at one sitting. Along with killer burgers, George’s makes milkshakes from scratch, fries up a mean basket of onion rings, and even serves fish and chips (although admittedly, the fish and chips did look a bit unsavory). They took our names and we found a spot in the dining room to wait, and I immediately started the game “Which part of my meal should I fill up on?” Absent-mindedly considering eating only half of my onion rings in order to save room for the burger, I realized that I’d killed my vanilla-chocolate milkshake in seconds flat. So much for pacing.

They called our names and we leapt out of our seats, immediately garnishing our 1/3-pounders and hurrying back to eat while everything was still warm. Third-pound burgers are fairly common in Portland, but for some reason, they seem just a little bigger at George’s—they require both hands to eat and more than a few napkins. They’re the kind of hamburgers that could turn a vegetarian: juicy, flavorful, and classic. I stopped only to lick my fingers, making sure they were clean enough to resume my grip.

Afterwards, I discovered the one drawback of eating at George’s Giant Hamburgers: I needed a nap after my chow-down. The food here begs stuffing oneself, so it’s hard not to gorge, and even harder not to feel near-comatose afterwards. A drawback perhaps, but a good sign nonetheless.

I’ve returned several times to George’s since my first time, and it’s always the same: packed to the gills (Tigard’s blue collar crowd comes in droves on lunches as well as evenings), affordable (a ten-spot will cover a glutton-fest), and an exercise in grease tolerance. These are the hallmarks of a great burger joint, though, and meat-lovers are well advised to give George’s a try. Even if it is in the ‘burbs.

The opinions expressed within are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of pdxguide.com or The Columbian Publishing Co.