Pilot Butte Drive In West Side

This review is about the service since we’ve only eaten here once.
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving we thought we’d have a late breakfast and recalled the highlight of our previous meal, the sausage links, at the West Side Pilot Butte Drive In.
While the man parked, I went into the restaurant to order (we were starving!). That’s when I saw the sign which reads something like «Breakfast served ONLY until 11 am». It was about 12:30.
This being only our second visit, we had no idea that they ONLY served breakfast until 11 am, especially since there are SO many restaurants in town who serve all day and we never would have thought «drive in» would be the exception.
Having read the sign, I was turning to walk back out but a girl at the counter called over to ask if they could assist me. I said «So breakfast is over then?», she replied «Yes, sorry», and I said «Ok thanks, we really wanted breakfast» and started to leave…
That’s when it happened, the reason for this review. As I pushed the door open to leave, an older man behind the counter loudly scoffed at me and said «Can’t she see the sign?!» «Obviously there’s no breakfast!!» and continued to talk smack about me as I left.
Here’s the deal. I’m NOT an idiot. I DID see the sign (but even if I didn’t…). I COULD have just walked out.
But instead, 100% because the counter girl was attentive and friendly, I decided not to walk out and instead gave them a chance to lure me in. The restaurant was more or less empty so in reality they could have sold us breakfast, IF they wanted to (don’t give me the grill space excuse). They could have even tried to sell me lunch!
But NO. Instead I was berated, insulted and I simply walked out. I don’t know that I ever wish to return, seeing how the staff truly feels about their customers! No food is good enough for me to tolerate and disregard that kind of callous treatment and I think about it every single time we are in that parking lot, which is several times a week.
I feel it necessary to say here — because we all know that profiling is alive and well — that I am not your «typical» noontime breakfast seeker: e.g. a hung over college kid or stoner looking for a cheap meal (which this isn’t). I am a late 30’s woman, a local business owner and community contributor, who was nicely dressed and ready to spend money in this establishment. Which makes me think that this place has a whole other problem coming when the college opens…
By the way, breakfast is delicious ANY time of day and beloved by people of all walks of life and I will continue to bypass your restaurant for others that welcome our patronage at any hour.

I love this location! It is really close to my work so I can pop in whenever I am hungry and get some tasty food. The malt shake is amazing, the fries are amazing, and since I’m a vegetarian they are more than accommodating when it comes to making a special burger for me. The staff is so friendly as well. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Meh. Over priced, food was half decent, took the better part of the winter solstice to have my burger and salad delivered to the table. Wasn’t even busy. Been here 7 times, and I’m done.

Delicious burgers for a decent price! Spent the weekend in the area with my girlfriend and this place had the best burgers by far. Try the garlic cheese fries, they are to die for.

Had to try these burgers after reading about them. They were delicious! We were starving after being on the river and made it through most of our food. I had a 6 oz 100% angus cheeseburger piled with veggies and fresh home baked bun-​$ 8.95 and didn’t even come with fries. Hubs had the gigantic Tavern burger which also had –bacon, ham, egg and 2 cheeses on it (ugh) for $ 14.95 and included fries-​which by the way were tasty. The food was good and made fresh but the prices are just too high for burgers which brought down my rating. We split a chocolate shake — $ 5.25 which was also huge and tasted ok but I was hoping for that old fashion creamy chocolate kind of Shake.

WE love this place and have been there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What you see is what you get regarding the atmosphere. The food is why you should go there, everything is awesome and filling. The food and priced right and there is pleanty of room for large groups. Just a little caution, when ordering, you may want to ask about the portion sizes, everything is big and yummy!!!

We tried and liked the Pilot Butte Drive-​In on the east side, so we thought we’d try this one. Tables were a bit greasy and could use a wiping down, and you’re required to bus your own tables.
I tried the fried zucchini and the pastrami sandwich. The sandwich was tasty but the quality of the pastrami was like Oscar Meyer deli cuts or something. I don’t know why I was expecting homemade pastrami, but if it’s just processed pastrami, I feel like it shouldn’t be a $ 10 sandwich. The zucchini was crisp and a huge portion — I ended up taking most of it home. It was pretty good but I also wanted to try the fried mushrooms, and for the price (about $ 5.50) I couldn’t try both. I wish they would do a combo or offer smaller portions for a bit less.
My boyfriend had the Hawaiian burger, which he said was really tasty but just too big to hold comfortably, and too messy. Once you bite into it, you can’t put it back down because all sorts of sauce and juice runs out into your basket, and the lettuce and tomatoes start sliding… Their burgers always look delicious when they come out, all fresh and topped with all sorts of yummy stuff, but just too huge to be practical. Once you get into it, it becomes a giant mess that makes you look like a little toddler with no fine motor skills.
Service is excellent and the girl at the counter was really friendly and efficient. We might go back in the future to try other items on the menu, but it’s not our favorite place.

I liked this place. The people were friendly and flexible. I came in at 6:20 on a weeknight for food to go. They close at 7. It was not super busy and our food was ready pretty quickly. The place itself is bright and cheerful. There is inside and outdoor seating.
We got:
A gardenburger with cheese, dry, no onions. It had lots of pickles on it which made the tween happy. The lettuce and tomato were especially nice. She gave those to me.
A patty melt on rye. It comes with grilled onions anda lot of green chiles. It was wraped in foil. I think it steamed in there, it was a tad on the wet side. But it tasted good. I thought it needed more cheese maybe.
A large fries. Yummy and crispy. Not too salty. Perfect really. More than we needed.
A large chocolate shake split in two cups. Just the right amount for us. He was nice about that. Shake was creamy and delicious
The nice man offered fry sauce, ranch, or ketchup and asked how much we needed. There are places in Portland that are super stingy with this or dole it out like a truffle. …I was pleasantly impressed by the generosity. Sweet.
We liked it.

I like this place! Burgers are great but the Chicken fried steak breakfast is amazing. I would suggest asking for the gravy on the side so the chicken fried steak stays nice and crisp. Just sayin’.

Fishy burgers. Yuck. Yes, you read that right.
For starters, I love Pilot Butte on the east side (the original location). Love it, as it has always been consistently delicious.
I was very excited when they opened the west side location and my first few experiences were good. Then it started happening… my burger would strangely smell of fish. Just a whiff of it at first, but by the time I was halfway into the burger I couldn’t even stand to eat it. It tasted disgustingly fishy and as hungry as I was, I had to throw it away. Figuring it may have been a fluke, I went back. This burger was good. So I get takeout again, a month or so later, and again that disgusting fish smell and flavor. Fishy fish, not even good fish (not that you want fishiness at all in a burger).
Without tipping her off, I asked my girlfriend to smell my burger and asked what it smelled like. «Gross, that smells like fish!» was her immediate reaction. I was starving, but again had to toss my burger as it was too foul to ingest.
Apparently they also sell fish sandwiches, and they must cook them on the same grill or store them too close together, or something, because the burgers are sometimes just nasty fishy. I can’t go back again. To the manager of West Side Pilot Butte, you need to fix this ASAP because you are ruining your excellent reputation in burgers for a fish sandwich that I doubt anybody even cares about. A real shame.
[update 6/​5/​2015] I just want to add that I *did* bring this to the on-​duty manager’s attention but he was incredulous and offered no resolution. A year later I still have not been back.

Meh.
Everybody raves about Pilot Butte Burgers, but the few times I’ve been there, the burgers have been really greasy. Like, when you chew it, you can feel the grease squishing out into your mouth.
For me, it’s worth a dollar two more to go to Bend Burger Company. I never get that greasy taste there.

Hearty, tasty burgers! Hand formed 6 oz burgers, with tasty condiments & buns. I had the Ortega burger with mild grilled chilis, jack cheese and sautéed onions: very satisfying. Eight year-​olds & older easily finished their enormous burgers, but the extra fries (ordered separately) went largely unfinished. Fries were OK, but tasted like reheated frozen ones from the grocery store. Kids liked the thousand island fry sauce.
Big thumbs up for the shakes. Real ice cream, and the chocolate & strawberry flavors weren’t too sweet and just the right thickness to slowly drink through a straw.
Easily one of the best burgers we’ve had in town!

My soon to be wife and a gaggle of our friends stopped by a few weeks ago, before heading off to the hills, for some late breakfast fare. What a disappointment. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak and Oh My Gluttony God! When our order came out mine was on two big ass plates; the steak on one and the eggs and hashbrowns on the other. At first I thought this was going to be a blessed feast I could enjoy now and take the rest home for later, but sadly, after about the fourth bite of the steak I was becoming repulsed by it. I’d wager that ²⁄₃ of that steak was breading and the ground beef inside was nothing special. I ended up picking the breading off and trying to make my way through the meat but I gave up. Hey, I spent some time in Africa years ago so I try my best to appreciate what I have and finish what’s been prepared for me, so sue me. Also, to note, I never pick through my food as I like to experience a dish the way the cook intended… but like I said, this was just inedible. The other plate was better. The eggs were cooked perfect to order, over medium, but were slathered in grease. The hash browns were your normal, run-​of-​the-​mill, diner variety. I got tired of the taste and even tried to zip things up by adding Cholula to them to punch up the ketchup. If there wasn’t a half-​plate size portion of them, they would have been fine but Jesus, really?

A burger at Pilot Butte Drive-​In is a must-​do for my family every time we’re in Bend, so I was curious to check out the Westside location that opened in 2011. This second location is in a strip mall, but is light and bright, quite a contrast to the original location on Greenwood, with a mixture of counter seating and booths inside as well as a large outdoor patio.
Even though they have a large banner proclaiming they are open for breakfast and have an expanded menu, Pilot Butte is still all about the burger. For me, a perfect mix of beef (6 oz. patty) and toppings. A meal usually rounded out by one of their shakes and fries to share.
I don’t know if you can still call yourself a «Drive In» if there is no drive-​in at this particular location, but the food is just as good. I have to admit that part of the fun is eating at the original location and then driving up to Pilot Butte to take in the gorgeous view of Central Oregon. But, if you crave one of their burgers, this is a great way to experience their food without the nostalgia. It also meant that my trip to their original location seemed much less crowded than usual. We all win!