Violetta

Every time I go to write this review, I get angry. This is my experience hiring Etta to cater my wedding this past September. I paid in advance for 100 guests and was told that if I went under that amount that I would be reimbursed per guest not in attendance under 100. My wedding was outdoors so, based on the sun setting around 7:30, the schedule was very time sensitive. Violetta agreed to serve from 5−8pm and they were told the address of the venue, I went out of my way to warn Dwayne (the owner) that it was a 45 minute drive out of Portland.
Alright. Guests began arriving at 3pm, the ceremony started at 4pm and refreshments were served to tide them over until the truck showed up. 6pm rolled around, no truck and my guests were dropping like starving flies. We started with around 90 guests by the time the truck rolled in about 30 had quietly left due to hunger. The truck finally showed up at 6:20pm (80 minutes late). Again, our agreement was SERVICE from 5−8pm. No food was served until 7:20 pm when my husband and I were finally given food without an apology from the employees. Most of the guests were in line for upwards of 2 hours in the dark while we were doing cake cutting, toasts, the bouquet toss, the garter toss, Father daughter dance, our first dance, etc. you know, general wedding stuff that guests like to watch.
You can probably imagine how frantic I was for over 2 hours waiting to feed the guests. You can also probably imagine just how drunk the guests got waiting to be fed. We left for our honeymoon two days after the wedding and I emailed Dwayne asking him to call me to resolve the problems with the service. He just replied «Should I call you when you get back?» I said no, I want to talk to you asap. To that, he never again responded. After the honeymoon was over and we were settled back at home I emailed him again requesting the amount owed for having only 60 guests in total and I requested more of a reimbursement on top of that for terrible service and arriving so incredibly late. He did respond to that only to tell me that he would email me the next day. He never responded. I got a lawyer.

First off this review is completely biased:
–I’ve only eaten here sober and hungover and every time I have proven to myself this is my favorite burger joint!
The Burgers are tasty, juicy, and dripping with fatty and saucy goodness. I favor the original violetta burger and have concured both ¹⁄₃ pounder and ½ pounder in one seating on separate occasions. I am a fan of those stewed tomatoes and butter lettuce and those darn tasty truffle fries. This is the place that started my truffle obsession, Now I own truffle salt and decorate my starches daily. These fries are fried to a perfect crunchy perfections and tossed in white truffle oil and lightly salted. They have certainly perfected the fries and burger, by far my favorite burger joint to date!
plus automatic hangover cure, WINNING!

First off, I’d say that I would rate the food as 3 stars. However, the setting gave a charming ambiance that pushed my rating up an additional star. We especially enjoyed the fountain down toward Nordstrom and watching the people stare at giant chess pieces (which no one seemed to move).
My friend and I split a Egg Salad Sandwich. The bread was fresh and lightly toasted, which we both appreciate. Adding green beans and radishes to the customary pickle made a more appealing sandwich, although I prefer more mayonnaise (with a bit of salt). In fact, if I could smear mayo all over my body and run through a sandwich forest, I’d be a happy camper. Well, maybe not that extreme but I do love mayo, except in aoli, which was the case at Violetta.
So, to sum up, good food but GREAT atmosphere.

A gorgeous place to take a date — bring your boy to a matinée, share some sweet kisses over some sweet potato fries, and laugh in the afternoon sun.
There burgers are sturdy, local, and good — something wholesome and filling. The fries are what really blow me out of the water though. Every single succulent sweet potato is worth however long it took you to get here.

Gotta go w/​my homie Bobbie M. on this place: Meh! Obviously it was converted from being a public park w/​c and all the proof you need for that is to check out the w/​c in this place as it still looks and functions. It just scream «Municipal park»… which is kinda cool; how in the world does one get the proper permits to open a private business in such a locale? It was fun watching some kids play on the giant, human-​sized chess board outside, although they were making some, uh, highly unorthodox moves w/​their respective pieces, at least as far as my powers of recall could discern.
So much for pondering the ineffable imponderables. On to the grub. The much ballyhooed burger was a journeyman, baby. Not terrible, but not knockin’ my socks off, by any stretch. The white truffle fries I barely touched, but some colleagues made short work of. The few sweet potato fries I tried were quite good; the homeless person I gave them too outside the restaurant seemed to like ‘em, too.
A special word about their Deluxe 3 cheese Mac and Cheese. This stuff was truly remarkable in that it had the right ingredients to bring you a bazillion calories that most of us most assuredly do NOT need, and yet, and yet. was almost entirely lacking in any recognizable flavors! It was arguably the blandest mac and cheese I’ve ever had, even w/​the fancy crumbles on top, just how I like it. Generous spritzes of hot sauce would have been an improvement, no doubt, but then it would’ve tasted like hot sauce ONLY. The same colleagues who greedily wolfed down my fries? Yeah, they turned up their collective nose at the Mac and cheese. So apparently I was not the only one who failed to be impressed…
I had been looking forward to checking out this place for quite some time, based on some solid word of mouth. There are times my personal tastes (that is to say, at least, my preferences) happen to go in lock step w/​protean popular opinion. This just didn’t happen to be one a’ those times. I may come back some day and give ‘em another go, but for now there’s way too many other places that need to be checked out first…

The staff is super friendly and efficient.
The burgers are good but i’ve had much better
the fries are DELICIOUS.

Violetta knows how to deliver every time I visit.
Are you craving something that’s a farm-​to-​table-​kinda-​concept but want it in a fast-​food-​sorta way? Well Violetta does that and validates that to the fullest.
My favorites?
VIOLETTA BURGER: you can order it ½ lb or ¹⁄₃ lb of grass-​fed meat of your desire, comes with sliced roma tomatoes, pickles, red onions, butter lettuce, Tillamook cheese, bacon and an aioli sauce upon a toasted brioche bun.
SWEET POTATO FRIES: the name says it all. I love them!
OREGONZOLA FRIES: gorgonzola cheese + fries!!! This melted piece of art oozes with giddy goodness! If the sauce is overwhelming you can ask for it on the side!
TRUFFLE FRIES: probably the favorite out of the fries I’ve had. Comes with a yummy aioli sauce but sometimes think that the aioli can overpower the «truffle» essence that you originally intended to devour.
BEIGNETS: Love this to pieces! Option of having a chocolate dipping sauce or fruit. Since I’m a chocoholic, I opt for the chocolate! Great as dessert! Don’t let this stuff get cold! It probably won’t taste as yummy 6 hours later.
Violetta is one of my favorite burger joints in Portland. I know I will be satisfied whenever I visit! Cooked from the heart and utilizing premium ingredients that are Oregon grown, I commend this little business (and their truck called «Etta») for their mission! Kudos to you guys! I’m forever a fan!

As a semi-​regular patron of Violetta, I’m still a fan of this place. Albeit, sometimes their fries may be on the salty side, I feel like they would replace them without hesitation if you asked (I usually get my food to-​go, so too bad me). The place is definitely ideal for a hot summer day when you want to get away from the office and sit outside.
This last go-​around, I tried the Braised Beef sandwich. SO rich and tasty. Almost like a pulled pork sando with a stew-​like flavor. I got it with the herbed aioli (my favorite sauce they have!) and it was so tasty and decadent. Just don’t accidentally eat bits of the sopping wet paper wrapped around your burger… not that I’m speaking from personal experience.
The chili cheese fries are great, and my coworker and I love to split a large. It’s more than enough for both of us.
It’s an office favorite – sweet, sweet Violetta. Maybe they’ll bring back their Park Block 5 Burger soon?

Violetta, you serve up a mean red wine braised beef sandwich!
My gosh it was incredible the flavor & tenderness of the slow roasted beef all sandwiched in between ciabatta bread. I think what really helped complete that flavor was the caramelized onions. I love onions but when they’re caramelized they really make a sandwich or burger delicious. I couldn’t taste a whole lot from the balsamic glaze or horseradish aioli but that was fine; the meat & onions pulled through greatly.
If eating beef isn’t your style then maybe chowing on a vegetarian harvest burger just might be. Not too shabby with a good deal of mushrooms layered throughout. Soup is just $ 2 more if you add it with any burger. The tomato bisque is very tomatoey. It was pureed. I wasn’t thrilled. Sweet potato fries are lightly crisp with a touch of sea salt. The small order was more like a medium; basically there was plenty for three people to share. Actually one person did eat most of both orders so maybe small isn’t enough. You decide.
The price for two braised beef sandwiches, a veggie burger, cup of soup & two small fries came to a grand total of $ 30.50. Is that a lot? Is it worth it? I can’t vouch for the veggie burger but I will say everything else was satisfying. Service wasn’t anything really to rave about. It was there & it brought us our food. The nice thing about this location is the warmth of indoor eating. Wind mixed with cold doesn’t make for happy eating so indoor venue gets a thumbs up. Director Park at night time is still pretty cool to look at from indoors.
I think from reading other reviews the burger just isn’t the best option when dining here. Stick with the braised beef & hopefully you’ll leave happy or at least less hungry.

The burger was pretty good, nothing that endangered the cleanliness of my undergarments. The fries were the same. I’m not sure what took them so damn long to make them. I guess I don’t want slow food fast or fast food slow or whatever they’re trying to hard to do. Also they don’t have fountain drinks and I’m not drinking that Blue Sky hippy Shasta crap.
Also, don’t believe the single dollar sign. It’s spendier than that.

I came into the city craving a burger, and Violetta definitely hit the spot. I got the vegetarian burger, which came on whole wheat/​grain bread, filled with the herb aioli (yum!), roasted red pepper sauce (yum!), mushrooms, provolone cheese, and the veggie patty.
The aioli and sauce definitely made the burger. Even with those extra kicks though, the burger was kind of dry.
This place is also knows for its fries, so make sure to get a side of those!
The shop seems to be a glass cube which sits on top of a mini square with outdoor seating on a nice deck and next to something of a fountain/​square area. It’s cute, to say the least. Kind of reminds me of a very miniature version of Union Square in SF.
I’ll be back… that’s fo sho.

My friends wanted to go to Lardo so I trekked my pescatarian self over to Violetta for some truffle fries. When the guy gave me the fries, he asked me if I wanted ketchup, fancy ketchup and herb aioli. I was confused as he tried to explain them and finally he says, «tell you what…» and hands me all the sauces! How nice!
I could smell the truffle oil on the fries all the way as I was carrying them across the lot, sitting down and eating them. I couldn’t taste it quite as much as it looked but it was still way delicious and I’m glad I came!

Excellent location, cool concept, just okay food.
I don’t write reviews that short so I suppose I should elaborate. Violetta sits in a little glass pad out in the middle of Director Park in SW downtown. They serve up a basic selection of burgers, sandwiches and fries. The concept was supposed to be Slow Food Fast — meaning high quality slow food but in a bit more of an accelerated environment.
Based on the meals I’ve had here (from burgers to sandwiches), I can say that I don’t think they really execute that vision… at least not as well as their cart Rolling ‘Etta does. The food here is really about a step above fast food — maybe a fancied up Burgerville. Kind of greasy, not all that tasty, but better than average fast food/​burgers. In a town where burgers have really been taken to the next level, these are over-​cooked and under-​flavored, but deserve props for using better-​than-​fast-​food ingredients and healthier-​than-​average-​fast-​food components.
As for the sister location, Rolling Etta food cart, they seem to either take more care with making their burgers, as I’ve been fairly impressed with those on numerous occasions. Maybe that has amplified my ho-​hum assessment of this location, but it is what it is.
In the end, this is the kind of place that I would stop in to if I needed a quick meal and I wasn’t feeling ambitious, as the food is satisfactory.

Violetta has a vision problem.
It’s in the supply chain they themselves have chosen. And in Portland food world, it’s inexcusable, and easy to fix.
They do plenty right: menu, location, design-​aesthetics, a few quality ingredients, even some later hours. But they do the few things I’ve eaten wrong.
You can’t request doneness of burger. Medium it is, no medium rare or below. Machine formed meat cooked dark grey, grey, grey. Even little LBB has their patty supply chain down. Fries, the white truffle cooking is tasty, but a significant portion are potato remnants: small sub quarter inch fragments, better for croûtoning. There are a ton of remnant-​free potato sources in Portland!
I encountered their food cart Etta and thought I would give the mothership a chance. You didn’t realize your potential.
I love and support local business to the max, when they deserve it. But deliberate fail? Can’t support that. Nope.

Hot lips pear soda and burgers. Get the ½ lb burger with cheese. Makes a world of a difference.
This place is located right in the middle of a great square in the middle of Portland with a gorgeous fountain in front of the restaurant’s tables. On a summer day in Oregon, this is a great place to be. We ordered 2 Violetta Burgers (the ¹⁄₃ lb one with bacon and the other ½ 1b with cheese) and a small yukon gold hand cut fries with the harissa ketchup dipping sauce. The fries are unique and very tasty even without the ketchup, but the harissa was deliscious. ½ lb burger is extremely better than the ¹⁄₃ and the cheese makes it perfect. The 10 hour tomatoes are definitely not overpowering and go well.

I was impressed with Violetta. I just had the Violetta burger and I thought it had great taste. I’m not a really huge fan of tomatoes in my burgers/​sandwiches, but the «10 hour tomatoes» they put in the burgers were pretty tasty! My friend wasn’t too impressed with it — said it was a little overpowering and didn’t go well with the burger, but it’s all a matter of preference.
If you’re not a huge fan of burgers, I would highly recommend ordering some of their fries. YUM. I LOVE their Oregonzola fries! Absolutely delish! It is a bit salty though. The white truffles fries and beignets were great as well.

Ohhh Mon’cherie, Mi amore! Give me some more! But not right now, I’m stuffed.
My co-​worker and I walked over for lunch — 2 blocks away, dangerous!
We went around 11:30 in order to skip a long line, which worked like a charm, by the time we took our food to go, the line was to the door, not like they can’t handle it; we got our food pretty quick. Had to get 1 small bag of beignet delights. What are these, fried donut/​pastries you say? Oui, Oui! I meant to take some home to hubby, but another co-​worker snagged a couple, I ate 3 and that was it! What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him anyway!
My burger and truffle fries were killer. Crisp, sinfully tasty fries, a flaky brioche bun, quality toppings. A bit spendy, and worth it, but I’m glad, that just means I won’t go as often! It was however, in my top 3 for burgers, and that was cheese-​less. Next time, mon’cherie Violetta, next time. Ooh la la.

Here’s a tip for people who aren’t normally downtown during weekdays: Come on Sunday before 1pm. Street parking is free before 1pm on Sundays, and Violetta opens at 11am. Perfect Sunday brunch!
I went on a rainy day, so couldn’t really enjoy the outdoor seating, which should be awesome during a nice sunny day. So I’m there for the food and let’s concentrate on that:
I started with the Goat cheese and Honey Crisp salad. This salad has a really nice balance and the best part of it all is the FRIED goat cheese balls, so good!
Next I tried the Kobe beef sliders, which are 2 mini burgers. I was somewhat disappointed on these. There wasn’t much meat, so couldn’t really taste if it was anything more special than regular beef. Next time, I will try their flagship burger instead.
As desert, who would be able to refuse the beignets? Best to eat this fresh, while it’s still hot. I asked for both dipping sauces because I thought the chocolate-​espresso would be too espresso-​y, but it wasn’t. The fruit compote wasn’t too sweet either. They were both good and it just depends on your mood.
Can’t wait to try their Oregonzola and truffle fries!

Amazing gourmet vegetarian-​friendly fast food. Very simple and modern looking place. (A bit chilly in the winter due to all-​glass walls) Casual seating area with self-​serve water, napkins & utensils. They recycle & compost too :)
The Portobello Sandwich was fantastic!!! Soooo gooooood!!! Well balanced. Well presented. Clean.
The bf — The Oregon Blue Burger was perfectly cooked. It included blue cheese, gorgonzola cheese, caramelized onions, some sauces… and some other ingredients I can’t remember… high quality buns toasted just right.
*Check out my photos (32 & 33)
WE WILL DEFinitely BE BACK! :) Über über happy! :)

Violetta — We Hardly Knew Ye
hate it when a hot new place cools, changes things up, methods, suppliers… content to rest on their early street cred and sail into mediocrity?
I’m sorry Violetta folks, but I’ve given you several thumbs up in the past few months, which you really deserved.
But today I had my first burger since you moved from the truck into your permanent digs in Director Park, and I have to tell you, I wasn’t impressed on any level.
You weren’t all that busy, but one would think so from all the worker bees you had scurrying about… maybe it’s the «too many cooks» thing?
I ordered the ¹⁄₃ pound burger with white cheddar, PLAIN, to which the counter lady said «you mean no vegetables, no toppings, no relishes?» I replied «exactly, burger, cheese, bun.» She replied «OK». Somewhere between her, your POS, the cook, there was a disconnect, and my burger came with all your toppings: house burger sauce, tomato relish, onions, lettuce, pickle chips (two!). OK, I can remove the vegetables, scrap off the sauce. You could say, «why not come back inside and tell us?» I’d say «why should I have to?»
Your menu used to tell the origin of the burgers, the ¹⁄₃ and ½ pounders coming from different ranches. Now the menu says simply «Pasture-​Raised Black Angus Beef.» Hmmm. Red flag for me folks. Change suppliers? I believe so, and here’s why. My first few burgers from you, it was all about the meat. That’s why I order my burgers mostly «plain.» I want to taste the core ingredient (s).
The past burgers were flavorful, juicy, cooked to medium rare, a rather coarse grind on the beef. Today’s very fine grind, in a machine-​shaped patty, cooked just past medium, tasted like nothing. I’m so sorry, really I am. It’s like being a Milli Vanilli fan for years, and then finding out about he man behind the curtain. Or something.
My past burger orders, when i didn’t order your to die for fries (I hope they haven’t changed, too!), came w/​a handful of house-​made potato chips. Today, nada. In fact, looking at your online menu today, I don’t see them, are they gone? What’s next, my choice of a bag of Tims?
Your wrapping paper — what happened to the cute printed graphics? And take a look at those spots on the paper in front of the burger in the pic, grease? That much fat in a pasture raised cow?
Ai yi yi.
But I enjoyed the sunny day, sitting at a table outside, well, mostly, until some ladies who were sitting next to me were rousted by one of your employees «These tables are for Violetta customers only,» says he.
Oh yikes.
So, Violetta, chill. Get back to your basics. Take a breath. Send some of those employees who are tripping all over each other, home. Let people order food from the take out window in the back.
Get it together! Please! Before the next time I stop by. Many thanks.

Nothing finer than a burger in a sunny park. Or at least, that was my experience when I had one of Violetta’s burgers. It was a great burger with all kinds of fixin’s. Northwest grown ingredients! Sustainable and all of that jazz.
About that burger: I got the ¹⁄₃ pound and it was just enough burger when paired with fries (though I could have gone for the ½ pound it was so good). About the fries: I had the Oregonzola fries, which were topped with gorgonzola cheese. It was a different experience but a good one.
The staff was very friendly, too. Everything was sunny at Violetta when I went.

Violetta, the soon-​to-​be restaurant in a cart, had me at «Grass-​fed Beef Burger.»
Parked at Director Park, a sprawling architectural urban landscape generous donated for public use, «Etta,» as the bright yellow richly apointed cart is called, does not look out of place. She’s what the out come would be if they had a show «Pimp My Cart.» Serious bling.
But thankfully in this case no lack of substance.
Destined to one day soon take over the glass enclosure adjacent to it’s current location, Violetta is an entire restaurant in a cart. No mere 7 or 8 offerings here, instead an intriguing menu of wide ranging choices, that almost distracted from my mission for grass fed beef.
What sounded good? Oh just the Brown Bag of Beignets, Grilled Egg & Cheese Sandwich, Oregon-​Style Clam Chowder, Highland Oak Farm Beef Chili, Green Tea Soba Salad Bowl, Baked Broccolini Mac & Cheese, Vegetable Pot Pie, ½ Afton Field Farm Rotisserie Chicken, Hand-​Dipped Corndog, Hand Cut Yukon Gold Potato Fries, Hand Cut Sweet Potato Fries, Oregonzola Fries, White Truffle Fries, Sea Salt-​Choclate Dipped Pretzels, Caffe Vita Espresso-​Chocolate Brownies, Individual Random Order Seasonal Pie, Ice Cream Sandiwich, BEER & WINE, and of course their much discussed Burgers.
(yeah, that didn’t even include the Fried Chicken Biscuit special they had going)
I settled on the Oregon Blue Burger, Rogue Creamery Oregonzola, bacon, caramelized, onions & hazelnut bun. While I could of used a bit more char this was the first burger I’ve had in a long time that was a perfect medium rare (seriously scientifically provable spot on medium rare).
I admittedly don’t recall a lot of the burger because I was enjoying a delightful discussion with the extremely affable park host (I never new such a job existed, very cool), but here’s what I recall:
1. Perfect Medium rare (No, you’re not crazy, I did already mention this)
2. Recylcable packaging
3. The pickle overpowered the other flavors
4. I wished I had gone for the ½ pound (the ¹⁄₃ pound is plenty of beef, but I wanted more)
5. It didn’t taste or leave me feeling like I was clogging an artery.
6. The sweet potato fries were pretty awesome, flavorful, not over seasoned, cooked just right.
7. I’d eat another (though would find myself tempted by the above ridiculous list of other items)
While not cheap, I wouldn’t label Violetta as over priced, I’d say it’s a good value. Props to them for choosing top shelf ingredients, doing things sustainably (including the use of biodegradable cups), and paying attention to detail. In a city where it’s easy to bash things that are «too nice,» I think there’s room for a place like this putting out serious food in a beautiful outdoor public setting.
Those things considered, if I’m not down at the pods, I’d definitely hit up this pimpin spot again (especially as an alternative to the stodgy old time over priced stand-​bys and to chat with that way cool park host).
For larger views of the pictures view them at my blog