Celebrating 60 Years
21,900 days of Burgerville
60 years ago March 10th, we opened the very first Burgerville USA in Vancouver, Washington. We had a pretty simple vision: delicious food, served quickly with care. Over the next decades, we grew to 40-plus restaurants throughout Oregon and South Washington and in the process, redefined what quality quick-service food should be.
We started using fresh ingredients for everything from the beef in our burgers to the strawberries in our shakes. That started in the 80’s, for you foodies. The 80’s. We prioritized local ingredients (shout out to Tillamook, Rogue, and Face Rock Creameries and Locati Farms Walla Walla onion rings to name just a few), getting to know dozens of farmers, ranchers, makers and producers around the region, and growing our businesses together. We’re working tirelessly with PNW ranches to move toward more regenerative ranching methods as we all move to more grass fed, grass finished beef. In other words, we are investing heavily in the long-term health of the region.
We also worked to reduce our carbon footprint by testing compostable packaging and offsetting our restaurants’ energy use with renewable power from the Pacific NW for 100% of our electricity needs. We pioneered a new kind of children’s meal that contained actual seeds instead of disposable toys, no doubt saving countless parents’ bare feet from pain, and giving our customers the gift of starting gardens together. Recently we’ve been a source of dollars and resources for Northwest communities and first responders affected by the pandemic and the fires. We’re supporting BIPOC farming organizations and working to make our restaurant environments safe, healthy, and accessible to all employees.
All of this is worth celebrating. But that is literally, history. We’re forging ahead on the next 60 years and we’re excited!
But what we’re most proud of is maybe less tangible. It’s the way we’re woven into the fabric of each community we serve.
We’ve been:
• A teen’s first job – hello, former Mayor of Port-St.-Lucy, Fla!
• A gathering place for Mom’s groups, book groups, friend groups, you name it
• A platform for local music
• The test ground for new menu items – um, best left unsaid
• A sports fan – Go, Go, Thorns and Timbers
• A mobile food cart – Shout out to the Nomad!
• That first date spot – aww
• That last date spot – we’ve got tissues
• A skateboard, bicycle, rollerblade, unicycle drive-thru and
• An international food fest participant – thanks, Feast!
21,900 days of Burgerville. Every one of these days was made better by all of you wonderful Orewashigonians. Here’s to you, and to the next 21,900.