The Country Cat's Adam and Jackie Sappington Reveal Their Go-To Burger Bar

Oregon is home to a lot of restaurants, bars, wineries, and breweries, but there are tons of hidden gems that the majority of Portlanders aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's many food players to share their recommendations for a recurring feature we call Dining Confidential.

The owners of The Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar, Adam and Jackie Sappington are a couple on the go. Not only do they create some of Portland's favorite fried chicken, they're parents and 2016 James Beard Award-nominated authors for their cookbook Heartlandia.

"We don't go out much on the weekends," say the Sappingtons. "Most days are taken with shuttling our boys from one soccer game to another. But we live in Southeast Portland, and we do love to get a good burger now and again." And at The Country Cat, Adam and Jackie serve a burger made from a single cow Adam butchers onsite, so they know a thing or two about burgers.

The burger is a straight-up, no-B.S. burger.

"Our got-to for a weekend burger, fries, and pinball is C Bar. It's family-friendly but low-key. Our boys grab their quarters and go into the pinball room, and we get a cocktail and have a minute to chat. And the burger is a straight-up, no-B.S. burger. That, served with fries and a gin and tonic, is a pretty epic weekend lunch."

The Sappingtons say the area of Southeast Gladstone Avenue, right around the avenues in the high 20's, has the cool neighborhood vibe they're looking for, with sweet indie shops and a great little cluster of restaurants. And there's more than just the burger and the neighborhood that brings them back to C Bar.

"The thing we love most about C Bar is the service. The staff is super friendly and attentive. Drinks come out quickly, but not in a rushed sort of way. Just the other day we were in there and Michael Jackson was playing and Pee Wee's Big Adventure was showing on their TV. It was great!"