helvetia tavern

greesy burnt. we went on purpose had heard great things. i was so disappointed. the smell inside was not pleasant. i have worked in many eating establishments in my younger years, the fryer needed to be cleaned the grease was burnt and you could both taste it and smell it. staff was more interested in visiting amongst them selves than helping customers i watched as tabled empties and no one made an effort to clear them or wipe the dirty tables down until someone else was seated and waiving at the staff to clear the table. its not like they appeared to be short staffed there were 4 females behind the bar area chatting. sad i had hoped for a greatburgerbut would have had a better experience in a drive thru and it would have been cheaper maybe if your drunk and have no taste buds this place would be great

bestburgerin oregon...period.

yes it's a greasy spoon -- but a really damn good one!


-----25 aug, 2009-----

what a greatburgerfind in the stix of 'sboro!! what a value! awesome jumboburgerand delicioso ringos de onions (onion rings). minimal service but no sweat.

i've been here a few times recently, the burgers are good, the fries, greasy. it's nice to come to this place because you get that, "i went on vacation for lunch" feeling. great to sit outside in the summer, unless the horseflys are pestering. but they make a solidburgerand have pretty scenery, nothing more, and for that, i like it.

burger time!!!!!. it's always busy is a sign that its gonna be good.
the jumbo baconburgeris where its at. with a side of onion rings and a beer you cant go wrong with this place. i don't even mind that its way out.

half a cheeseburger in hillsboro served with a widmer brrr winter ale was a pretty fine lunch on a sunday afternoon. naturally theburgercame with lots of fries. the server was great and she even offered to grill the onions which made theburgermore tasty. they also had garden burgers and fish and chips on the menu. hanging from the ceilings are dozens of baseball hats adding to the fun atmosphere.

helvetia tavern currently serves pub food including things like burgers, sandwiches and fries. this place gets great reviews and comments about the large portions that include the fries and largeburgerthat can be as big as a plate. the ingredients are always quality and never lack flavor. quality never lacks and neither does the nostalgia of the countless dozens of hats on the ceiling that have been collected over the years. the location out in the countryside does take some time to get too from the main cities, but makes for a great lunch or dinner that never disappoints.

straight from the frozen food section. neat location but the food seemed like it was all the lowest cost stuff they could buy from the cash and carry's frozen food section. cheeseburger was nothing more than shredded lettuce, mayo, two slices of tomato, slice of cheddar and a grilled frozenburgerpatty.

they also only take cash, which would be fine if there was obvious signage before you order. they have wifi / internet, so there's no reason they couldn't accepts cards, if they wanted to. but apparently they rather get more money from you by pointing you to an on site atm with a fee.

what a disappointment. after living here since 1959, i finally tried the "famous"burger with a friend. like most everyone said, the staff was very friendly, helpful and efficient.....no complaints here, they were admirable....the burger...not so much.
we opted to have an extra lg bacon cheeseburger, french fries, beer...the meat had no flavor... the cheese was not cheddar, but of the "in plastic wrapper" variety, which one could hardly see, let alone taste...the same goes for the bacon....which was thin enough to read the newspaper through, and made me wonder if it was imitation bacon! the bun had a lot of egg color and there was way too much mayo goop, maybe to make up for the lack of other flavors...all in all a very "blaaahhhh"burgerand after all the hype, sorry to say, a disappointing lunch experience. definitely does not deserve "the best burger" label, and is almost enough to give the word "cheeseburger" a bad name!!! would not give this another try.

it isnt as good, as all the hype makes it out to be. myself and my girlfriends went to eat dinner here last night. everyone brags about they're burgers. so we thought we'd try it. we ordered , a cheese burger, a hamburger , a hot ham and cheese sandwich and a big order of fries and some drinks. the prices are a little much for what you receive. i've gotten more at a fast food place for the price i payed, for just a small cheeseburger, that came with a even smaller bag of chips and nothing else.(it was the size of a cheeseburgerat wendys, you know the ones on the dollar menu. but the one at wendys has more flavor). we agreed that if we had to rate this place..... it would get 5 stars for service, 1 star for prices and food...... we wont be going back.:(

i don't get it.... ok food... nothing stood out except the fries. they were made from fresh cut whole russets and quite good. the burgers are standard frozen industrial grade patties fried on a flattop, slathered in too much goop (gottta remember to order mine dry and do my own condiments next time... if there is a next time)... service is ambivalent at best, tending towards hostile.

i just don't get it... this would never make my list of "destination"burgerjoints... i reckon i'll try them again before choosing which like/don't button to push...

simply fantastic! the natural cut fries are great, the onion rings were awesome and theburgerwas one of the best i've ever had!

decent place with decent prices. first off make sure you bring cash or check before you come here. they do not take plastic and i did not see an atm onsite (and if there was one it would be a generic one and you would be charged a fee by your bank)

now on to the review:

decent place. if you are heading north bound from highway 26 you will come up to a train tressle. be carefull as the road is very narrow and don't speed up too fast or you will miss the one and only drive way in to the place.

you seat your self and the menu is on the table and there is only one so if you come in with others everyone must wait their turn or grab one off another table before someone else takes it. (or the staff yell at you)

they serve that crappy rc cola of all things. not a fan of rc cola to be honest. tastes flat. i much prefer coke. hell pepsi would even be better then rc. as for beer they sell your typical beer plus some local beers such as one from black butte up near sisters, oregon.

they have two different burgers. a normal size and a large size large size could easy be split between two people. the fries were pretty good. they make them in house with real, actual potatoes that they slice up, deep fry and they keep the skins on them and put a dash of salt on it.

theburgerwas alright. just like any other burger.

other then that its just a typical tavern.

tasty. when we got there the place was super busy but we were lucky enough to show up as someone was leaving so we got a booth. a waiter was at our table immediately to take our drink order and then our food order. we had our burgers within 10 minutes of our arrival. theburgerand fries were very good. two things to be aware of: the jumboburgerhas 2 meat patties on it and they don't take credit cards (but there is an atm next door).

many speak of helvetia as if it is the "mecca" of portland area burgers. it must be, because one must almost go on a hadj to get there, it's a hike out into the country. nevertheless, wednesday is my "out for aburgerday", so i trekked out.