Champs Burgers Opens at Portland’s Away Days Brewing Co. | Eater Portland
"Opening its first food cart to the public on Saturday, March 15, this buzzy pop-up–turned–cart is making a Brooklyn-neighborhood debut in partnership with Away Days Brewing Co., led by owners Sterling Houghton and Travis Wilshire. Already known for smash burgers, well-sourced ingredients, and a friendly attitude, the operation is intentionally "burger-inclusive" — offering not just smash burgers but also fresh-baked cookies and beef tallow fries. "The burger culture is starting to blossom full sail," Houghton says. The team focuses on the elements that construct a burger: the buns are a combination of brioche (buttery and flavorful) and Japanese milk bread (light), with flour sourced from Cairnspring Mills, an organic mill using Oregon-grown grains; American cheese comes from New School American Cheese; and the beef is salted and aged. The menu will include a $10 straight-up pickles-and-onions burger alongside rotating favorites such as a lengua pastrami burger — a heaping collection of lengua pastrami, melty Gruyere slice, and fermented jalapeño Russian dressing. Items they couldn't serve at pop-ups that will now appear at the cart include beef tallow fries and cookies, while drinks come by way of Away Days Brewing Co. Committed to pushing burger culture forward through variety, Houghton says, "Even in the cart right now," Houghton says, "we've got a flat-top for fry, smash burgers, and we have a charbroiler for open flame, grill-based burgers." The owners' service-oriented background in the SoCal coffee scene, their summer 2023 Portland pop-up run inspired by New York and Los Angeles, and growing local support have led them to envision a future permanent space to scale up fries and cookies and to live up to their namesake." - Paolo Bicchieri
