Stanich’s

Good place for a cheap beer and burger. The fries were cold and stale. Not vegetarian friendly… The option is an American cheese sandwich and a pile of iceberg lettuce (salad?!?). The staff was kind, but inattentive. I suggest this place for a quick beer, but keep moving if you’re hungry for fresh quality food.

I love the the stanich Burger and fries. Its a little pricey but worth it. The parking sucks

We’ve been customers of Stanich’s since the late 1970’s, but no more. Sad to report we went there today to celebrate a birthday as we have many times in the past. We had a very surly, mouthy waitress who provided terrible service. When asked for drink refills, she said too bad, since we asked, we’d have to wait. And she did just that… made us wait a good ten minutes.
Also, we noticed the trademark Stanich Special burgers were much thinner and lighter than they used to be. George must be rolling in his grave.
We will never return.

No menus, poor service, lukewarm French fries and a burger that fell apart as I tried to eat it did not make for a very good experience here! Wouldn’t recommend it!

This place is a little over hyped– okay service with poor ambience. Good burger but there are plenty of places in Portland that do the same without the negatives of this place. Worth a try; just don’t expect to be overwhelmed.

The World’s Greatest Burger for $ 8 was AWESOME! (Minus the relish) Fries were great also!
Kids all loved their burger and left nothing behind.
Service was friendly and we waited an appropriate amount of time for our fresh food for 7 of us!
The jukebox was a fun experience for the kids.
We WILL be back if we are on that side of portland again!
TWG Burger: Beef, cheese, ham, egg, lettuce, mayo, katchup, tom, onion, relish (I ordered with out tom, onion, relish) YUM!

Giving a 3 ONLY because of the amazing guy manning the grill. Waitress was busy, however being kind takes the same amount of time as being rude. Asked what we wanted to drink after twenty minutes. She says «speak now or forever hold your peace» all while signaling with her hand for us to hurry up. I know this place is a landmark but I’ve had better and MUCH better service.

I see the usual complaints about bad service and long wait times. However, it always comes back to how amazing the burgers are! Juicy, delicious, old school and inexpensive. Perfect! I’d wait an hour for one of their burgers, no problem.

I love this place. It has the look and the feel of a Portland Institution. There is nothing fancy, hip, or hipstery about this place. Your grandma and grandpa from Queens would love it. We had «The Special» and were not let down. Their service was good, and the burger was amazing — the kind where the grease drips onto your fries and fingers! Yum!
If you are looking for an old school burger, in an old school place, where you might see a pennant from the college you went to or the one you wanted to go to on the wall go here.
Top burger. Old school. Take your time. Chill out. Enough said.

How does a place who specializes in burgers only take 45 minutes to make a burger? Ridiculous! Don’t come if you don’t have two hours.

man I love this place! Absolutely the best burgers in town, and the interior of the building is just all attitude. they have clearly had many many years of experience in running their business, and I appreciate it very much. if the service is slow, that’s great I get to talk more or enjoy the environments and more, or if the service is quick, which rarely is, and still adds to the enjoyment. I seriously think that the Spanish is world famous burger is the best hamburger in town hands down.

I have been coming to Stanich’s at lunch time for more than 30 years. I’m not a regular, but i usually get there 6 – 10 times a year. I love the food, but in my last several visits the service was painfully slow. It has always been slower than most, and they are actually a little proud of that.
I have never had to leave a restaurant without getting my food, but I did that yesterday. I waited for 45 minutes after placing my order for a cheeseburger and fries. I saw one table that ordered after me get their burgers but not their fries. I can’t take 2 hour lunches, so I had to leave without getting my food.
I will really miss this restaurant, but I’m done.

3 years ago today my stepdad passed away from lung cancer. If he could have lived off hamburgers he would have. And pretty much did. So my family started a tradition that every year we would have hamburgers in honor of him. Being that my family is in Ohio it makes it just a little more depressing for me. But I was really hoping to find a place where I could make it a tradition here in Portland. I woke up and decided that I’m going to find a place to have a hamburger that my stepdad would love. Stanich’s seemed like the perfect place. So a few close friends and I met up there at 2:00 today. First look at the place it was pretty obvious that we wouldn’t be getting the same kind of service that you would expect from a place like the nines downtown. But at the same time I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was. Not only was it terrible service it was pretty much non existent. When she dropped off the food we asked if she would take a quick picture. (Yeah, I know it’s annoying. But seriously it takes like 2 seconds). I wanted to send a pic to my mom since I couldn’t be with her today. She refused and said she was too busy. There were maybe 6 tables. Anyone that has worked in the service industry before with even a hint of the capability to multi task in a burger joint could handle that. We ran out of drinks and were waiting for a refill for about, I don’t know. Say 15 minutes? The waitress was walking by and my friend said «excuse me could I please have another root beer?» She just kept on walking. Totally ignored her. REALLY!
I just love when people work in the service industry but hate the fact they have to serve people. Really? You want to make money having people pay you for your service but you’re annoyed by the fact that you have to give it? I’m certain that the $ 5.00 tip I gave you on a $ 52.00 dollar check was way tooooo much. and I feel pretty confident that a place that’s been around since 1945 didn’t do it because of shitty servers like yourself. How about you do the owners of that place and the people in the neighborhood a favor and quit your job. They would be much better without you. Hell, maybe do yourself a favor and find another profession because apparently table service isn’t your strong suit.
It was a great burger by the way.

Great food and great service but the entire time I sat there, the owner or manager (older white haired man) berated and lectured each of the staff members one by one. He was walking around pointing out everything he could imagine and lecturing them about it. It was embarrassing for them and uncomfortable for me. They seemed like very capable adults and he was talking to them like children he was disciplining.
Happy employees make for a good atmosphere.
I’m just saying

The food here… burgers «amazing»! There’s something to be said for correct proportions in a burger. Perfect sized patty, a slice of cheese, just a couple slices of bacon, etc.
The service was awkward to say the least. The two people working were supposedly cousins, but acted like an old married couple. They bickered the entire time we sat at the bar, making us highly uncomfortable. Strange vibe, dive bar for sure. I’d come again for a burger, but I would get it to-​go.

Great Burger and service food was hot and yummy
Great area Price was good for what you get I will be back thanks

This old school burger joint has been here at this location forever and hats off to longevity.
For me though, I look at it as if they opened last month and my review is with this in mind.
The burgers were ok… I think «the waiting is the hardest part «to quote Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
One thing I will not wait long for is a burger and the wait here was very hard for me. I ate outside and was bummed because it’s smoke friendly and I’m not a smoker. So, the long wait was even worse.
With so many burger places popping up every day It would be very difficult to justify coming back. The whole nostalgic vibe wears off pretty quick.
I was really hoping for a better experience here.

I really love this place, the food is great and the people are great. You should sit at the bar though if you want to be served a little faster.
Definitely get the special with fries, the name says it all, it’s their specialty and they have gotten really good at making it perfect. A toasted bun, a fried egg, melted cheese, a perfectly done hamburger patty, and lots of delicious sauce are what you should expect.
They are sometimes suddenly really busy and so if you come in at the wrong time during a rush it can be 20 – 25 minutes for your food to be done, but what can you really expect when its all made fresh?

Wish I had not even stopped here! I used to know Mr Stanich back when he had the location off Macadam. Poor guy must have died or something. This place SUCKS!

WORST!
No hello, just «order at the counter.»
After waiting 45 minutes we went to the counter to check on our order. They said «oh, your waiter went home sick and didn’t put your order in.» So no apology, no «that will be right up», nothin. We left. I’m not really sure if they are actually a restaurant.

Most likely the longest Ive had to wait for the most mediocre burger.
I do love the old school getup though. It reminds me of a time before the housing developers started tearing down everything in Portland. The burger however, lacked in size, originality and quality. I dont mind the lack of originality– but if youre gonna serve a basic burger, be amazing at it. It sounds contradictory. I know. But I do keep a small mental list of high quality basic burgers!

Holy awesome! Their burgers were delicious! Seriously, get one.
The atmosphere is great, if you like sports this is a place for you.

Used to be really good back in the day we went today as a family the burgers… still okay but the french fries came out cold, prices went up a little bit.
The place was really drafty but it was packed we ended up spending $ 40 for four people which isn’t bad but the salad was not good the cheese wasn’t graded it was morelike lunch meat cheese & the meat was super salty I don’t expect to go back anytime soon if at all

We LOVE their burgers and the décor takes us back to our high school days. How I wish I’d kept my school pennants, lol.
The food is made after we order, not burgers kept on hold, so I don’t mind waiting a bit for our meal. The fries are usually hot and tasty. The burgers and fries remind us of the 70’s and 80’s before everything got so fancy!
However, this last visit, having been busy with family all day Valentines Day, we went later that evening. It was PACKED, so service was slow, but that was to be expected. And because they were trying to keep up with demand, our order was not correct. Hamburgers instead of Cheeseburgers, and our fries were so dark as to be close to burnt. If, after at least 10 visits, this is the worst that’s happened, that’s pretty darn good!
Like I said, we’re fans. My Sweetheart said that sometimes people at his work will do a lunch run for all, and it’s always a hit!
Oh, and yes, you will have to use all those napkins. At least, I do!

Awesome food. Burgers are sublime and the fries taste like homemade.
Just don’t plan this to be a quick meal. Regardless of how many or few customers are in here, you are not getting in and out quickly.
A suggestion– this place is like a dive bar. A lot of sports pennants and other memorabilia on the walls. Almost no windows. It made more sense (maybe) to keep it this way when smoking was allowed in establishments. But I would personally update this space by giving it a makeover, cleaning it up entirely and *definitely* putting more windows in.

The boyfriend and I are trying this new thing where we explore more of the Portland neighborhoods. We’re familiar with Division, Hawthorne, and Alberta, but Fremont has always been an enigma.
It was a Friday night and we decided for date night that we venture off to Fremont! We were pleased to stumble upon Stanich’s for dinner. We walked in and looked at their menu before committing, but we were sold when we saw that they had the world’s greatest hamburger!
We were taken care of right away upon finding a table. The boy ordered «The Special» ($ 8) aka their world’s greatest hamburger. In it includes fresh ground chuck, cheese, ham, bacon, egg, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, etc. Their «etcetera» is supposed to be their special sauce, which resembles a thousand island dressing. While he ordered that, I took a go at the «Steven» ($ 7.75) burger which has everything in the Special with ham and swiss. The waitress asked if we wanted to share a basket of fries ($ 2.50) and we said, «why the hell not?»
Everything was going great at this place. The décor was swanky like that of sports pub (athletic team banners covering the walls) and aged carpets covered the establishment. I don’t know if it’s because I was starving or time was passing slowly, but the reason for only four stars was the wait time before feasting! I swear there was about a 25 minute gap from the time we ordered to actual consumption.
I wouldn’t say it was well worth the wait, but it was pretty darn delicious! I can’t declare that I’ve had better burgers, but I’d definitely say that this is the best burger on Fremont.

Is it strange that I liked the vibe of this place? I guess I like dark, cluttered established places? I’m glad these type of places exist. We need them as well as the shiny, sterile, stainless places. They have pennants all over their walls and ceilings.
It looks like this is a regular’s place. I ordered the patty melt. It was perfectly buttery good! The size was great, meat bread ratio was spot on! We share a medium fries which was more for a family of four but my husband didn’t like the limp, greasy style. I didn’t mind as much.
The waitress is pretty surly, scary. Definitely go there for a throwback, not the service. Their food is solid. I think we were one of the few people who were under 70 but that’s fine with me.

After missing breakfast & volunteering a shift at the Oregon Food Bank we were famished. We were in the mood for burgers & Stanich’s was highly recommended to us.
Seth & I each ordered «The World’s Greatest Hamburger» ($ 7.25) & shared an order of medium fries ($ 2.00). The special contains a beef patty, ham, bacon, fried egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, onions, & multiple condiment dressings. It’s messy even when cut in quarters. Yes, sometimes I cut my burger in quarters to make the mess easier to eat. The patty is thin so whether it’s ordered medium rare or well done it’ll come out well done but at least it fits the size of the bun. A lot of toppings were stuffed between the buns so tasting each as an individual seemed impossible but every couple bites I could taste the egg, or the bacon, or the patty, etc. The medium order of fries were enough to share between our group of three. They were a good filler but greasy.
Stanich’s walls are plastered with pennants so searching for your favorite team or alma mater will take some time away from the lengthy wait. Once your order is up the food will definitely cure your hunger. The special burger should be eaten only a couple times a year. Anymore than that a cardiac workup is recommended.