Not Much of a Saloon but the Burger Ain't Bad

Venue: Industrial Cafe and Saloon

Location: 2572 NW Vaughn St., Portland, OR

Burger: Spicy Bacon Burger

Average Score: 6.7
Price Range: $$$$$

Tom:  This little Portland café is located right where the trendy, condo filled NW neighborhood meets the rundown warehouse buildings of the industrial riverfront.  The Industrial Café and Saloon tries to bridge both sides of the street by offering high quality dining for the upper end condo owners, as well as toting cheap beer for the thousands of industrial workers across the way.  Besides their proud declaration of French Limousin cattle (the Toyota Prius of the beef world due to their high feed conversion efficiency), 100% grass fed, hormone free beef, the item on the menu that caught my eye was the fried jalapenos.  What was this interesting mexicano twist?  My curiosity had gotten the better of me and I ordered the Spicy Bacon Burger.  I had to specifically request my burger to be cooked mid-rare, which was a bit annoying coming from a restaurant that is obviously proud of the quality of its meat.  The burger arrived in a timely manner and the meat was delicious (seems all the bragging paid off).  It came with the standard fare, toasted sesame seed bun, standard green leaf lettuce, slice of tomato, way over cooked bacon, and a modest dollop of mayo.  The fun came with the pickled onion, which added a bit of tartness to the mild spice, the thick and stringy pepper jack cheese, and the fried jalapeno peppers.  I am totally sold on fried jalapenos and would happily place them on almost any burger.  The spice is negligible, but the crunch and tang almost rivals a standard pickle for the added flavor burst.  I also feel compelled to mention their sweet potato fries due to their perfection.  First of all, these were true sweet potato fries and not the orange yams that often get incorrectly labeled as sweet potatoes.  Not that I find them any less delicious, but more because I am a stickler for giving credit where it is due.  These fries were a thin cut crispy bit of heaven that were well worth the $2.00 upgrade.  All in all the golden jalapeno medallions and the true cut sweet potatoes elevate this standard burger a couple rungs on the ladder to burger perfection.