Champs Burgers
American restaurant · Brooklyn ·
Scratch-made buns, dry-aged beef, and beef tallow fries
Scratch-made buns, dry-aged beef, and beef tallow fries
"Two former coffee guys decided it was time to give Portland’s burger scene a serious stimulus check. Their outfit lives within the Away Days Brewing Co. operation in Southeast as of mid-March. There are fresh-baked cookies, beef tallow fries, and powerful burgers of every stripe: thin and smashed, yes, but also thick and bistro-style, too." - Zoe Baillargeon
"Now a full-fledged food cart at Away Days Brewing Co., Champs Burger entered a considerably competitive smash burger scene with real force as a pop-up in 2023. Not only do owners Sterling Houghton and Travis Wilshire make their own American cheese slices using Tillamook dairy, but they also bake pillowy-soft milk buns in-house. In addition to its classic cheeseburger, Champs offers rotating specials such as the Smokelahoma, an Oklahoma-style onion burger with hickory smoked American cheese slices." - Rebecca Roland
"A former pop-up that set up a food cart at Away Days Brewing Co., opening March 15 at 1234 SE Cora Street; the menu centers on burgers — such as a recent 21-day, dry-aged brisket burger — plus beef tallow fries and cookies." - Dianne de Guzman
"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
