MidCity SmashedBurger (also known as MidCity SmashBurger) is a small chain of burger restaurants based in
Portland, Oregon, United States. Chef Mike Aldridge started the business as a
pop-up restaurant in
New Orleans in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic before relocating to Portland and relaunching as a
food cart in early 2021. MidCity specializes in "smash" burgers, which have meat pressed directly on a flat-top grill. Elsewhere in Oregon, MidCity has operated in
Bend and
Beaverton. The restaurant has garnered a positive reception and has been praised for serving some of the best burgers in Portland and
Central Oregon.
Chef and owner Mike Aldridge started MidCity as a
pop-up restaurant, selling burgers from his porch in
New Orleans during the
COVID-19 pandemic.[1][9] He moved to Portland and re-opened MidCity in January 2021,[10] operating a
food truck on
Stark Street at the intersection of 11th Avenue in
southeast Portland's
Buckman neighborhood.[3][11] Approximately 1,000 burgers were sold in the first eight days and the business quickly built a social media following.[5] Selling up to 300 burgers per day,[10] by September 2021 MidCity had sold tens of thousands of burgers.[12]
In 2022, MidCity expanded outside Portland. Aldridge opened a food cart next to the Boneyard Beer taproom on Northwest Lake Place in
Bend's Old Bend neighborhood.[18][19][20] By mid 2023, the cart had relocated to Third Street, operating outside the Hosmer bar in the Waypoint Hotel. Hosmer was opened by Aldridge and his brother.[21]
MidCity's original food cart moved in 2022.[22] Aldridge declined the nearby space that was offered by food cart pod
Lil' America, relocating the cart to the Level Brewing taproom on
Sandy Boulevard in the
northeast Portland part of the
Kerns neighborhood.[23] In March 2024, the business announced plans to relocate a cart in
Belmont. The cart opened at Ship Ahoy Tavern in southeast Portland's
Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood on March 27.[24] MidCity began operating at Binary Brewing in
Beaverton in 2024.[25]
Reception
In 2021, Michael Russell of The Oregonian said MidCity had Portland's best smash burger.[26][27] He also included the business in an overview of the city's best new food carts.[12]Karen Brooks and Katherine Chew Hamilton included MidCity in Portland Monthly's 2021 list of the city's best new food carts.[28] Alex Frane included the business in
Thrillist's 2021 overview of "must-hit" restaurants in Portland.[29]
In 2023, Eater Portland's Katrina Yentch lauded MidCity's affordability,[4] and Jashayla Pettigrew included the restaurant in
KOIN's list of the seven best smash burgers in the metropolitan area, based on
Yelp reviews.[30] Ron Scott and Janey Wong included the restaurant in Eater Portland's 2024 list of twenty "mind-blowing" burgers in the
Portland metropolitan area.[31]Bend Magazine has also included MidCity in an overview of the best burgers in
Central Oregon.[32]