Roake’s

I was driving around in portland trying to find a place to eat. This place really caught my eye, I loved the old style dinner. I had the coney hotdog, which was really good. My sister had a chilly dog, she was surprised she liked it because she hardly ever eats hotdogs. Overall this place is great!

I eat here when ever I am in the neighborhood. I just wish I lived closer. It is so difficult to find a good traditional hamburger place, but this one has stayed true to its roots. It is a blast from the past, and just wonderful.

At Roake’s what’s not to like?
The food is cheap, filling and fun.
Did I mention CHEAP?
An appetizer of fried mushrooms, a fantastic cheeseburger, awesome coney fries accompanied with a long coney and a couple of drinks will set you back less that a $ 20.
It aint healthy but its hearty.
Definitely blue collar fare for the family.
Cash only.

This place was recommended to me by an associate. He’s never been to Philly.
They have two Cheese-​steaks items on the menu: one plain and one with peppers and mushrooms.
I asked for xtra xtra onions and got it in spades! Very generous.

But it was not at all chopped and mixed together and to add ‘insult’ they melted the cheese on top of all those onions and what not.
So I took a fork and flipped it on the roll to get the cheese next to the roll. Better. The roll was toasted UGH! But not as bad as Shut Up and Eat. I also suspect that they are using roast beef but can’t prove it. It didn’t look like it started raw and touched any nice olive oil or some other grease in cooking.
I belatedly asked for marinara sauce and was handed a very good sauce packed in those little containers for condiments. Asked a second time and was obliged again. Nice people.
This place IS in Columbia and NOT Lombard. If you Google Maps it the ICON shows Columbia but the address lists as Lombard. Same for
.

Made a trip over to Roakes for dinner tonight, on a recomendation from a fellow Unilocaler (my thanks to Holy Foo).
This is by no means «fine dining» but for the type and style of food it is… im giving it 5 stars.
Everything my family and I ordered was great! We ordered a ton of food to share family style because none of us had been there before. *hubby has been there but he was a teenager then so the better part or more than 25 years now*
We ordered a long coney, deluxe cheeseburger, philly cheesesteak, kids cheeseburger, 2 corn dogs, deepfried mushrooms a basket of fries and 4 drinks.
The Coney-​the hot dog had a good snap and the coney sauce was really good.
Cheeseburger deluxe– cooked to med. Temp and had an awesome sauce with all the fixings.
The philly– good quality beef, cheese, sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms.
Cheeseburger– standard burger only smaller
Corn dogs– again standard and had good flavor.
French fries– made in house with skin on. Good
Deep fried shrooms– great flavor served with marinara sauce.
My hubby got some deep fried cheese sticks which he said were very good. Oh he also got a coney to-​go.
I am happy we went overall and had a quality and above average meal here. I look forward to going back for some way better than fast food fare! Apparently this place has been around Portland metro forever and I can see why!

The food was good, the employees are friendly, service was fast. Nice place for a quick burger or hot dog.

So much to like. It’s really closer to a 4.5. This place is so old school, in the very best way. Reminds me a little of The Big Top Shoppe when I was growing up in CT.
I was peckish on the way home, and had been wanting to try this place for a long time. In the middle of nowhere Columbia Ave. among all the other monstrosities but not far at all from my house. I had a $ 20 bill (which was technically not mine but my roommate’s), four $ 1s, and a debit card. Unbelievably, I got my dinner for exatcly $ 4.
A baby burger is $ 2. Comes on a bun with pickles, tomato? and sauce. The burger is very tiny but good — and only $ 2! The fries (also $ 2) come in a huge order! Easily enough for 2 so bring a friend when you go. The fries (with skin on) were a little greasy but simply deliscious.
I think this place is a gem and I will go back. The inside leaves a bit to be desired in the following ways: the floor was quite untidy and I really wanted the inside of this place t feel super fun or family or something. But on an empty Monday evening — no such luck. I took my food and went home.
So price: 5, food: 4, look: 5, inside appeal: 3, service:4. And again — they ONLY take cash.

Location location location.
Located just up the parking lot from the bikini barista, lies the Roake’s. The menu items are just fine. Classic diner style foods, big greasy burger with a bunch of greasy fries. They were out of onion rings when I went so I opted for the Jalapeño Poppers. Poppers and other items seem to be frozen and fried. I saw someone order a chili dog or something and it was not appealing based on visual inspection. The establishment is not the most sanitary of places, but it is in a heavy industrial area and I really don’t expect anything more.
Side note, if you hang around this area long enough you are bound to see some of the exploited women who are a product of sex trafficking. C’mon Portland, lets get tougher on these laws.

First time here, cash only. The staff was friendly and smiling. However the food was not. I had the chili boat, it was horrible. The chili tasted more like refried beans. Also I tried the chicken strips, they were pretty bad, very bland and definitely previously frozen. The inside of this establishment needs to be cleaned and up dated, the health department must have missed this place.

Good stuff. Had the Long Dog and it is very tasty. Bring cash as they do not accept cards.

This is my second time eating here. The food was so good the first time, I couldn’t wait till I had the chance to come back!!!

Greasy diner delight!
We just had Roake’s Whimpy Burgers for dinner. Boy did it hit the spot. With a 6″ bun and a griddle-​pressed burger that is not dwarfed by the sesame bun. Plenty of white onions, lettuce and pickles with sauce. Delicious emulsified American pre-​sliced cheese is an extra $ 0.35, and yes you want it!
I didn’t get the fries but their blackberry milkshake was scrumptious and had me yearning another one.
This is a checkerboard tile greasy spoon burger and dog place, situated amongst industry on Columbia Boulevard. It is what it is, fair priced and a Portland Standard.
Haters gonna hate.
Next time I’m ordering the Deli Dog, looked enticing.

This place is awesome! Came in today for a late lunch and was excited about the old school «Bob’s burgers» (Los Angeles) type of feel. We ordered chicken tenders with fries and a drink, a banana shake, jalapeño poppers and a bacon cheeseburger all for $ 18. The portions were HUGE! But the quality was great. The chicken tenders were standard, really crispy. My boo lived his burger and shake. The fries are natural cut thin and perfectly salted. The jalapeño poppers were amazing, oozing with cream cheese and fried to perfection!!! Can’t wait to be back in the area to have more.

The service is pretty bad, The girl with ¹⁄₃ of her head shaved (thanks Skrillex) got her hair in my food and I’m like HOW??? The food is… greasy, the fries are grease flavored, and the coney sauce is, deplorable. The workers Don’t just treat you like crap, they treat each other like crap, loudly. On top of that (for the ladies) if you’re out there in your finest… though I’m not sure how many occasions start with Roake’s… ANYWAYS there’s a bikini coffee drive through pretty much in their parking lot. AND OMG do those perverts linger. SO if you want some greasy meat with brown sauce, then more «meat» offered in the parking lot. Go to Roake’s D:

If I could give No stars I would. Do not be fooled by all the 5 star reviews, this place sucks!
We ordered 2 footlong coneys, onion rings, and jalapeño poppers. We were going to eat there but once we sat down, it was like we were the main course at Fly’s Buffet. Yuck!!! Would it be too much to hang a strip of fly paper…? Shooing away our premonitions about this place, we decided to just get it to go, so we could eat in peace.
We get home and I crack open the rather large bag of Onion rings. LOL, silly me, once I take a bite I realize that these are mostly fried batter with just a speck of onion. Non-​Edible unless you just like eating fried batter with ketchup, Sucker!
On to the poppers which were OK, I think because they are just bought from a wholesaler, not a Roake’s Creation.
Now on to the piece de resistance, or shall I say piece de disgusting. The footlongs were covered in lukewarm reddish brown meat sauce, «coney sauce» that soaked the bread. The wiener was rubbery and chewy in a bad way, like something I could use as a weapon to beat somebody over the head with. The whole thing just tasted like a chore no body wants to do because it’s too gross.
I can’t believe such crap was $ 20! bleh! I think the only reason there aren’t more bad reviews is because most of the people who work around this place have no where else reasonably close to go to for lunch. and also they probably don’t use Unilocal,or write reviews… Don’t be fooled. Your taste buds and digestive tract will thank me later!
Now I just hope I don’t upchuck this slop later and have to taste it twice. like the other reviewer…

Special thanks to Allison R for reminding me of their onion rings.
Wanna see what REAL onion rings look like? Check her reviiew and food porn pics.
My son and I spent a little «don’t tell mom» time here on Thursday. Urp.
An order costs 5-​ish bucks but is easily enough for 2 people.
If you are ever anywhere near here, come try some.

A year later… and more onion rings down. I ate 4 today and I feel like I could explode now. Honestly though, the onion rings today were even better than the last time I had them, if that’s even possible. My god… I love this place.
Thanks Eric! (I know you’ll read this)

Very very very. Dingy inside. Lots of dust and greasy film on everything. Place is really in need of a deeeeeeeep clean. but the food is pretty good. We just try extremely hard not to look at anything when we eat here. Because it really needs cleaned.
BRING CASH NO CARDS ACCEPTED

My friend Darcie used to complain about the way her hair smelled.
This was due to the fact that she worked at the Roake’s on Mcloughlin when we were in high school. One day, she admitted that when she would get home from work she always used to hate it because her hair smelled like burgers, dogs and grease, and she would scrub it in the shower to rid herself of the smell.
I found this hilarious.
I visited the Roake’s on Mcloughlin maybe once or twice back in the high school days, and don’t remember a single thing about my visits. Now this Roake’s, on the other hand, I visited on a recent trip to NE for other business. Apparently a former Burgerville (thanks Elle H for that tidbit) the store is very diner-​esque in an industrial part of town. Side note: I’ve always been fascinated with Columbia for this very reason. There’s a real sense of blue collar on this stretch that I’ve always appreciated.
Back to my review of the restaurant. I’ll just say it: I don’t get the whole coney thing. Now, don’t misunderstand me: I respect people who do, and I can see *why* they do. I just don’t think I like coney sauce all that much. On this particular visit I had a standard coney dog and an order of onion rings. The dog’s substantial, and the bun is grilled, which is good, because otherwise it’d be a soggy mess after being permeated by the coney sauce. More on the coney sauce: it’s salty, savory, meaty and messy. The freshly diced onions are a must on this thing, as their clean, sweet flavor cuts through the «one note» coney sauce, in my opinion. I dunno, I’m not gonna go on and on about this, it just didn’t strike a chord with me. Again, I can see how people like them. Just not for me. I ate it all, and the dog was quite good on the beefy flavor and texture fronts.
Onion rings: bad choice for a single diner. The $ 5 price should have been my clue. Another clarification is necessary here: the rings were quite good. Heavily breaded and crunchy, about a half dozen of them would have been perfect. Problem is that the order is GIGANTIC, and probably enough for 3 people. I hated throwing the majority of the order away. Lesson learned!
I’m not writing Roake’s off. I’d like to try one of their (several) burger choices. Heck, I might even include a dollop of coney sauce on one of them to see what that does for my opinion.

This place is basically a greasy burger joint, with really good burgers. I ordered the double cheeseburger and my BF got the Nordious Maximus, and we split an order of onion rings. My burger was delicious and the onion rings were good, just a little greasy. The Nordious Maximus was huge (hence the name) and it’s usually what my BF orders. I just like a basic burger with cheese, but the Maximus has ham, bacon and a fried egg, so it’s a little too much for me, but the BF LOVES it.
Overall, if you just want a good burger and are on the NE side of town, I’d recommend this place. It’s basic, a little worse for the wear since it’s been around a while, but the burgers are solid and the prices are decent (they only accept cash). I’m told the Coney dogs are really good, so I’m trying one of those next time around.