Red Coach Restaurant

The waiters were so attentive and helpful! I’m not sure if it was manager or the owner who filled my coffee cup with cream. But I was struggling to put cream in my coffee in the corner and she came over and did it for me. The coffee was very good, and the food looked amazing. I will come back for the food!!!

@Zachary B. You made me so incredibly curious — I want detail and anecdotes! I want to know — HOW did the waitress make you feel like a h.s. student and like she was the substitute teacher? What did she say? What did she do that seemed sub-​teacherish? And what were the complaints she made to her casually-​dressed colleague? Were they about other employers? Her boss? Her family and friends? Or were they about you? Oh, this is seriously like, a cliffhanger to me for some reason — I want. to. know. Please respond!

I’ve passed this place a few times but never had a real desire to try it until I bought a Groupon. I had the Chili Burger, my partner in crime had the double cheese burger. Both were good and juicy and ALMOST worth the half our wait it took to get the food. We ordered Onion Rings as an appetizer but they didn’t come until the meal came out and they were way way way over done, like practically black. I worked at the Olive Garden for a while, their motto for the staff is, «If you wouldn’t want to eat it, don’t serve it.» I don’t think the same goes for this place. I don’t really feel like I will ever be going back. But it is a nice little hole in the wall Portland secret.

This was one of the most uncomfortable dining experiences I’ve ever had.
I went into Red Coach only knowing that the place sold burgers and milkshakes. I was taken aback by the atmosphere when I entered the restaurant, which is tiny and lies inside an office building. The restaurant interior was poorly lit with dim ceiling lights; the ceiling was probably too low to hang normal dim-​dining lights such as those you might find in other diners. The space also seemed cramped. The room was small and made me feel claustrophobic.
I ordered a burger with fries, which overall tasted pretty good with ketchup. However, I was made uncomfortable by a terribly awkward waitress who made me feel like a high school student being patronized by an inexperienced substitute teacher. This was not my style. I also didn’t enjoy hearing her whispered complaints to the cook, who was a man in casual t-​shirt and jeans.
Despite a burger that wasn’t bad, the eerie atmosphere and odd staff made for an overall uncomfortable experience for my party. I will not be going back, even for take-​out.

Don’t come here if you’re looking for schmancy food. It’s a diner, and they have a damn good diner burger. And fries. And milkshakes. And onion rings. All diner-​style.
Don’t come here if you are looking for schmancy service. They are a super quirky family, and that’s what you get. Funny, local, kind, attentive, and quirky service: definitely. Just because they aren’t your flavor of hipster nerds don’t knock the quirkiness.
Yes, I have no idea how they make a profit given the location and lack of open hours, but the food can’t be beat if you want a classic diner burger and shake.

Great burgers??? Where!!!
I think I might’ve gone to the wrong place because the burger I had here was not even close to being good super thin and super greasy patty topped with a tiny piece of old lettuce and tomato… Yeah not good. The shakes are only okay and the service unprofessional, I’ve never been to a place where your waiter is in the middle of taking your order then says oh hang on and goes to get something for another table. The two stars is for the shake btw.

Staff is very friendly. Burgers are yummy! Fries and onion rings are ok.

Some of the best classic burgers, fries and shakes in town. Always a hit. Love the atmosphere with the old big booths. The fact that the business is family-​owned makes the service over the top! Been going to the Red Coach for over 13 years and it remains top of my list!

Burgers seem to be the winners at this place.
I so wanted to like this place. So much. It feels like a great NYC office-​building diner and has a fabulous funky, but not hip ambience. Nice change for a Portland place.
Our waiter was quiet and seemed to write our orders down correctly, but the food arrived and our order was incorrect. no big deal. They corrected it.
The only person in our party who liked it got a cheeseburger. She said it was great. One of us got a gardenburger and fries and felt sick for hours after. The grilled cheese was blah and skimpy. Tillamook cheese but thin and bland. The fries are clearly frozen from a bag and not of great quality.
Each person’s order comes on a separate check (we had kids with us) and they are dropped on the table, with no prices. Weird.
With a little effort, this place could be amazing. Better quality fries and oil, better quality bread and more cheese… and I would be back there in a minute. Can the gardenburgers until they find a really good Portland-​quality veggie alternative.
I was bummed. One of us felt sick all afternoon but our burger-​orderer was happy. Definitely a mixed bag.

Ok this place is nothing fancy. My first impression was «How does this place exist?!» the real estate seems prime for a big chain right near Pioneer.
We got our menu-​about 4 items on the whole thing. So we settled on two bacon cheeseburgers and fries. They only have Diet Coke, Coke and Sprite and shakes.
Here’s my review of the food: Burger was great, fries were clearly frozen Ore Ida style fries. I would have preferred a better fry– I mean it’s the only side dish!
Service: Staff was very friendly but odd. Our bill had no price on it so I had to guess when I went to the register! Seriously there were just two paper tickets on our table– not a fan of that.
It’s a dive diner– the food is great, the atmosphere is quirky and so is the staff. Quite the experience.

Come here for a great burger and milkshake. Simple and straightforward menu, good prices and very friendly service. Love their Karl’s Special with bacon topped off with a diet coke :-)

Just had lunch at this shady dive again, and for the last time. My experience here has always been a little off, be it the odd family running the joint, or the questionable sanitary practices … this place puts me off. Today was the last straw though.
I went to pull the tomato off my burger and noticed the rotten lettuce. Not brown, not browning, rotten and slimy. As I start to pull this lettuce off, I ask my friend, «Why do you eat here?» That’s when I pulled off a long black hair. (sigh)
OK, don’t get too grossed out here, but rather than make a big deal … I picked off the nasty bits, and tried to eat/​enjoy my bacon cheese burger. I got about ½ through it and my body started to revolt, probably psychological but I was done with the burger. I thought, ‘well at least the onion rings look good’. They were disappointing as well, and only fueled my nausea. Not sure what my issue was with the onion rings, but they were not what i expected, all breading and grease, very little onion? Again, not sure what my complaint is there.
So that was my food experience, if I wasn’t ill feeling I would go get food somewhere else. I had the good fortune of sitting in a booth that faced the kitchen. The older gent that prepared the food used the counter for just about everything, staging tickets, leaning on, but mostly putting your food on to prepare. To his credit, he wiped that counter often. To my dismay, more than once I saw him wipe the food off into his hand, and toss it back into the bins he was grabbing fixing from. Then wipe his head, wipe his pants, no gloves, grab a bun … rinse, repeat. Never saw anyone wash their hands through any preparation. To be fair, maybe they wash their hands off stage somewhere, who am I to say. I do know the guy preparing burgers hands did not get washed after several surface contacts that I would rather not eat from.
I was apprehensive before today, now I am completely abstaining.

Whenever I’m looking for a great old fashioned burger, this place hits the spot! Red Coach is a downtown institution! It’s been there forever and is one of the most comfortable places to kick back and enjoy a burger. Love the red booths!
The burgers are moist and delicous every time! This is not only due to the seasoned burger cook but also because they only use top quality beef (hormone free, grass fed and I believe, from Montana)! They have super soft and tasty buns too!
If you haven’t been here yet and love a «no-​frills» burger joint. You have to try it!
I can’t wait to hit it up next week!

Nice burger place, simple well done burger without all the fancy stuff every other restaurant offers in the area. Milk shake done the old fashioned way with ice cream in a machine that blends it.
What i don’t like about this place and not something they would change, the location sucks being in that area. Also the hours and not being open for dinner but i can see why they would cater more to the lunch crowd. Overall if you’re in the downtown area and want a good burger give them a try.

Red Coach is right smack dab in the middle of downtown Portland, in a really good almost underground feeling space. The ceilings are low and there are no windows.
There is an upstairs dining area but we sat on the bottom floor right next to the grill.
The owners of this place are friendly and outgoing. They have a lot of pride in their food and it shows. This sets them apart from the chain places. You get that guest feel I mention in other reviews.
The menu is simple. Burger & fries, with Malted milk shakes in three flavors. The burger is available with veggie patties as well, which made the vegetarian in our group happy that he wasn’t going to be stuck with just fries and maybe a salad.
This isn’t a gourmand place, so these burger offerings are very strait forward diner fare. Which is fine. They look and feel like a diner, to follow through with diner menu is a plus.
The burger over all was pretty good, and the ingredients fresh. The bun didn’t get all soggy, and wasn’t stale. It is a bit of a drive for a burger lunch though. The folks that run the place would be the main reason for us to return. Personality sometimes makes it worth the miles and the parking in downtown. The fries were thick cut no skins, and prepared very well. They offered additional fries to us since we apparently were enjoying them.
Prices were about what you would expect for a decent burger and fries.
It’s worth keeping folks like this in business. Next time your looking for a burger in downtown, give Red Coach a try.

The bacon-​burger: moist, just the right amount of beef, bacon wasn’t too thick, cheese melted nicely, lettuce, tomato, and mayo were proportionate and the toasted bun didn’t hog the scene.
The fries: crinkle cut, possibly previously frozen, but they didn’t suck. They weren’t anything special but they were crispy and tasted great dipped in my chocolate shake.
The milkshake: chocolate and thick (get your mind out of the gutter if you’re there). Great complement to the fries.
All in all, it delivered. The portions were moderate, and that’s a good thing. Too many places tout enormous portions and then the food isn’t even good. I would totally eat at the Red Coach again.

I’d give the food 3.5 stars, and the atmosphere 2 stars, so I’ll settle on 3 stars overall.
I had a tasty grilled cheese sandwich, crispy fries, a sub-​par chocolate milkshake, and my husband had a very good bacon cheeseburger. Overall the food was pretty good.
Our waiter was very nice, and got our order right, but once we got our food we never saw him again. No refills, no nothing, despite the fact that there were about 5 people working and we were the only customers.
The entire place was empty and they seated us in the back right in front of the grill. It was super noisy, and rather obnoxious. The owner came over multiple times and interrupted our conversation just to shoot the breeze and linger, which was a bit awkward. The place was a mess with stacks of paper and other junk on every surface. They also had dusty old stuffed animals everywhere, which was borderline creepy.

Nestled away in the bowels of an office building, andhard to find if you ain’t looking, the Red Coach is strictly a burger and fries place, open 11– 3:30, Mon-​Sat. When I say «strictly burger and fries», I mean that’s what most people go for, although there are a few other basics on offer (BLT, Grilled Cheese, Chili, Side Salad).
I hit the joint at 130 on a Wednesday, there were only a few remaining lunch rush customers, no one but me on the main floor, a few more in the upper level. I hear tell the Red Coach has been around forever, and the décor (red leather tufted booths), makes it seem so.
A footnote on the back of the menu says the Red Coach beef in Montana Ranch Brand, raised on open rangeland without antibiotics, hormones, and only vegetarian feed.
Red Coach offers two sizes of burgers, weighing in at ¹⁄₅^th pound, or 1/​3^rd, I opted for the latter, with bacon and cheese, a side of crinkle cut fries, and a chocolate shake. Shakes come in small or large, you couldn’t get more pure than these ingredients, ice cream, milk, hershey’s syrup. They squeeze a bit of syrup around the inside of the glass for an «artistic flair.» The burgers comes standard with mayo, tomato, and lettuce, which I asked them to leave in the kitchen in favor of pickles and raw onion, which is how they delivered it. Buns were 4 ½ inchers from Franz, a local baker, who are actually credited with inventing the hamburger bun, as we now know it, in the late 20s.
The fries were nothing special, some food service supplied product, but they were cooked perfectly. The service, for what the place is, and what it isn’t, is «over the top.» Everyone working took an interest in my wellfare.
I was kind of prepared to gripe about the size of the «small shake», until the counter man came by with the original mix cup and asked if I’d like a little more, and he refilled my glass to the top. I don’t know if that is standard operating procedure, but it sure made me happy. My bacon cheeseburger, fries and shake set me back $ 14.25, plus tip.

This place serves really solid greasy spoon burgers, with your choice of things like Bacon and Cheese. Pretty good if you’re in the mood for it. The crinkle fries pretty much taste like any Ore-​Ida oven prepared fries. Not really the quality I would like.
If you order soda that are pretty much pathological about filling your glass, so watch your drink level if you don’t want to have another full glass in front of you.
The price is out of step with the quality of the food Burger + Fries + Soda = $ 12 with tip. It’s not really worth that much.

Red Coach takes the form of a classic diner, and serves up simple classic dishes with efficiency and a hint of retro style.
On a busy weekday afternoon, stroll in for lunch and expect to be promptly seated in a booth made of slippery red vinyl. The hustle of the place is less noticeable from within your booth, so its easy to slow down and enjoy your lunch — even though the service is very quick.
The menu boasts greasy yet tasty treats such as burgers and tuna melts served with french fries. Options for the healthful eater are slim, if you want low cal and fresh then I suggest heading elsewhere. However, if you’re in the mood for real root beer float or a milkshake to accompany your burger then come, enjoy and savor the flavor of an old-​school style dinner hidden in the heart of downtown.