Local burger restaurant grows to seven locations serving fresh food and beef

Often, when folks have worked up an appetite hiking, biking, or otherwise playing in the Pacific Northwest, they head to Nancy Jo’s.

When folks have a hankering for a tasty burger on a better-than-most bun, they head to Nancy Jo’s.

When folks have power-washed a patio or finished waxing their truck, they head to Nancy Jo’s.

Since 2013, when locals want a great burger and fresh cut fries they can eat until they can’t eat any more, they head to Nancy Jo’s Burgers & Fries. There is no fish, pizza, or ribs to be found on a Nancy Jo’s menu. The seven restaurants scattered throughout the Mid-Valley (with franchises planned after the pandemic lifts) specialize in cooking fresh burgers on soft, delicious buns served with fries and a smile.

It’s a formula that has worked well for owners Nancy Jo and Rich Giddens. From their first restaurant in Keizer nine years ago, the couple have worked copiously to deliver great burgers on tasty buns with little fuss.

“Our special recipe buns are three times more expensive than the average hamburger bun, because we want folks to be able to taste the difference,” The Giddens said recently. “We take that kind of care with all our ingredients.”

The Giddens were also pleased as punch to introduce their new app recently, and they invite their hungry customers to download it and use it. It’s convenient and personalized so folks can order their “usual” and have it ready for pick-up by simply hitting a “reorder” button. Credit or debit card information is securely stored, and tipping is permitted so customers can pick up a great meal in almost as little time as driving through a fast-food chain’s drive-thru would take.

“It’s really easy for our regulars to make sure the kitchen has their order ready for them with just a few button pushes,” said the Giddens. “Our customers told us this is what they wanted, and we’re thrilled to be able to deliver it.”

the Giddens said one of the restaurant’s hallmarks is its ability to customize a burger to a customer’s personal liking. Confidant in its branding that “the proof is in the burger” (which the pair had trademarked, by the way), customers can choose to have lettuce, tomato, pickles, freshly sliced onion, mayonnaise, ketchup, or mustard on their fresh-ground sirloin burger. They can also have slathered on, upon request, jalapeno peppers, jalapeno ranch sauce, fresh grilled onions, fresh grilled mushrooms, A1 Steak Original Steak Sauce, sweet relish, barbecue sauce, or Nancy Jo’s Secret Burger Sauce.

“There are so many combinations and ways to get a burger at Nancy Jo’s,” said the Giddens. “But we can’t put it all on the menu or it’d have 10,000 items on it.”

Extra-hungry customers can ask for a Big Burger, which has two 4.2-ounce patties and two slices of cheese on it. For just a bit more, the Big Burger can be made with a 100-percent prime sirloin beef patty.

“No one sells real prime in a burger except Nancy Jo’s,” said the Giddens. Rich Giddens likes his burgers on Texas Toast (which can be requested), it creates a patty melt of sorts with grilled onions and secret burger sauce.

The restaurants also sell bacon burgers, and three sizes of fries (they never scrimp on fries). They feature a small, regular, and large size, and fry sauce is available at all their counters. Cajun seasoning is also available. And for those looking to make a meal out of their fries, they can be asked for Hogg style. Hogg fries are served with crumbled bacon, caramelized onions, burger sauce and melting cheese. Don’t want bacon? Ask for Hogg fries “veggie style.”

There are Beyond Meat burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, grilled or fried chicken, salads, hot dogs, German sausage corn dogs, corn dogs, and onion rings, too.

And what burger and fries meal would be complete without a shake? Nancy Jo’s serves hand-crafted shakes made with premium ice cream. Smoothies, bottled beer and hard cider (served with chilled glasses or mugs) are also available for sale.

Open daily, Nancy Jo’s believes it delivers great food at reasonable prices served by polite folks. That’s the way they remember food being served. The pandemic has made it challenging, but the couple know they have a winning formula, and their returning customers agree.

This article was presented and sponsored by Nancy Jo's Burgers and Fries. For more information, go to nancyjosburgers.com.