I recently went to a relatively new Portland restaurant called Wolf’s Head Burger’s & Malt’s. I thought it was great overall, but some areas needed improvements.
It’s located at 80 SE Madison St., underneath the Hawthorne Bridge in a very industrial part of town, right next to the train tracks running through Inner Southeast. The door is surprisingly unmarked and up a small set of stairs. Once you order you walk through a doorway into the main dining room and kitchen. The restaurant is set up in a diner style.
I loved this layout, because you are right next to the cooks, giving you a much closer experience with your food and its preparation. I sat at the counter surrounding the kitchen at a barstool, and I noticed the tasteful decor of overhead lamp lights at every chair, and a burger bookend, which I thought was pretty funny. There was also a vintage Mortal Kombat game near the front door, which was awesome. It smelled delicious, and I was enveloped in the sizzling sound of frying burgers and whirring milkshake machines.
There was also a refrigerator full of vintage fancy sodas. There was Virgil’s Root Beer and Cream Soda, as well as Cheerwine Cherry Soda, which in my opinion is significantly better than a soda fountain.
I ordered a single patty burger with curly fries, along with an Oreo malted shake. The burger was phenomenal. I feel that they have perfected the ratio of burger ingredients, and for it being their most basic burger option, they hit it out of the park. The patty was crispy on the edges but tender and juicy in the center. The cheese was melty, the pickles were not overbearing, and their secret sauce complemented everything.
One of the most overlooked aspects of a burger is the bun, and the Wolf’s Head bun left nothing to be desired. It was soft and pillowy and never got soggy. My hands also remained clean after the burger was gone thanks to the bun–a phenomenon that rarely occurs when eating burgers.
My shake was delivered shortly after, and it was delicious too. Wolf’s Head puts real Oreos in the “Cookies ‘n Cream” shake, which was their rotating monthly flavor at the time. However, I think they could have mixed it a little bit more. As when I was done, I had to eat some very large Oreo chunks that didn’t fit through the straw. They also advertised it as a malted milkshake, but it could’ve used a bit more malt because I couldn’t taste much of the malted milk flavor.
As I was working on my milkshake, I started in on the fries. The first few were great, and they really have the texture down, but after about half the portion, I started to feel sick. I’m not sure why, but it was simply too greasy to eat a whole serving. I was honestly left disappointed, and I didn’t even eat all of them, something I rarely do in restaurants.
All said and done, I will definitely be returning to Wolf’s Head to try some other burger and milkshake flavors they offer. I also plan to give the fries another try; hopefully they’re better the second time. If you love classic diner-style burgers and milkshakes, this place is definitely worth a stop by.
