Charburger Country

We stopped here last week after a day of hiking up in the snow and we were craving burgers the whole time. There were 3 of us and we couldn’t stop raving about how amazing the burgers were. They are a bit spendy but honestly, completely worth it. They have a condiment bar where you choose what to add to your burger, which to me, was a nice change from the norm where they just pile it on your plate even if you may not want it.
I had the ¼lb bacon cheeseburger with pepper jack cheese and added jalapeño.
O, and how could I forget the fries! They were also great!
I definitely recommend this place and will be back next time I make it out that way!

Over-​priced, mediocre food. They were out of pulled pork, but the cashier didn’t know it until I had already ordered and paid. The mushroom Swiss burger had mushrooms that were basically raw. The salad bar was full of mayonnaise-​based concoctions and not worth the $ 5.95 we paid.
It was quick and the fries were good, but we won’t go back.

Stopped over on the way to the Dalles for a bite. Lots to choose from. They smoke their own meat on premises-​tri tip, roast beef, etc. Tried the Bacon, avocado, swiss burger. Solid, juicy, and delicious. My best friend Phil got the Philly cheese steak. Says it was tender but not sloppy, vegetables still had crispness. Portions were good not overdone. This is a solid choice for anyone and love the ambiance of old equipment from back in the day.

I am a local and always went for breakfast. But now, the food is not good. Staff not trained, 4 other people in the restaurant and it took almost 40 minutes for my cold omelette to arrive and then it was not the type I had ordered. It is old, dark and needs a good up-​date. I will not be returning. There are a lot of really neat restaurants in Hood River to eat.

I hate to complain, but this place is terrible for breakfast. The omelet was made with tasteless eggs, the hash browns were a soggy mess. No one in our party finished, except the guy that eats at mcdonalds 5x a week.

Thank you Unilocalers! I googled this place after reading the reviews and found that people in the little town of Hood River really don’t care for this place. Also there is a boycott page on Facebook that seems to have been started from a disgruntled customers and an ex employee. I checked the page out, and there are some funny messages back and forth with the admin and the owners, that were quite explicit on the management’s part. Really shows what kind of people they are. I’m not going to even taking the chance eating here, but we did stop to look at the antique farm equipment. 1 star for the antique farm equipment.

Horrible service. After waiting 30 minutes for food they forgot my order. They said number 63 hadn’t been given out all day… even though he remembered taking my orders. Their kitchen operation is disorganized and their cook is weak on multitasking orders which caused major backups.

No. At least for breakfast. The second star is for the maple bar, otherwise one star. I think this establishment needs to go. I think they have survived on being easy to find for travelers for far too long. I have had the burgers a while back, but they left me wanting. If you are hungry for breakfast, save yourself the disappointment and just go to McDs. You know what you are getting there, it is cheap and it doesn’t pretend to be something that it isn’t.

So it’s not fancy, but it doesn’t pretend to be! I can only comment on the breakfast food – but I was really happy with that. You’ve got to try a maple bar! And my waffle and bacon were also great. I look forward to coming back.

I’ll echo another reviewer’s statement by saying, «I really wanted to love this place.»
Driving back from central Washington to see customers is a brutal experience on the best of days — and I really wanted a throwback to my youth when my parents took my sister and I on road-​trips; charcoal-​grilled burgers and extra-​crispy fries with homemade onion-​rings, and…
You get the idea. If you’re looking for that experience here, move on. If you’d like to know the rest, the detail follows.
First off, I’m a sucker for kitschy places like this in the middle of nowhere. If done right, they’re usually owned by a couple of old ganks who cleaned out their attic for ‘décor’, and put the extended-​family to work in the kitchen. Usually, in places like this, the food’s fresh and tasty.
My first clue should have been the help — they had one rather large young man behind the grill, looking bored. Two gals behind the counter, and one of them was doing her nails. Grandma was on the other side of the wall, chatting up a regular. A plastic tray, and an order placed for a burger and a salad — I got a bowl and some flatware, and went to the salad bar.
Wilted U.S. Foodservice lettuce mix and a few chopped veggies in bins that hadn’t seen ice below them in a few hours. I decided to risk it. The ‘Italian Dressing’ was the same stuff I can get from a bottle (I use it to marinade shrimp) — I ate a few bites, then stopped. Couldn’t trust it.
The burger arrived, swimming in its own grease and flavorless, on an untoasted bun (in spite of my request). Again, ate about half of it.
Lesson: If they’re going to continue operating, they need to invest in training an adequate staff, and going to the effort of bringing in fresh produce. They also need to become acquainted with salt, pepper, and an adequate grill. Maintaining basic food-​quality and storage standards would help, also.
It’s not that the food’s bad — although it is. It’s that if you eat here, *you really do run the risk of getting sick* — and that’s never a good thing.
As I said above — I really wanted to love this place, but there’s nothing to recommend it. Keep driving…

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’!

I really want to love this place. I just felt a little let down. I would love to see my burger cooked MR like I asked and not so over cooked. The patty and bun would have been wonderful if not so dry, the cheese helped and the toppings bar was okay, just regular stuff. I would have rather had them put it on and let me start eating sooner than waiting in line to add lettuce and mayo. If they had a variety of topping cool, just condiments lettuce and onions. I love the area, the cool stuff outside, their history and wish them great success. I would suggest that when the staff go thru the dining room, try being friendly, say hi, ask me how was my lunch? All the parts and pieces were there for a great experience, just missed the mark. Better than fast food choices nearby. I will come back again and keep trying, I so want this to be a great experience.

Okay… We came here one morning on our road trip thru Oregon and we loved it! We ordered breakfast and the burrito was Delicious!!! Covered with green chili sauce and filled with goodness… To this day we still talk about it. This was a couple years ago so next week we will be driving by there and trying out there burgers and more. I LOvE my burgers and fries so I will be back with the real… review!

This place was strange. The burger was pretty good. Alone I would give it an 8 out of ten. I had the mushroom/​swiss version, was a bit overcooked. They let you put on fix-​ins yourself, but walk over to the condiments bar and they are out of almost everything… It was also pretty cold in the restaurant.
I opted for onion rings instead of fries. They where sooo greasy it was kind of disgusting. I tried my friends fries, but they where tasteless. Just a little salt would go a long way.
Their Senior specials seemed to attract a crowd, so if you are over 65 go for it!

Ordered to go I pick it up and they didn’t have plastic forks or knifes .
so brought back to my room me and my wife ate with hand and it was awesome prime rib… messy but awesome

This place is nothing spectacular. Please do not expect gourmet high quality food here. If you just want standard American fares (burgers, hot dogs, steaks, etc), you will be please to know this is what Charburger all about.
We came here after our day trip to visit waterfalls and Hood River. We walked in and waited in line to order our food. It took a little bit of a wait because people in front of us couldn’t decide what they wanted. I ordered the Cheeseburger with Egg and Bacon (attack to the heart and oh high cholesterol) and Jesse ordered the Taco burger.
Then we sat down and waited for our food. I noticed how funky and kitschy the décor of this place. They have old iron works and metals hanging everywhere, but at the same time looks like after years in business… they started to have an identity crisis. I don’t get the souvenir racks and all knick knacks they try to sell at the restaurant.
When our burgers arrived, we proceeded to the condiments and garnishes stations. I like this part because I love lots of Jalapeño peppers, Banana Peppers, and Pepperoncinis with my burger.
Our burgers were good. Both of our meals came with fries and those for me is the best part of the meal. We were stuffed and had leftover to take home.
Charburger is a great place for casual dining. It’s not a first date type of place and you won’t find calories information charts here. Sometimes, that’s not a bad thing. Kick back and enjoy a serving of greasy food can be good for the soul. Sometimes.

Its a funky place not fancy it’s kinda like a Restaurant in a barn… a country style place with antique decorations… I like the human size grandma and grandpa infront of the Restaurant., the farmer guy decoration inside is kinda creepy.
I thought the food was good… greasy but i like it… The fries was crispy and I like the idea of I can put what ever sauce and veges I want inside my burger. Overall experience after 4 hours of sitting in the car was good… We would come back if we come this way again.

Three Star Burgers.
Fiver Star Onion Rings. And oh man were they well done onion rings. Crispy and cake like at the same time. A yin and yang of greasy amazingness worth a stop by for the onion-​ring lover. So in a nutshell, they do onion rings right.
Their burgers are good and have a crispy «Char» taste to them. I would call it a signature taste but it isn’t a defining only here kinda of flavor (I can ask anywhere to burn the patty a little). Like Burger King let the fire kiss the patty a little extra for taste. Worth the stop by but not a defining power burger if you catch my drift.
They also have a well equipped burger bar. Something about a restaurant trusting me to handle my own condiments (because frankly I don’t know if I’m responsible enough to have unlimited jalapenos). Man I love a burger bar. It ain’t no Fudruckers but it gets the job done.
The salad bar is worth note to. Spartan by modern salad bar standards but it has something big going for it. Unique mixed salads. Char Burger had a pea-​dill salad thing that was AWESOME and unique.
It was an enjoyable stop on a trip back from Eastern Oregon. I recommend it for an easy off the road stop. Great road food.

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.

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.