Albany's Gold Burger Winner 2018

Our final blog in this 3-part series!!!  If you've been following us, you made it! 

I got into a debate with someone recently about our choices here, so I thought I would clarify one thing.  We did not base this experiment on restaurant reviews; this experiment was strictly grading the quality and taste of the burger itself in these establishments.  When we got down to our top burgers, we ordered them take-out style and ate them at home, away from the restaurant atmosphere, whatever that may have been.  We wanted to judge the burger in its own right.  So you may disagree with the restaurant experience you had at any place; the service, the light through the window....but trust us when we say the BURGER itself is judged apart from all of that.  At the end of the day, it's about the food.

Enough defending our choice, let's get this done!

The Golden Burger Statue Winner!  The #1 Burger in Albany, Oregon!  The Gold Medal goes to....

WILHELM'S!!!!

What we love about the Wilhelm's Burger:

The Lock Jaw

Where do we even begin!?  The patties for these burgers are hand formed, fresh every day and when the menu says it's 1/2 lb patty....they're talking about cooked weight, my friends.  That's a meaty burger.  Every time we order their burgers, they are consistently flavorful, juicy and cooked perfectly.  And we've tried nearly all of them, even the Lock Jaw.  Just look at that sexy meat monster!

And during this process, YES, we pulled burger out of the bun and ate it on its own to get the flavor and texture of the actual meat, so....trust us when we say we were thorough!

The Heart Stopper

When we sat down to speak with the owner of Wilhelm's, we were surprised to find out how many people were involved in the creation of this restaurant/bar who we all know and love from The Buzzsaw days.  These are people who have lived here for years and love our town.  Yes, our beloved Kenny has moved away but the food (which is what we're focused on here) has not changed from day #1.  When the menu was being developed, the owner requested one thing and one thing only: Whatever they serve, whatever is on the menu, make it good and make it the same way every time.  And Wilhelm's, WE NOTICED!  Consistency is key to food and they 100% have it mastered.

Wilhelm's Cheddar Burger

If you're a dainty eater, beware.  These juices will run down your wrist, drip from your chin and nestle under your wedding ring.  Your mouth is watering right now, isn't it?  Yes, the pickles are crunchy, the onion is fresh, and the tomato slices are not too thick and not too thin....and that cheddar cheese.....just look at these pictures.

Since this is our #1, we decided to include a menu of the burgers available for you so you can plan your next visit!  It's not a conspiracy, we blanked out the prices because menus change; this blog is forever.

You may argue that this is not a restaurant, it's a BAR!  Well, it's both.  We included bar burgers in our search because...they're local businesses and they deserved a shot at this!  It may be a bar, but it's clean, the kitchen staff knows what they're doing and the food here is more popular than you may imagine.  Like we mentioned, they do take-out orders so...if you really want the family to try these, you can make it work!

Side note:  Order the cajun tots....why these are so beloved is a mystery but .... they're wildly popular and just delicious.

The Blue Ox Burger
(No, the Blue Cheese does not
over-power this burger, it's
juuuuuust right.)

No, this isn't an organic burger.  After our Silver and Bronze burgers, you might have thought we would choose a grass-fed burger.  We did too.  But flavor and consistency count for everything!  Wilhem's makes a bad-ass burger and if you disagree, we think you should go have one to prove us wrong!

The Thing Review:

Our Things rated Wilhelm's as their #3 choice.  Now, they're all far from being old enough to eat in this establishment so .... take it for what it's worth.  Like we said, they flip-flopped our top three in their ranking.  We are still working on their palates; it's a work in progress.  But the kid vote counts for something, so there you have it.

So what does all of these even mean!?  Well, to sum it up as we would recommend a 'good burger place' in Albany .... For families, we definitely recommend First Burger as it was our Things' first choice.  Great people, good food, grass-fed...it's the perfect option.

If you're looking for more of an upscale ambiance with a good burger, head over to Frankie's!

If you are craving the BEST burger in Albany and nothing else will do, if you have friends visiting from out of town who insist you share with them the BEST that our town has to offer, you head to Wilhelm's and sit down for one of these divine beasts.

Old McDonald

Eat it slowly.

Savor it.

It's meant to be loved!!!

Congratulations, Wilhelm's!  You made this journey worth while for us!  After a really bad burger on this adventure, we would head to Wilhelm's to renew our faith in beef patties!!!  We will be back again and again and again....and we promise to try those ribs soon! ;-)

Albany's Silver Burger Winner 2018

Welcome back to our 3-part blog series on our Top 3 Burgers of Albany and our 130th blog post!!!  Last week we announced our Bronze Trophy Winner:  First Burger!  I hope you got out last week to show them some love and try their burgers for yourself.

This week we are introducing our Silver Trophy Winner!!!!  As of the publication of this blog, we had not heard back from our #2 restaurant.  If and when we do, we will update our post to include quotes and info from them directly. 

Please keep in mind that this is merely our opinion after tasting burgers for over a year and comparing several aspects.  We did not allow ourselves to include fast food or chain restaurants; we focused on local businesses because we love supporting our community. 

This has been a fun adventure, so we're glad you're sharing in this series with us.  Be sure to come back next week to see who was crowned the #1, Gold Medal Trophy Winner of our Best Burger of Albany!!!!!

So let’s get down to it with our #2 - The Silver Burger of Albany:

FRANKIE’S RESTAURANT!!

What we love about the Frankie’s Burger:

As with our BronzeWinner, grass-fed beef has a special place in our heart.  Frankie’s makes a juicy, pink burger cooked perfectly and they use a Bodhi Bakery bun, baked right here in Albany.  The freshness comes through without a doubt!  And those buns…
definitely our favorite of all the restaurants we visited. While we know that Frankie's is known for their fresh local cuisine, we would guess that most of you have probably not tried their burger!  We're here to tell you:  You should!

The Oregon Royal Burger

Frankie’s also has that hometown family vibe (family owned) along with incredible Albany memorabilia on the walls in the restaurant that you should definitely see. Frankie’s chose North Albany as their home and it’s the perfect location; convenient for North Albany residents who rarely get to go out on their own side of the river. 

The Bistro Burger w/onion

Frankie’s sources their ingredients locally and organically whenever possible and this is one restaurant in town that we trust impeccably when it comes to the quality of their food.  Seasonal means it’s grown fresh and locally…we can respect that!  They support our community both in sports, youth and activities and our local growers and farmers.  We love this chance to send them some love right back!

The Bistro Burger, Assembled

The Oregon Royal, Assembled

Note:  While Jen usually orders a salad with her burger, not fries, it has to be said that Brownifer always includes an order of Pork Belly fries when we get burgers at Frankie’s!  Truffle salt, pork belly, blue cheese….you won’t regret it.

Pork Belly Fries

The Thing Review:

The Brownifer Things chose Frankie’s as their 2nd choice as well!  Yes, our Things essentially flip-flopped our scores.  But they had a blast and their opinion counts!  As we said before, ALL of these burgers are amazing so they may have just been overwhelmed with the deliciousness on their plates!

Thing #5 Did what she does best with her Bistro burger - ordered it plain and added ketchup only.  A true children's burger!!!

We award Frankie’sRestaurant our Silver Burger Statue!  So this week, while you anxiously await the announcement of our #1 Burger in Albany, head into North Albany and try a Frankie’s Burger!!!  Take the family out, or pick up your order (they are surprisingly fast with to-go orders), but don’t forget the pork belly fries!!!!  Grass-fed.  Juicy.  Bodhi Bun.  Hungry yet?

Congratulations, Frankie’s!  We’ll see you soon!