Sunshine Tavern

For our third review we found ourselves further down Division to Sunshine Tavern.

A caveat about Sunshine: We love this place. Like, love it as much as vegans secretly love bacon (Admit it -- you all know you do!).

Sunshine serves the booziest, most delicious slushee margaritas (Perfect for loosening up Mom on Mother’s Day), pizza with pork belly, fried chicken with waffles and one of my favorite pickled eggs in the city.

They also serve burgers. Bistro burgers to be exact.

Without further ado, let’s meet the meat:
“Sunshine’s griddle burger: 6 ounces of all-beef chuck, red onion, iceberg lettuce and thousand island dressing. $10.”

And to get down to business:

Bun Quality: Jason (1), Amie (1)
Brioche. Buttery. Grilled on the outside and squishy on the inside. Yum a dum dum.

Meat Quality: Jason (1), Amie (1)
Rich. Beefy. Succulent. And most importantly, without gristle. I’m not quite sure where they get their beef from but holy moly, it’s amazing (Also -- we’d love the answer, so please comment if you know the answer!).

Made to Order: Jason (1), Amie (1)
Pink and warm on the inside, slightly charred on the outside and as juicy as a ripe peach. Yeah. We went there.

Sauces: Jason (1), Amie (1)
The only sandwich I’ve seen come with Thousand Island dressing is the Reuben. I’ll admit, I was super digging on the Thousand Island that came slathered on the bottom side of the bun of Sunshine’s griddle burger. The ketchup was decent -- simply Heinz -- but, despite their despicable reliability on GMOs and high fructose corn syrup, there’s just so something so damn delicious and damn American about Heinz ketchup that it’s hard to say no...kind of like the terrible music you listened to in high school; you’re embarrassed to love it, but can’t help going back to it again and again.

Quality of Accoutrements: Jason (1), Amie (1) Okay, are you seeing this pile-o-pickles? House made and delicious. We’re so stoked that Portland restaurants have begun the adventure of in-house pickles that we’re almost considering a “Last Portland Pickle Blog.” Although, if we’re honest, it’d probably be the FIRST Portland Pickle Blog out there (Those of you who take our idea will be sued...J/K....but no, really. Ha ha. But seriously. *Serious face*). The pickles...obviously delicious. The iceberg lettuce offered a delicious crunch that, I’ll admit, while being a terribly nutritionally-worthless vegetable, is the perfect accoutrement to a burger. Why? I think Bon Appetit’s latest issue sums it up the best: It’s crunchy, crisp and doesn’t fold to the heat of the burger. Simply put, it’s perfect.

Add On Options: Jason (1), Amie (1)
I hate to turn to internet speak but O.M.G. and F.M.L. (in the good way). Sunshine’s add on options are par none: Cheese ($1), Pork Belly ($2), Chicken Liver Mousse ($2), Spicy Brined Pickles ($1.25), Fried Egg ($2), Pickled Chiles ($2), and Another Patty ($5). Another patty? And pork belly? If there is ever...EVER a time when you’re in need in the ultimate make-you-feel-better comfort food, this burger with any of the add on options is THE answer. Break up? Get it with pork belly. Sick family member? Get it with the fried egg. Lost your job? Eff it; go for the extra patty. It’s all delicious.


What It Comes With: Jason (1), Amie (.5)
Ahhh the french fries. Now, knowing we’ve been to Sunshine multiple times before our burger adventure, I’ll admit, we’ve both had their french fries. Jason usually orders the steak that comes with fries while I (like the bitchy female) order the chicken salad...which upon completion of I dive into his french fries....which I. Can’t. Ever. Stop. Eating. Ever. Yeah, I said ever twice. These fries though were...sadly, meh. Not that crispy but still super flavorful, the fries are the only thing we disagreed on. If they had been on par that day, we would have a ten star burger.

Meat Flavor: Jason (1), Amie (1)
Just like Little Big Burger: A little salt. A little pepper. Total perfection.

Presentation: Jason (1), Amie (1)
Again, check the picture. Container of ketchup served with the bun off. Bun OFF. Oh Sunshine Tavern, your burger has us smitten.

Hit the Spot Factor: Jason (1), Amie (1)
You know when you hear a song on the radio for the first time...and that song is absolutely the best song you’ve ever heard? It’s so good in fact that you don’t only share it with all your friends, but you buy it immediately on iTunes, regardless of the fact that you’re downloading it and wasting your data usage. Yeah, this burger is THAT song. Awesome. Amazing. So much that we’re telling you all to GO GET IT NOW! Like super now...or you know, if you’re reading this way too early or too late for Sunshine Tavern to be open, then get it when they open. WOOT!

Bonus Pickle? Zero. Dang it.


Total Score: 9.25
Recommendation: Like we said in the Hit the Spot Factor -- go now. Take absolute advantage of this awesome place and this delicious burger. They’ve got happy hour from 5-6 (Which is great when you’re off of work early and want to tie one on after a Tuesday workday), great food, shuffleboard and free arcade games. This is THE place to take the family without being tied down to a lame chain restaurant (And the subsequent chain restaurant quality food that comes with your national Applebee’s and Red Robins). It’s also the place for a nice romantic date, a casual weekday meal or a midday walk stop over. Best part? They serve a beer back with their bloody marys. Ingenuity? I think so. Go there...and do so now!