Burgers: one of the most popular, most enduring foods in America. Burgers elevated: the mission of Mountain Burger.
Northwest Crossing’s Mountain Burger opened in September, with the idea being to reinvent the iconic American burger joint. The plan included offering locally sourced ingredients, meat and plant-based alternatives along with healthy salads and creative cocktails, all in a full service, comfortable atmosphere focused on community, with a mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable dining.
Wait. Were the words burger and sustainable dining uttered in the same paragraph? Yes, yes they were.
“Mountain Burger is an unexpected experience, from the look and feel to the offerings on the menu to the hospitality,” explains partner/designer Sara Hobin. “We’re not just a burger joint. We’re expanding the burger.” Partner Dan Hobin explains that the restaurant is built upon four pillars. “Design, serving families’ diverse dietary needs with meat and plant-based foods all in one place, sustainability and hospitality,” he says.
Self-proclaimed burger lover and CEO Ted Swigert puts it this way, “We want to prove that people do not need to compromise to eat sustainably. We want to prove that sustainable restaurants can provide better service, tastier and healthier food, and a more fun dining experience than the status quo.”
But what motivated this team to make sustainability such a high priority with, of all things, a burger joint?
“We live in this beautiful mountain town and enjoy the outdoors and we asked ourselves, what can we do be a part of the solution?” Dan Hobin elaborates while noting that restaurants and food systems account for over 15% of total greenhouse emissions.
Being a part of the solution means that Mountain Burger has a Climate Action Plan, with the ambitious, aggressive goal of getting to net-zero carbon emissions by 2025.
“We have a climate team meeting every week. It’s hard but we’re making good progress. Soon we’re going to have on our menus the carbon-footprint of every item, so slowly over time, we’re educating the consumer,” Dan Hobin says. “We’re always trying to do something to offset carbon emissions.”
Take, for example, Mountain Burger’s vegan milkshakes. General Manager Colin Gladden says there’s a reason why they use oat milk instead of almond or soy-based products in those shakes.
“Almond-based leads to drought heaviness. Soy is a leader in some countries in clear cutting forests to provide soy fields. So we’ve made conscious choices,” he states. He goes on to say that it makes sense to make conscious choices with burgers because burgers are America’s favorite thing to eat. “We’re making this conscious effort and taking the lead on it and it’s been improving our operations.” The Mountain Burger team shares what they’re learning on the sustainability path on a blog, hoping to inspire others to take the journey with them.
OK, so Mountain Burger, unexpectedly for a burger joint, is on an environmental mission, but how are the fries?
The fries are fabulous! “We punch those French fries every day. They soak in water for 24 hours then we blanch them the next day. Then when your order comes in we finish them in the fryer. Everything on the menu is a labor of love. You can’t fake any of this,” Mountain Burger Executive Chef Justin Goin says with a smile. He also takes pride in the beef. “It’s all 100% grass-fed and we grind our beef every day. We patty it and cook it fresh, every day. We also make the Mountain Burger Sauce in house with caramelized onions and pickles, mayonnaise, a little bit of mustard, vinegar and brown sugar. And we make the American cheese every day. We cook it, pour it into molds. It sets up and then we slice it; it’s just better than if we bought it. Plus there are no chemicals, preservatives or fillers in our American cheese.”
Along with traditional burgers and cheeseburgers are also seasonally inspired specials, a variety of salads and meat-alternative burgers such as the Bristol Bayou Burger starring Bristol Bay sockeye salmon and shrimp, the Manzanita Melt with a walnut, oat and sage patty with caramelized onion and roasted mushrooms and the Crunchy Cauliflower Burger. This creative burger is the brainchild of Sara Hobin. She asked chef Goin if he could do it and his reply was, “We put a man on the moon; we can do that!”
GM Gladden confirms, “We’re always trying to do something to offset environmental impacts and to give people an alternative.”
Along with traditional fries, Mountain Burger also offers various sauces and accoutrements as well as things such as Maple-Bacon Sweet Potato waffle fries and Crispy Brussels Sprouts. “We’re also really proud of our salads, the way we build them, the way we plate them, the care that we take as well as the different options,” beams Chef Goin. The names of certain menu items also tie back to the local outdoors, such as the Dilly Dally Alley boozy milkshake named after a ski run at Mt. Bachelor.
The bright family-friendly restaurant with plenty of comfy booths and French bistro chairs and wooden tables truly offers something for everyone on its carbon-conscious menu, along with a kids menu, custom shakes, floats, cookies, cocktails and wine.
Mountain Burger is also participating in Source Weekly’s Burger Week April 6-12 featuring two of their delicious burgers for $10: the Mountain Cheeseburger and the Crunchy Cauliflower Burger.
This article appears in Source Weekly April 6, 2023.
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