Our First Post - The Santa Fe Burger at Laurelwood Brewing Co.

Portland International Airport is shaped like an H. I know this because I walked through every damn branch looking for this burger. It's one of the best I've ever had.

My first taste was this past October, during my second trip to Portland. My coworker and I reached our gate early, the Laurelwood Brewery happened to be nearby, and I decided a Santa Fe burger - festooned with black beans, guacamole, jack cheese and an entire green chile - might help pass the time. Then my head exploded.

I spent the 10 minutes it took to eat the thing lauding its virtues to my coworker. It's haunted my dreams ever since.

I missed out on a chance for round two just one month later, when I was late getting to the airport. That set up the fateful June 8 meeting. I made sure to arrive with plenty of time to spare. I went through security, then turned left to find my gate for reconnaissance, I had to see how long it would take me to get back there should I go for two (or more) burgers.

I didn't know the name of the brewery at the time, I just knew there were several others in the airport. There was one right next to my gate. But I knew the one I wanted was to the right of security, at the very end of the next concourse. Off I went. All the way back up mine, all the way down the next.

It wasn't there.

Had I been dreaming? Had it moved? Was I in the wrong part of the airport? I suffered through the 15 minutes ordeal of booting up my laptop to jump on the airport wi-fi to see. Time was starting to dwindle. Yep, I was on the wrong side of the airport. It's a damn H. I found a brewery, Laurelwood Brewery, in the exact location I remembered, as far away as humanly possible.

I damn near sprinted. The rest is not so dramatic - I propped up at the bar, ordered my precious burger with a Hooligan Ale and watched the hated Lakers-Boston matchup. And then there she was. My sweet burger, black beans spilling onto the plate, the chile laying stoically as the foundation for culinary greatness. You almost forget about the smooth guacamole until you take your first bite and it sneak attacks your tongue. Damn. That thing is good. One of the best burgers I've ever eaten.

I made it back to my gate with a few minutes to spare. As I did I glanced at the brewery next door.

It was another Laurelwood.