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!

Albany's Bronze Burger Winner 2018

Welcome to our 3-part blog series on our Top 3 Burgers of Albany!!!  This has been a fun, interesting and long journey!  You can’t just eat burgers every day and slap out a declaration of ‘Best Burger in Albany’.  We respect our arteries.  As of the publication of this blog, we had not heard back from our top 3, but if and when we do, we will update our posts to include quotes and info from them directly.

We took our time with this project, carefully rated the burgers, in some cases went back more than once to be sure and, of course, had Things 2, 3, 4, & 5 do a blind taste test of our final three for you.  So yes, you will get the kid’s perspective as well.  This was definitely a family effort!!!! 

We will be sharing one blog with you each week until we reach #1!!!  Take the journey with us each week; visit and enjoy these burgers and the quality put into them!  Please keep in mind that we love ALL of these burgers and we will repeatedly enjoy them all! BUT…  they had to be ranked, so we got down and did it.

So let’s get started with our #3 - The Bronze Burger of Albany:

FIRST BURGER!!!!!

What we love about the First Burger:

The Iron Woman with a 50/50 patty

We just can’t get enough of a burger restaurant that uses grass-fed beef.  The flavor of grass-fed beef is just…amazing.  We love knowing our family is eating healthy meat, that is probably our #1 goal with every meal we make and order while dining out (ideally). There is also nowhere else in town that offers the option for a 50% Beef / 50% Bacon patty or a 100% Buffalo patty!

The Smoke Stack

The local factor is huge for us, we love supporting local businesses!  This restaurant is locally owned, and located in our beloved growing downtown district that is quickly becoming a foodie paradise.  (no complaints here, Albany!)  They also use local ingredients whenever possible.  The produce on the burgers is always so fresh; it’s like eating a burger made at home.  (and we make some mean burgers)  Local growers, bakers…..this restaurant supports our valley, our state, and we support them!

Since First Burger is (obviously) a burger-centric restaurant, their variety is to die for.  Thing #5 loves their milkshakes, I love their fry sauce (dreamy - try it with the onion rings!) and their specials are incredible.  So many burgers to try, so little time!!!!  They know burgers and they know how to play with food…a perfect pair!

The Thing Review:

The Iron Woman, Assembled

The overall consensus among our Things was that First Burger was their FIRST choice!  Yes, friends, these burgers are not only kid-approved, they are kid-preferred!  Keep in mind, they tasted them blindly and went on flavor alone.  So be sure to take the kids with you, because they are going to LOVE these burgers!  Bonus:  we mentioned the grass-fed beef, right?

We award First Burger our Bronze Burger Statue!  So this week, while you wait for the announcement of our #2-rated burger, head downtown and try a First Burger!!!  Take the family, order take-out…whatever works for you,  but throw them some love because they are doing grass-fed burgers RIGHT!

The Fatty Melt - 50/50 patty between
2 grilled cheese sandwiches!

Congratulations, First Burger!  We’ll be back!









The Silver Burger winner has been announced as well, check it out HERE!