Where Can The Best Burger In The West Be Found? Experts Say Portland, Ore.

Cattle and beef are deeply rooted in the identity of The American West. Just think, where would the quintessential American icon, the Cowboy, be without, well, cows?

We at The Daily Meal recently published our 101 Best Burgers in America for 2015. Building on last year's list, we assembled a poll that included almost 250 burgers from across the United States, from Hollywood, Florida, to Anchorage, Alaska. 70 burger experts then voted for their favorites, and we published the top 101. A very impressive 23 can be found in the West (nearly a quarter of the list), and the highest-ranking burger from the region can be found in Portland.

When Gabriel Rucker first opened Le Pigeon in 2006, he only served five of these outstanding burgers per night. How cruel. Until recently, it was also available at Rucker's downtown spot Little Bird, where it's been replaced with the bistro's own signature burger. Today, thankfully, the burger can be purchased at all times at the original Le Pigeon. And what a burger it is: A thick square patty of beef from a local farm is seasoned with salt and pepper; grilled (a rarity); topped with sharp Tillamook white Cheddar, an iceberg lettuce slaw, thick slices of grilled pickled onions, mayo, mustard, and house-made ketchup; and piled atop a ciabatta bun. If you find yourself in Portland, run, don't walk, to this burger. 

Le Pigeon's burger is so good, it came in at #13 on our list, out-scoring 22 other burgers in the west from Denver, Seattle, and various places in California. This means that, according to our experts, not only is Rucker's burger the thirteenth-best in the country and the very best in the city of Portland, it's also the best to be found in the entire Western region of the United States.