Ask us at PoMo for our favorite burger spots, and there’s one that always comes up on our short list: Hit the Spot. Before crisp-edged smash burgers were trendy, out of a cart in the Human Bean parking lot on NE Sandy, Hit the Spot was making juicy yet thin patties with squishy buns, melty cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, and special sauce. It ranked no. 2 on PoMo’s Burger Cabal ranking of classic cheeseburgers, second only to Expatriate’s American Standard. I describe Hit the Spot as “In-N-Out if In-N-Out were actually good”—no animal style needed, and with excellent crispy shoestring fries that are nothing like the fast food chain’s sad, cardboard-like deal. 

In the food world, Oakley’s known as a fast-food savant, reviewing the latest chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, and pizzas for his thousands of followers. Vulture labeled him “the preeminent fast-food critic of 2018,” and the Wrap called him “the Gordon Ramsay of fast food.”

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Best burger: “I’m going to say Hit The Spot. It depends on whether I want a burger with a bunch of stuff on it. If I don’t, it’s Hit the Spot

Is opening a burger cart directly across from Killer Burger foolish, or brave? Ask Jeremy Sivers, who did just that last September, when the 35-year-old moved his Montavilla farmer’s market stand into this blue and orange truck parked directly across the street from Portland’s most popular burger chain.

Food cart owner Jeremy Sivers is no stranger to need. The Portland native and his brother were raised by a single mother who worked shifts at Mike’s Drive-In in Milwauki and the chainsaw company Blount to make ends meet.

"Favorite burger place hands down
Customer service is amazing
Me and my boyfriend are regulars here and they took the time to memorize our orders and names which is awesome. And me and him made it our goal to find the best burger place and this is hands down the best."

Do you ever crave a burger, but fear that it will just completely derail your diet? What’s more convenient and cheaper than going through a drive-thru? Then you quickly realize how much you are going to regret that decision the next morning. Imagine there was an alternative? Imagine there was a healthier fast-food option? Well, there is now thanks to the owner of Hit the Spot, Jeremy Sivers. He has created the perfect burger using only fresh, local, high-quality ingredients.

Sivers, 35, who ran a burger stand at the Montavilla Farmers Market for years with son Elijah, had good reason to be sure of his product. Hit The Spot’s smash burger gets just about everything right, with a simple chuck blend seared to a gorgeous crust on the flat top grill, a nicely griddled Franz’ bun, dill pickles, sweet onion, shredded iceberg, sliced tomato and a barely-there tingle from some smoky chipotle aioli.