MidCity SmashedBurger (also known asMidCity SmashBurger) is a small chain of restaurants based inPortland, Oregon, United States. Chef Mike Aldridge founded the business as apop-up restaurant inNew Orleans in 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic, then relocated and relaunched as afood cart in Portland in early 2021. MidCity specializes insmash burgers, featuring meat pressed directly on a flat-top grill. MidCity has also operated inBend andBeaverton. The restaurant has garnered a positive reception and has been praised for serving some of the best burgers in Portland andCentral Oregon.
Chef and owner Mike Aldridge founded MidCity as apop-up restaurant, selling burgers from his porch inNew Orleans during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[1][9] He moved to Portland and re-opened in January 2021,[10] operating afood truck onStark Street at the intersection of 11th Avenue insoutheast Portland'sBuckman neighborhood,[3][11] where he sold approximately 1,000 burgers in his first eight days. The business quickly built a social media following,[5] selling up to 300 burgers per day.[10] By September 2021 MidCity had sold tens of thousands of burgers.[12]
In 2022, MidCity expanded outside Portland when Aldridge opened a food cart next to the Boneyard Beer taproom on Northwest Lake Place inBend's Old Bend neighborhood.[18][19][20] By mid 2023, the cart had relocated to Third Street, operating outside the Waypoint Hotel's Hosmer bar, which was operated by Aldridge and his brother.[21]
MidCity's original food cart moved in 2022.[22] Aldridge declined the nearby space offered by food cart podLil' America, relocating his cart to the Level Brewing taproom onSandy Boulevard in thenortheast Portland part of theKerns neighborhood.[23] In March 2024, the business announced plans to relocate a cart toBelmont. The cart opened at theShip Ahoy Tavern in southeast Portland'sCreston-Kenilworth neighborhood on March 27.[24] MidCity also began operating at Binary Brewing inBeaverton in 2024.[25]
In 2021, Michael Russell ofThe Oregonian said MidCity had Portland's best smash burger.[26][27] He also included the business in an overview of the city's best new food carts.[12]Karen Brooks and Katherine Chew Hamilton included MidCity inPortland Monthly's 2021 list of the city's best new food carts.[28] Alex Frane included the business inThrillist's 2021 overview of "must-hit" restaurants in Portland.[29]
In 2023,Eater Portland's Katrina Yentch lauded MidCity's affordability,[4] and Jashayla Pettigrew included the restaurant inKOIN's list of the seven best smash burgers in the metropolitan area, based onYelp reviews.[30] Ron Scott and Janey Wong included the restaurant inEater Portland's 2024 list of twenty "mind-blowing" burgers in thePortland metropolitan area.[31] MidCity was also included in the website's 2025 list of the Portland's best affordable restaurants.[32]Bend Magazine has also included the restaurant in its overview of the best burgers inCentral Oregon.[33]
