Top 5 burgers in PortlandTry and decide for yourself

The Yakuza burger begins and ends with local produce and meats. The half-pound of beef rotates among locally sourced Painted Hills Beef, a local wagyu or other local ranchers. The perfectly pinked burger is topped with chèvre from Portland Creamery, arugula from a nearby farm and handmade shoestring potatoes drizzled with white truffle oil. Add to that a house-made catsup and Sriracha spicy mayo tinged with honey and peppery togarashi. All of this is neatly housed on a local brioche bun from Kens Artisan Bakery, Lovejoy or Pearl Bakery.

Little Bird Bistro (Petit Oiseau), downtown on Sixth Avenue, offers an upscale French-inspired, half-pound burger served on Kens Artisan Bakery sesame seed brioche and dripping with melted brie, bread and butter pickles from Yakima Valley and a house-made dijonnaise. Served with fries.

Little Bird Bistro s eastside cousin, Le Pigeon, has an equally compelling burger. Served with a steak knife through its center, the Le Pigeon burger comes stacked with butter lettuce and blue cheese dressing for $18. Keep in mind that Le Pigeon on E. Burnside is open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner only.

A nice surprise in the quest for Portland's best burgers comes from the dive Slow Bar on SE Grand. You're not here for the atmosphere, you're there for the burger. So sit at the bar and do your level best to keep yourself free of dripping goodness. Stacked with two thick onion rings, the half-pound slow burger of Angus beef is topped with tomato, Gruyère, pickle relish, garlic aioli and butter lettuce.

One of the best of the unhinged burgers is the Screen Door's Southern comfort griddlestack burger. Leave your manners at the door, as there is no polite way to eat this towering burger. Our best advice is to go at night under the cover of dim candlelight in this cool, bustling Southeast Portland scene. Many people line up for Screen Door's famed fried chicken, but the burger is on a plane of its own. Two five-ounce grass-fed patties are strewn with homemade pimiento cheese, lettuce, pickles and smoked scallion mayo. A driven wooden stake keeps it upright. For a buck each, you can order crispy fried onions, an egg or bacon. Unless you travel with your cardiologist, we recommend adding the crispy onions---they should do the trick. This, comes with a side of fries.