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!

Stick a Pork In It - Lebanon, OR (Review)

Someone Brownie works with recommended we try Stick a Pork In It.  They're a food truck in Lebanon, usually parked in the Mega Foods parking lot on Main Street.

We have eaten here on a couple of occasions and the food was consistently delicious!  Brownie is a pulled pork aficionado and  he will be the first to tell you that this is some good pork!  "I thought it had a good smoke flavor, wasn't dry, and was evenly pulled."

I am a huge fan of Brownie's pulled pork, I just don't think it gets any better.  But this truck definitely has their pork down to an art! Now, if you've driven by and rolled your eyes thinking, 'another BBQ truck?' - that's not what this is!  This is about pork and they play with it well!

Cuban Sandwic

There aren't a lot of places locally to order a Cuban Sandwich, so if you stop by here, be sure to try theirs!  It's done the traditional way with sliced pork loin, ham, swiss cheese, mustard and pickles and it's really good!  I love that they have this twist on their menu!

We've tried just about everything on the truck by now and we have our favorites! Thing #5 refuses to eat BBQ because it 'tastes like smoke'.  But the rest of us who've eaten it definitely have an opinion!

Pork Tacos w/Cilantro Lime Slaw

Porkadilla with BBQ Sauce

Traditional BBQ Sandwich

Brownie and I both agree that if you have to order just one thing, you really must try the pork tacos with their signature cilantro lime slaw!  It's a flavor punch with just the right amount of spice that compliments the pork perfectly and we can't get enough!

Thing #3 highly recommends the Porkadilla with BBQ sauce - he said it was 'Heaven.'  Thing #4 cleared his throat and asked about their Dad's BBQ.  Thing #3 quickly added, 'Well, except for your barbecue, Dad!'  Have I mentioned how smart our Things are!?  :-)

The traditional BBQ sandwich is also there if you're really craving BBQ but in our humble opinion - it's not the best thing on the menu - we recommend branching out!

We have also tried the strawberry lemonade blended and unblended, Brownie prefers it blended so the muddled strawberries don't block his straw, I prefer it unblended; I'll happily deal with muddled strawberries on my own. 

We will be returning often I'm sure; we still have not been able to try the Cuban Potato Ball.  In true food truck fashion, they run out before we get there.  So they must be good!

We rate our restaurants on our Brownifer scale and I feel like it must be mentioned that one of the areas where they scored a 5 was customer service!  They have proven that they love their business and their customers are their #1 priority!  Trust us, they will feed you well, keep you happy and coming back for more!

On our Brownifer Scale, Stick a Pork In It came out with a 4-Star rating!  It's well worth trying out and making one of your go-to BBQ stops!  We don't even want to hear how far the drive to Lebanon is.  It's worth it.  Just go!

Sybaris Bistro - Albany, Oregon (Review)

Sybaris Bistro - Albany, Oregon

A Brownifer Review

An impulsive decision to have dinner out on our kid-free night of this week brought us to Sybaris Bistro.  We have been wanting to try this restaurant for some time now, always checking the ever-changing menu and wondering if we
could afford to truly experience what it had to offer on a budget.  Tonight we decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it!  Sybaris opened in October of 2001, why we've waited this long to visit is truly beyond us.

I'm pleased to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our evening and we can't wait to share it with you!

The first thing I noticed when we approached the building was how quiet it seemed.  Brownie wondered if they were even open, but when we opened the doors, the bustling of the dining room burst upon us. While we waited to be seated, we found a series of books on a table by the door with old photos of Albany over the past century and beyond, which we promptly snatched up and began exploring.  Not only was this space the infamous Anderson Sporting Goods where we bought our letterman jackets in high school, but exploring these books and the history of Albany taught us that it was also originally the site of a mechanic's garage!  Love our town.

We were lucky enough to be seated by the wood-burning fireplace, which was beautiful and set the mood for a special evening out.  We were even permitted to bring the photo books with us :-)

Sybaris has a unique menu that changes with the seasons.  The owners pride themselves on sourcing their ingredients from Oregon; what comes to the table is what happens to be locally available at the time.  This clearly showcases the bistro's identity in the straight-forward one-page menu.  Which is one thing that always made me nervous about this restaurant: I am not a fan of winter vegetables.  Silly?  Maybe.

Once we had ordered, we enjoyed our homemade bread (made in-house daily) and butter while we waited for drinks.  I scanned the walls and noticed that they showcase local artists and at this time, they have a variety of paintings by a local woman covering quite a bit of space.  It was beautiful.

Scottish cold smoked salmon,
traditional garnishes, rye crackers

We chatted and enjoyed the atmosphere while waiting for our appetizers, then enjoyed our salmon and a salad we'd ordered to share.  Our waitress, who just happened to be one of the owners, let us taste some red wines she recommended to pair with our menu choices and we each chose a glass.

Antipasti salad- mixed greens, marinated mushrooms,
salami, cheese, garbanzo beans and a hard-boiled egg

I will take this time to mention the service, as this is the point where I began to notice that I was impressed. Brownie will tell you I'm a service snob when it comes to dining.  Now, I can eat with my hands, man-handle a sloppy burrito from a food truck and gladly carry my own plastic utensils to a picnic table to enjoy a wide range of delicious food BUT...when I dine out and I'm expecting to shell out some Benjamins for an amazing meal, I do have my own expectations.  I like the experience to be thoughtlessly blissful.  By this I mean, I want to talk and sip my wine and enjoy the food and flavors and conversation and I don't want to have to think of a thing regarding my meal other than getting it into my mouth.  That being said, Sybaris is one of the good ones!  While we were finishing our salad, we were brought the silverware we would each need for our main courses.  And I fell in love. For the rest of the meal, I didn't have to ask for a thing.  My water was always full, she forgot nothing and I got to sit back and just enjoy everything from start to finish.

Veal chop parmigiana, bucatini, red sauce
& plenty of cheese

When the main courses did arrive, they smelled delicious. Brownie ordered the veal chop parmigiana, which turned out to be a monstrous bone-in chop that would make Fred Flintstone drool. Truly a man's delight.  He did let me taste it, however, and it was scrumptious. The sauce had one spice that Brownie couldn't quite pinpoint, I suspect he will be rifling through our spice cabinet tomorrow.  While we were discussing the plating of the food, I asked Brownie if his dish was visually pleasing.  His answer:  Is Italian food ever really plated with that in mind?  No, it really isn't.

Lentil cassoulet with duck confit, lightly cured pork,
garlic sausage, winter vegetables

I ordered the Cassoulet and with three kinds of meat and winter vegetables, it's pretty difficult to incorporate much color and variety.  But my dinner was full of flavor and and seasoned very well.  Upscale comfort food that incidentally paired amazingly well with the cabernet I had chosen.

Creme Brulee ice cream w/caramel

Dessert?  Why yes, please!  Brownie had the creme brulee ice cream and I had the chocolate souffle - both a perfect ending to our meal.  We shared a cup of coffee with dessert, which was piping hot and perfectly brewed.  We sipped away and looked through the books at the table next to the crackling fire, marveling at how Albany had changed over the years.  Our waitress made sure to let us know about a walking/driving tour available by map through the Albany Visitor's Association and even pulled it up on her phone to show us.  I truly felt like I'd had a local experience during my time in this dining room!

Valrhona dark chocolate soufflé,
red berry love potion

Sybaris offers Albany a Portland-esque dining experience without having to travel out of town.  With locally-sourced ingredients, fresh baked daily bread, the owners serving and befriending their guests and small Albany touches everywhere you look, this restaurant is a foodie's paradise.  I dare any Portlandia cast member to ask anything about any of the food on the menu.  I would bet money they knew the name of the duck that was served in my bowl.

If you're looking for a romantic evening out, a comfortable spot to dine and visit, or you've been curious about Sybaris but trepidatious about making a reservation ... it's time to book your visit now.  The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, the staff is beyond amazing, and the food will surprise you in the most delectable ways.  Yes, the menu is pricier than many others in town but we went all out and when our check came, we were surprised that we hadn't spent more.  The portions are very generous and you will likely come away with leftovers when you leave.

With our scoring system, we gave this visit 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.  We can't wait to visit again in the spring during the height of seasonal fruits and vegetables to see what Chef Matt Bennett has in store! Brownie is also dying to try the seafood tower, which requires three days notice - so we'll have to make a reservation for that one sometime!  We love that Albany is becoming a foodie haven with so many options popping up everywhere.  All we can say is, more please!