Photos: The Oregonian/file
By MICHAEL RUSSELL | THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE
What's happening at Stanich's?
About a week into the new year, the beloved Northeast Portland burger bar closed for what a sign on the door called an annual employee vacation. More than two weeks later, the restaurant remains closed. Readers have gotten curious, asking whether the restaurant is up for sale.
We reached out to second-generation owner Steve Stanich by phone Thursday to find out what’s been happening at the Northeast Fremont Street institution. He didn’t hold back.
“We’re closed for a deep cleaning,” says Stanich, 69. “We’re getting the place back to where I was. Some employees haven't honored their word. The place got really filthy.”
According to Stanich, the restaurant often closes in January, then reopens around the time people start forgetting their health-minded New Year’s resolutions. It could reopen as soon as next week.
“We’re making sure that everything's spotless,” Stanich says. “My parents are buried right behind Stanich's in the graveyard and they're dictating from the grave.”
And what about rumors that the restaurant might be for sale?
"That's an option,” Stanich says, “but right now it looks like a very small option."
"We're doing some deep cleaning, some remodeling and some deciding," Stanich says. "We've been offered a lot of money to tear this down and go like Rheinlander's, but I'm not motivated by money. My parents taught me that the more you give, the more you receive."
Opened in 1949 by husband-and-wife George and Gladys Stanich, Stanich’s rose to popularity a few years later after The Oregonian named its burger the “world’s greatest hamburger.” The restaurant went from selling 20 hamburgers a day to more than 300. In the following decades, the sports-themed restaurant hosted everyone from musicians to media figures to famous athletes, including Michael Jordan, alongside countless Little League Baseball teams celebrating victory or defeat.
In May 2017, that Oregonian accolade was echoed by the Thrillist website, which after a national search named the Nick's cheeseburger from Stanich's as the best burger in America.
The impact was immediate. I've been back a couple of times since the award, and both times found myself waiting at least 45 minutes for a simple cheeseburger and fries. Staff seemed overwhelmed. A quick cruise through recent online reviews reveals similar experiences.
During the restaurant's most recent inspection, Stanich's scored a 97, but was asked to do a "initial thorough, deep cleaning then increase your cleaning frequency" after an inspector noted built-up "grime, grease, food debris."
According to Stanich, the burger award was “not only bittersweet, it's a curse.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Stanich says. “Because it's almost crushed our business.
“We're a country of blamers. We blame everybody. I don't blame anybody. But ever since we won this thing, people were going on the internet telling me how to cook a burger, telling me how screwed up we were, and frankly, that's why I don't go on the internet.
“It's been the worst thing that's ever happened to us. Tim McGraw came by and there was a five-hour wait and I couldn't wait on him. I told him to be humble and kind, and he called back and had one for me: ‘God is great, beer is good and people are crazy.’”
-- Michael Russell
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America's best burger? Apparently, it's right here in Portland.
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