Dick’s Primal Burger

I want to like Dick’s since it’s in my neighborhood but both times I’ve been the service is rude, the lines long and the food feels overpriced. It’s pretty tasty and there are some healthy options which I appreciate but unless you order a few different things you might leave feeling hungry. I wish it was table service like their other locations or that the line didn’t feel so hectic. It’s pretty noisy in there. And there is one esp. rude guy that works there and brings food to the table (bearded, intense eyes) – both times we’ve been he’s been rude in multiple ways. It’s too bad. I feel like if they could up their service it really would make a big difference.

First time eating and will probably be the last. Food was expensive, had very little flavor, and then had to bus my table after that. I don’t mind bussing my mess but not with those prices.
I ordered veggie burger and it immediately fell apart. I ate it with a fork. Fries were expensive and tasted like mush. My son had a slider for $ 4.50. My wife had a salad with a burger on top that looked like it as sitting out for a week. $ 12.50 with no fries included. Our bill was $ 37 plus a $ 5 tip. Not worth your time.

ALL about the Lentil Chili/​stew tonight… nailed this bowl of Northwest stew. Did not expect this treat at a burger joint, but had to give it a go. Please do.

I really like this dicks primal burger! They’ve got a great thing going over at Dick’s kitchen and this is a great new location with a focus on the burgers! It does seem slightly upscale in the quality and type of food for being an order-​at-​the-​counter-​bus-​your-​own-​tables kind of place, unlike their other location that has tableservice. But it’s not a dealbreaker, I will be back! They really do a great job with the burgers and having options for many different dietary needs. Also the first time I went I got a pint size kombucha but the second time I visited and ordered the same kombucha it was in a disappointingly much smaller glass. Still good though, but left me wanting more to drink. I do hope this place does well as it’s a great menu!

We ordered take-​out. The owner was very friendly, and although the order was taking a bit longer, he assured me that they were making sure the fries were great. Seemed like he really cared about the quality of the food.
The salmon burgers were good, though a little pricey @ $ 9.50 a piece (for the burger only).
Strangely enough, the fries were the worst we’ve ever had. They were barely cooked… extremely soggy. Really not sure what happened… I also got the ‘special sauce,’ for an additional .50, and it tasted just like Mayonnaise (with maybe dill?). Also, their version of a large is a normal burger place’s normal order (still at $ 5.50). Compare to Foster Burger’s large fries for the same price… not sure why theirs are more expensive. I’d love to know why…
Unfortunately, it was a battle to even convince my wife to give the place a try (she doesn’t like paying a lot for takeout food), so just due to the fries alone I don’t think we’ll ever return. Seems stupid, but we like crispy fries.
What’s even more confusing is that Dick even says in an article that he ‘agonized’ over how to improve his fries, specifically for this location. Keep working at it!

Don’t bother.
If you are looking for a good burger — go to Lutz. It is tastier, cheaper, and more filling. Just 2 blocks down the street.
If you are looking for healthy food — go to Laughing Planet. It is a great family restaurant with cheap and extraordinarily healthy food that tastes great. Just 7 blocks down the street.
If you are looking to spend a lot of time waiting in a line and then waiting even longer for your food this is the place for you. I am usually a fan of the counter service situation but it is only effective in a café because people already know what they want or a taco stand because there are only a few options. This place has too much going on the menu for anyone to make their choice in an effective amount of time, especially when this place is asking you about gluten free buns and other irrelevant options I doubt concern you. Meanwhile, you’ve been in line for 10 minutes (yet only one order has been taken off the queue), you’ve had plenty of time to figure out what you want but too bad because there are two families ahead of you and the kids weren’t paying attention and now need to squint up at the menu and burn another 15 minutes by asking questions like: «what’s a balsamic reduction, daddy?»
I really don’t like writing negative reviews. But, this place is garbage and is probably taking business away from the way better places that have been in the community for years. I have been here enough times to have had all the burgers a few times and they are all wack. The Zizou burger is the only one worth your time, but again there are way better burgers 2 blocks down at Lutz.
Again, I normally don’t write negative reviews but since I was the one who entered this place into Unilocal!in the first place I feel like I owe it to you, potential money spender: your dollars could be put to a better time and a better meal in a better atmosphere.
TL;DR — the perceived amount of time you’ll be adding to your life by eating a healthy burger will only be wasted in waiting for said food to arrive.

My wife and I were hoping for so much more from the first new restaurant on Woodstock in ages.
Overpriced. Under-​seasoned.
My wife and I went for lunch — two burgers and a «large» fry — no drinks purchased. We left poorer both spiritually and monetarily. The $ 30 we spent left a lot to be desired. I was happier that my feet were less soggy than the thing that was supposed to keep my burger in place.
$ 5 for a «large» fry! Save yourself $ 4.50 and buy two potatoes at your local grocer. Our portion was one large russet potato. If you know anything about carmelized onion you know to only call it carmelized if it is not completely raw. It was just that — raw. Seasoning? I would have loved if the patties we were served were seasoned. Even salt and pepper. They were bland. The pint of beer I ordered… wait, wait. There was no pint of beer because I couldn’t justify the $ 6.50. Give me a break!
I work hard for my money so you better treat me right. You didn’t DPB. Hoping a new restaurant will open up shop in this building soon. I’m the king of wishful thinking.

Waited for 30 minutes for an over cooked burger patty, tiny salad and some greens. And $ 11 for it.
Lame.
I asked for medium rare.
I realize I didn’t get a «burger» but really?
The place was not busy either.

I went to Dick’s Primal approximately 3 — 4 weeks ago. I am always excited to try a new burger place. I ordered the BBQ Burger.
First, the attitude from the counter girl was awful — she acted as if we were lucky and blessed that she was there to take our order — she needs to take notes from the rest of the crew — they were very polite and helpful — she was not.
Second, when my order arrived, they forgot a key ingredient — the BBQ sauce. They brought me a side of the sauce — ice cold — I think they serve them cold on purpose — which makes zero sense to me — the BBQ sauce on a BBQ burger needs to at least be warm — it helps the burger flavor come together — I am not exaggerating when I say «ice cold» — very unpleasant.
Third — the taste. The burger is a well seasoned burger — the patty was good. What ruined the burger for me was the BBQ sauce — it was very off-​putting — not a true BBQ sauce at all. If they put vinegar in the sauce — there was way too much as it had a very sour taste — they need to sample BBQ at some of Portland’s fine BBQ restaurants and really taste what a true BBQ sauce tastes like. I would go as far as saying they should remove the BBQ burger off their menu until they mastered a true BBQ sauce. Not recommended.
The fries were bland and unremarkable. For the prices they charge (they are on the high side), — they need to raise their game — maybe seasoning the fries would help? I’m not sure.
I am giving Dick’s Primal two stars instead of one because they have a good basic patty — if they really take to heart the feedback people are giving — they could make a really good burger — the patty is everything.
But to ensure they deserve the prices they are charging, they need to really raise the bar on the sauces and sides. If not, they won’t last long.
I am not sure at this point if I will give them a second chance. It would be nice if the owner would respond to some of the criticisms and not just a few of the rave reviews on this page. I think it would help the restaurant improve.

Quite possibly my favorite burger experience in Portland. We had to check out the meat friendly Dick’ s Primal Burger. What we found were thoughtfully conceived gourmet burgers with quality ingredients with great flavor. I ordered the special burger, and my burger eating partner ordered an old familiar. My Duck and Pork burger (Dork) had a heavy mound of caramelized onions and an herbal mayo. As I was about to smear on the ketchup and the mustard, I was advised by my dining partner to try the burger as it came. Glad I left it as it was, because the burger was perfect as it was. My partner loved his balsamic, caramelized onion, and blue cheese burger as well, and wasn’t interested in sharing with me. I could even imagine bringing my vegetarian family member for their non meat burger. I have a feeling she will be happy as well.

Burgers are pretty good, but it’s just too expensive — close to $ 50 for two adults and a toddler! That’s crazy for lunch. This is Woodstock, not the Pearl.
Also, the walls are covered in DOZENS of photos of old white dudes I did not recognize. Then I saw Dick Van Dyke and finally got it. They are Dicks. Get it? Dicks. I mean, I sort of get the «joke» but the effect is still that you are sitting around looking at a whole bunch of pictures of obscure white geezers. Okay, Richard Pryor is there. But still. It’s really off-​putting as a woman. Just, with the world being what it is I really don’t think we need to celebrate the white male any more than we already do, ya know? Call me overly PC or whatever, but I won’t be back.

I am a huge fan of the original Dick’s Kitchen, and loved they opened an order at the counter joint in Sellwood. Huge fan of the dino kale salad with the lemon parsley dressing with lots of hazelnuts and gorgonzola. Not fried — baked including sweet potato and dipping sauces for unfortunately, 50 cent extra charge!!! Service is a little slow as they are just stating out. Wish they had chicken as they do at the other joints.

I’m a vegetarian (pescatarian) and they had 2 sandwich options for me: Salmon or Veggie. I had the veggie and it was good. Not amazing and if fell apart on me right at the beginning, but a perfectly good burger. Tasty fries and a nice selection of dipping sauces. My husband had the brokeback (BBQ sauce) and said it was good too.
Problem was, it was spendy. You order at a counter and have it brought to you, and for their prices, they don’t even include fries. Several times during my order I was notified «thats $ 1 extra», «thats $.50 extra». 2 adults and 1 toddler and our meal cost $ 42! Without any beer either.
So, good food, but not really worth what you get. Maybe the beef was better.

Honestly, not impressed. Came in a couple of nights ago for dinner. G/​f ordered a burger, I got the Thai turkey bowl, and we shared fries.
First off, ordered fries well done per earlier Unilocal’ers recommendations. Burger was tasty but turkey/​Thai was supremely disappointing. Seriously, a miniscule (less than a couple of inches across and less than an inch thick) turkey patty on an overdressed bowl of lettuce just doesn’t justify the $ 11.50 price point.
Beyond that? I’d rather spend my money at their other joint — Laughing Planet — down the street. FAR superior offerings, better flavor spectrum.

I had the Umami burger here last weekend. It was delicious with great seasoning, toppings, and was a nice hearty portion. The Thai salad we also had was good but missing something and getting our food was a bit slow. But still felt the burger was a solid ⁴⁄₅ and thats what I came for, so I’ll leave it at a that.
Based on the negative reviews (which are a drastically different flavor experience than what I had) and the fact who took my order mentioned they had not officially had a grand opening yet, I’m assuming they’ve got some consistency issues to work out with the staff and flow of the restaurant.
Hoping they improve and thrive in the Woodstock neighborhood. I’ll definitely be visiting more myself.

I love sitting at their bar. They had soccer playing today. I had the Veggie Burger in the Hail to Kale plus the House-​Made Kimchi. I’m a bit of a Caesar snob and theirs delivered! The veggie burger is made in house is crunchy and flavorful (nuts, almond flour, herbs).
Rotating seasonal veg is always a good option here. If you get the fries there is a ton of sauce options
Stoked to have quality, grass fed foods in the hood!
Oh and their tap selection is bomb. Ginja Ninja!

I’m a huge fan for burgers and in Portland — we have lots of option for good food. Being a new spot in the neighborhood, I wanted to give it a chance but it is crossed off my list! I would NOT recommend this place!
Strike 1: MESSED UP MY ORDER First of all, ordered 1 of 2 burgers completely dry & no toppings — had 3 employees tell me my order and then have it come out with everything on it.
Strike 2: NO SEASONING: tried to be a good sport and scrape the pickles, onion, tomatoes but it had ZERO salt or seasoning. Even after I salted it a ton it had NO flavor. I had the GUEST burger (ELK) — but my husband had the Primal Burger and he said same thing NO FLAVOR.
Strike 3: It kind of smelled like DISHWATER in the restaurant and when I made my husband try a bite of my elk burger, he spit it out and said it tasted like dishwater too.
Soooo — looks like I’m having salad and french fries for dinner?
FAIL. I try to give places a second chance but I won’t be going back there. If you can’t even put salt in a burger — like I said, we have a LOT of choices for GOOD food in Portland!
UPDATE —– Just gave this spot a 2^nd chance & it was just as bad/​worse than the first time! This time their computers were down and the staff was super confused. The burger again had no seasoning — the only thing that saved it was that it had some bbq sauce on it but that was probably bottled. Again — disappointing and will NOT recommend this to anyone! Save your TIME & MONEY! Sorry!

Flavor City! Absolutely love the burgers and shakes. Coconut bliss chocolate with malt is the way to go!
Burgers are so juicy i was licking the juice off my elbows! Fresh Joint for this side of town so happy to have them here. Also just had a DORK burger (Duck and Pork) and i was completely blown away! oh did i mention they have Kombucha on tap! way to go dicks! They give a whole new meaning to eating a bag of Dick’s!
So So Delicious!

My son and I ordered the Primal Burger, and my wife got the Umami burger.
I chose the Primal burger because I wanted to taste the flavors of the beef the first time there. I was not disappointed. The beef patty has a strong, bold beef flavor, and the patty has a good crust on it. Red onion, tomato and pickles are standard toppings on all burgers.
The Umami burger is topped with a caramelized onion and balsamic reduction. I do not know what it was like, as my wife was not willing to share a taste. The fries are home made and deep fried, unlike the other Dick’s locations where they are baked.
I look forwards to going back, and trying some of he other burgers. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Dick’s! Welcome to the neighborhood!
I’m not a person to re-​heat burgers and fries, but I had leftovers from Dick’s last night, and I gotta tell ya, that umami burger stands up pretty dang well.
I took my parents here the day after Thanksgiving, and while that can sometimes spell disaster, everything went incredibly smoothly. Gotta give credit to Dick’s crew for being super nice while we sorted out our choices, and for turning out creamy shakes, really yummy fries, and a fun variety of quality burgers that even my picky stepdad admitted were better than his own.
Dick himself was in the house that day, and explained to us that the Primal Burger name (vs. Dick’s Kitchen) is to put some emphasis on the Burgers (not to forget the aforementioned really yummy fries), and acknowledge the slightly different service model (i.e., counter vs table service).
All in all, good stuff, and I’m beyond thrilled to have a real burger option and nice dining environment this close to home.