Trifecta Tavern’s Colin Carroll Gets His Hangover Burger at Dots Cafe

Colin Carroll, Trifecta Tavern's bar manager, has been working in the industry since he was in his twenties. And if you know anything about servers, bartenders and line cooks, you know that after they lock the doors for the night, they like to wrap up their side work and head out for at least one drink — often finding themselves staying for many more.

When that was how Carroll rolled, he'd often found himself at Dot's Cafe, where he could fortify the drinks he'd been downing with a nice juicy burger. He doesn't have quite the young man's lifestyle anymore — kids'll do that to you — but when he does find himself putting on a pair of shades because the morning sun is so unbearably bright, he heads back to Dot's for one of those burgers he enjoyed as a younger man.

"If I'm hungover and needing a burger, I'm definitely going to Dots. It's a bastion of old Portland in a neighborhood I barely recognize anymore. I'm not one of those dudes that needs some crazy concept hamburger. I want a super solid, well cooked, straightforward piece of ground chuck. Bacon? Check. Blue cheese? Check. Solid bun? Yep!

In my more formative years, Dots was awesome when I'd get off work late, have some drinks, and suddenly it's well into the next day. It's dark in there that you don't feel bad that the sun is well overhead while you're enjoying a 'nightcap' and a 'late night snack.'

These days I still love it because I can roll in there with my wife and kids — half of the joint is kid-friendly — and [my wife and I] can pretend we're not eating off our hangover because we had a sitter the night before.

When I look across the place, I can still see 26-year-old me ponied up at the bar after a long night. Cheers to Johnny Biggs and Eli for keeping the soul of Portland alive and strong."