This Northeast Portland burger shack — which has recently opened a second, full-sized restaurant in Vancouver — serves its standard burger on a cloud-soft Martin’s potato bun slathered with extra creamy Duke’s mayo, as well as classic ketchup and brown mustard. Rounding it out is the caramelized Northwest Natural beef patty, the distinct crunch of sweet onions, shrettuce, and the nice bit of acid that house-made pickles provide. Both the Love Burger, with griddled jalapenos and spicy mayo, and the L.L. Cool J, which features the guacamole and bacon, are worthwhile endeavors.

Situated in the parking lot of Oakshire Brewing's beer hall, Sure Shot — originally known as Rough Draft Burger Shop  — is a burger shack in every sense of the word. The burgers here are simple, but hover near smash-patty perfection: The cart’s most popular burger, simply called the “double,” is comprised of two buttery patties, double cheese, pickle, onion, and a house burger sauce. As a whole, the burger has all of the trappings of a fast food burger, if a fast food burger was even richer, cheesier, and had twice the amount of caramelization. Beer and burgers are natural buds, and Oakshire's Czech-style pils and its amber ale are both great options for washing down smash burgers.

Along a quaint street in Northwest Portland sits the food cart Farmer and the Beast, within the buzzy Nob Hill Food Cart pod. Although the cart serves a variety of local vegetable dishes, Farmer and the Beast is perhaps most known for its eponymous Beast burger. Featuring two smashed patties, American cheese, shaved yellow onion, pickle, iceberg, and its “truly special” sauce, this burger holds its own among the smash burgers in town, with a flavor reminiscent of a backyard cookout in all of the best ways. Farmer and the Beast is also slated to open a second cart at the new Breakside Beer Garden in Beaverton’s Old Town.

Occupying a many-windowed corner of Portland’s Northeast 28th Street restaurant row, Mexican sandwich shop Guero slings many a delicious torta to its frequent phalanx of hungry regulars. Included in its offerings is the popular and consistently delicious hamburguesa: Two well-seasoned Painted Hills beef smash patties get hit with a laundry list of toppings, including creamy avocado, American cheese, ham, and chipotle mayo. The pleasant pop of pickled jalapeños, sweet grilled onions, and chiles plays off the queso botanero. Guero offers takeout and delivery, with an outdoor patio.

Pacific Standard, located just off the I-5 on MLK, is billed as a "modern West Coast drinking and dining hall." It's helmed by local cocktail legend Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Yet, despite all the descriptions on the website, the hamburger is never mentioned, and it's an absolute shame. Pacific Standard's "drive-thru" burger is a proper smash burger with lettuce, onions, pickles, American cheese, and dijonnaise on a house-made bun. The cocktails here are the highlight, but a tightly curated beer menu and wines on tap make for exceptional accompaniments as well.

Inside the swanky and modern ground floor lobby of the Woodlark Hotel lies both Bullard Tavern and a smaller, more romantically lit bar called Abigail Hall. Both operate out of the same kitchen and serve burgers on house-made sesame seed buns, but the similarities essentially end there. The Abby burger is two smashed patties comprised of dry-aged beef, while the burger at Bullard is a monster half-pound pub burger with a kiss of wood smoke. While the shoestring fries are a no-brainer add-on, folks looking for something less conventional have the option of selecting the fried olives stuffed with blue cheese.

Killer Burger has become a household name in Portland, and for good reason. It recently won first place in the burger category in Willamette Week's readers' poll, and it's not up to 30 locations across the state. Burgers here come in pint sized or regular with the option of making the latter a double. Although it has a well-rounded menu of burgers with topping like crispy fried onions, melty and gooey mushrooms, and Swiss, there may not be anything on the menu so polarizing as the peanut butter and pickle burger, which is arguably Killer Burger's signature menu item. All locations feature a varying beverage menu including craft beer and ciders on tap as well as soda.

Monster Smash is up in the top tier of smash burgers in town among locals who adore the incredibly crispy lacing loaded with the savory richness that the Maillard reaction provides. The menu is almost comically small, featuring a double patty burger called the OG for ten bucks and a vegan option for fourteen. It's located at My-Oh-My, along with its original location at Belmont Station, which makes for a beer lover's dream as the pairing options there are perhaps the best to be found anywhere in the city.

This charming cart located at the Cartopia pod on Hawthorne features hamburgers with simple upgrades: a buck more for cheese and another buck for two strips of bacon. Each patty comes topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, raw and grilled onions, kosher pickles, cheddar cheese, and sriracha mayo, wrapped up in a Franz pub bun. Smart money’s on snagging a side of the fish sauce tots, playfully garnished with bits of pistachio and mint.

While local sandwich heavyweight Lardo is home to a dazzling array of sandwiches, it features only one regular menu burger: The Pig Mac. Lardo's take on the golden arches classic features all the usual suspects: shredduce, cheddar, pickles, and onions on a Dos Hermanos bun. The spin here is that in true Lardo fashion, the patties are purely pork, comprised of ground belly and shoulder. Lardo now has locations of both sides of the Willamette, with a third spot in the Mercato Grove Plaza in Lake Oswego.

Once upon a time, tall burgers with fat patties and stacked toppings reigned king in Portland; a smash was out of the question, juiciness ranked more important than char. Now that Portland is absolutely inundated with smash burgers, a true, juicy burger feels almost refreshing, especially when it has a clear concept outside the tried-and-true ketchup-mayo-onion-pickle. Oma’s Hideaway may be known for its succulent game hens and lacquered meats, but the thick, almost intimidating Oma-zing burger is a treasure, a beast slathered in chile jam, topped with American cheese a proper layer of house pickles. What sets it apart, however, is the swipe of lime leaf butter on the bun — it adds just a touch of fragrant sweetness.

Champs Burger is the newest burger pop-up in town and it enters into a considerably competitive smash burger scene with real force. Owner Sterling Houghton is not only making his own American cheese slices (using Tillamook dairy), but he’s also baking pillowy-soft milk buns in-house. Currently there are only two burgers available, but specials will be rotating, such as the “smokelahoma,” an Oklahoma-style onion burger with hickory smoked American cheese slices. Champs is currently popping up every other Sunday for lunch outside Speedboat Coffee on Powell Blvd, but customers can stay tuned to its Instagram page for future dates and locations.

For hypebeast creations topped with strawberry jam, Beechers aged cheddar, and more, PDX Sliders has been a Sellwood standby. What began as a cart has now become two brick and mortar locations, with a second spot on Division. The restaurant’s Hawthorne — slathered in strawberry jam, goat cheese, and bacon — is a distinctive draw here, but purists may prefer the Sellwood, the restaurant’s take on a bacon-cheddar cheeseburger with caramelized onions. Even the small-sized “sliders” here are a full meal, though every burger can level up to a full-sized sandwich. The possibilities don't end there, however, as burgers can be served in lettuce wraps, or just have their innards piled atop fries or salads.

After its original location was torn down in 2016, the future seemed to hang in the air for Mike’s Drive-In, an old-school burger joint located in Milwaukie and Oregon City. Then, recently, new locations (along with changes to the menu) began popping up. First, a brand new location in Tigard, and most recently, another on Lombard. Mike's does the classic drive-in/walk-up burger counter flawlessly, featuring regular burgers along with deluxe versions piled high with bacon and fried eggs. The waffle-cut sweet potato fries are a must, and seasonal shakes, parfaits, and sundaes blended with huckleberries and marionberries really complete the classic American burger experience.

In this tiny boutique shopping area in Tigard, a block back from Route 99, lies a tiny hole-in-the-wall burger spot decked out with old movie posters. Bailey's menu is short and sweet, and so is the seating area. The Zuzu burger features red relish and caramelized onions on a grass-fed burger patty that comes across simple, balanced, and classic. The Bailey Burger swaps the caramelized onions for raw, and the jack cheese for American. Tots, fries, sweet potato fries, chicken tenders, and root beer floats round out the side options.