Charburger Country

Charburger was always a mainstay growing up, many many visits to my great grandparents house in hood river would include dinner at the Charburger.

We would watch my tiny hundred and 10 pounds great grandpa eat his bodyweight in food at this tasty place.

We would usually visit the cascade locks location but every now and then we would be at this spot - so on the road trip I was on my group and I stopped in to get some lunch.

The food was freshly made and served with a smile by the awesome staff at the Charburger.

While we are waiting for our meals we wandered around to look at some of the historic photographs and old stoves and irons and other historic pieces that are kept in the restaurant.

The view at this location isn't as nice as the one at cascade locks as it is right over the river however it's well worth your time to visit and get something to eat.

The burger patties are straight off a Sysco mass distribution truck and the fries are frozen fries. So, nothing fancy or special happening here. There is also a very sketchy-looking old-school salad bar off in the corner when you walk in that just makes me fear for my health and safety.

On the plus side: The staff is so nice and they are hustling! They keep the tables bussed, check in on people, and are smiling. That goes a long way!

Have passed by here since I was a kid and always wondered if this place was any good. Today we stopped. The place is a bit dated and the food was nothing to write home about. Overall it was clean but I noticed some black specks in the salt shaker. On closer examination we could see that they were ants. We opened the top and there were quite a few up around the lid. We checked three other tables and noticed they all had ants in the salt. The shakers were full and I am not sure how somebody could not see them when they filled them. They did give us some new fries and changed out the salt shakers. All in all I probably will not go back.

A sunny day, driving East through Oregon's gorge, majestic waterfalls on my left, the Columbia River on my right.....and billboards everywhere touting the wisdom and benefit of taking a lunch at Charburger Country in Hood River. Who am I to argue?

I pull off the ramp and into the parking lot, where the sign says "great food, better stop". It must be "better" as the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet next door is suffering from a parking lot completely empty.

Charburger Country is a fairly large place, with ample seating for tour buses, it would seem. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while specializing in charburgers, it has a fairly large menu, including breakfast, and a tastefully appointed salad bar as well.

Today's special is Chicken Fried Steak, so I am faced with the dilemma of choice. DAMMIT!

I peruse the menu of burgers, and I spot it - man, I love with some of my favorite foods are combined (except that dreaded coney island pizza in Wichita), so before me, the choice is easy: The DipBurger, a charred burger on a french roll with au jus. Fries come with it, and for some reason which I cannot fathom, I also opt for a bowl of chili.

I go with onions and cheese on the chili, of course, and the stewardess gives me the cup on a tray, and two packs of genuine Saltines, a bottle of water, and I go sit in the back room, which has large windows and is sunny. Should I have chosen to, I could have passed my time playing Keno, but the sun was glaring on the TV screen and I couldn't have seen if I had won, anyway.

On the way to the table, I pass the burger condiment bar, chock-a-block full of tasty toppings, every kind of squirty sauce, onions, several peppers, kraut, pickles, relish, veggies, nicely filled trays, and a clean presentation. "Well, I'll have to go back when the burger comes," I think.

I dive into the chili and it's very nice. It may have been doctored up out of a can, they may have made it, I don't know, it has a nice cumin flavor, and irregular sized chunks of beef, which makes me think maybe it was made in-house. It was ladled up from a crock pot behind the register, and my only complaint (and this is an odd one from me), is it could have been a little hotter (temp). But no skimping on quality here, with real Saltines on the side, and not some poor institutional food service substitute!

My burger arrives, and I examine is from all perspectives, taste the au jus. The very obviously hand-formed patty has a nice char, is lean, and has a lather of American on it, perched on a French roll. The rest of the design is left up to me, should I choose to head back to the condiment bar.

The au jus is the standard powder or concentrated kind, which is actually fine with me, it's what I prefer.

I dip the burger, and get a nice bite of a juice soaked bun, crispy beefy burger patty, and creamy American. Nice. One minor carp, fries were a little undercooked. No big deal.

It was a good choice to stop here, I've driven by it many times, never at the right time of day. But having been there, now I know anytime is the right time of day at Charburger Country. No website, and they did not have takeaway menus.

Fish & chips or hamburgers.

Either way, it's very casual.

Stand in line to place your order ...

The only real problem; the sign says free wi-fi.... but its password protected and when you ask for the password they tell you, 'we don't have wi-fi'!

Breakfast.
Do you love breakfast? Do you love a giant breakfast with eggs, pork, hash browns, biscuits, gravy and off the hook green sauce? Come here. Get a patty splatty. Omg. Delicious. My husband had the country Benedict which was also very excellent. I don't know how people could say this place is overpriced when a fast food been fast costs six bucks. I thought this place was totally worth it. I left stuffed and could even finish everything!

So look, it's along side the Interstate so right there you need to recalibrate your expectations a little. The one thing that overwhelms me is the fact that the place is just so over the top decorated it's like the Country Music Channel exploded all over the walls. However, if you think about it, the place is basically for travelers, it is interesting and entertaining for kids who have been locked in a car since the last fuel stop in Pendleton or Le Grande, so maybe it works on that level.

Charburger is not my first choice for places to eat in Hood River, but I was in a rally that ran the whole day around the Mt Hood area, so I was already pretty hungry and was lowering my expectations to somewhere between road kill and less than choice cuts of beef. Our group pretty much overwhelms the place and we expect long lines and long waits. However this time we walked in and there was hardly a line at all. The owners had gotten very smart and installed a buffet option for us. It looked pretty good too. Since I was bounced all over the rally car all day an unlimited supply of food seemed like a great idea. I coughed up $12.95 and with plate in hand set to lay world of hurt on some chicken and ribs.

So, yeah, I can hear you thinking out loud about the food quality, but I was surprised that aside from a few little things it was an really good hearty meal for some hungry people. In a vegetable steamer try was an assortment of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and something else. The cauliflower was very good. Next was either twice baked potato halves or scalloped potatoes. A huge bin of fried chicken and a huge bin of half slabs of ribs along side some darn tasty biscuits and a fully stocked salad bar and some dessert items. All in all, for $12.95 it was a pretty good deal. Maybe this place isn't that bad afterall.

Had not been here since the last total eclipse, and that was long before Yelp was born. Until today, I had never tried their burgers, and was THAT ever a waste of 30+ years! I had their Deluxe Burger (2/3 patty, bacon, tomato, BB sauce on a six-inch bun) and a Black Raspberry shake, and both were stunning. In fact, it is the first burger in my 65 years of experience that I couldn't quite finish! It came with krinkle-cut fries and two huge onion rings. The condiments are left to you at a small buffet and featured pretty much everything you'd want on a burger.

The service was fast and friendly, the place is very clean and decorated with historic photos of the area and points of interest. You can do worse for lunch in Hood River, but I seriously doubt you can do better.

Don't complain about your food here even if comes with melted plastic in it. They also think that it ok to serve pancakes raw in the middle and traditional French toast has corn flakes on it!!! When I complained I was asked to step away from the counter so others could not hear. And the manger called me anal!! All a bit odd.

Always stop here on our trips down the gorge. Taste is delicious and prompt service. Best fresh milkshakes and malts ever!