I was on my way to create the perfect Greek hamburger. I had heard about the burgers at Foti’s Greek Deli, and while they are not in the top third of anybody’s “Best of Portland” lists, they are often mentioned as a consistently good, and inexpensive burger.
I had my own twist on it in mind. Foti’s is a nice little deli, with a grill, offering the usual Greek specialties, and selling a variety of Mediterranean grocery items. I looked at the menu, and ordered at the counter, before sitting down at one of the typically-Greek adorned blue and white tables. (Where was the guy with the Windex?)
My order? Take a plain burger on a bun, top it will a grilled split Loukaniko (which I found out today I had mispronounced for the past 20 years) sausage, add feta, Greek olives, and dig in.
Small problem. They were out of sausage. (sigh). I had a choice of regular or “Greek” fries, inquired about the latter, they were battered, seasoned steak fries, I passed in favor of regular, which were slightly larger than shoestrings.
The burger? The way I adorned it, was divine. As least I got my sodium intake for the day. A fountain root beer, the fries seasoned just right, the cool creaminess of the slabs of feta on the hot burger, topped with crushed Greek olives, the NY Times crossword. What a day. Christmas comes early for BurgerDogBoy.
Sweet mother of god, this was one tasty burger. I’ll be back. When they restock on the sausage!