PDX burgers: Slow Bar

i had to make the difficult decision last week of where my birthday burger would be -- there are 1000 PDX burgers on my hit list, but Slow Bar took the cake. i've had way too many people recommend it, and seen it pop up on so many burger best-of lists here, so it seemed inappropriate to live in Portland over a year and not try it. 

the burger was a 1/2 pound beast -- columbia river reserve beef, gruyere, onion rings, butter lettuce (mmm the best burger lettuce), pickle relish and aioli. i had to take an onion ring off cuz the burger was so dang tall i could barely eat it. it was nicely seasoned and insanely juicy -- i tilted the burger vertically the entire time i ate i so it held all the juice in, kind of like a little burger cup. that sounds gross, but it might be one of the better burger tricks i've learned in some time. each bite turned into a juicy burgery mouth party, and i saved a bit of the bun from becoming overrun with dat meat juice.

the pickle relish was a little bit of a distraction at times (i'm not a big pickle-person), and that was really the only mild flaw i could find (which isn't even so much of a flaw as it just is a personal preference). that said, overall all of the flavors in the toppings were really, really well balanced. the onion rings and fries were perfectly crisp and light even though i know they were unhealthy as hell. i ended up eating 4893840238003 fries more than i should have because they, as well as the aioli, were just so damn tasty. Slow Bar, i get it. i will be going back. 8/10. 

and - bonus - the cocktail list is amazing, and delightful as well!