The US Foods Chef’Store in Aloha (formerly Cash&Carry) is his go-to for many supplies, but he’s constantly scouring supermarket shelves and mobile apps for the best deals on everything from ketchup to tomatoes. Norton also keeps costs down by bargain shopping. She’s my first employee and she’s been rock solid.” We’ve bonded completely-as much as you can bond with an inanimate object like that. That allows my prices to be where they’re at,” he says. It also doesn’t hurt that Scarlet, which he spotted moldering in a backyard in Aloha, is completely paid off and he’s done much of the repair work himself. Rather than slinging burgers in a pod, where he’d have to pay rent, Norton negotiated a more affordable arrangement with Panzer’s owners, whom he had ties to through friends, and offered them a cut of the monthly profits. Settling into the industrial wilds of Beaverton is one part of the equation that allows Norton to set his rates so low. It’s gone to levels I didn’t think we’d get to this soon by any means. I’ll be back again.’ And they’ll bring somebody else,” Norton describes. “Once they have it, they’ll say, ‘That’s pretty good. Ample testimony on Yelp and Google back up his assertion. And it only takes one quarter-pounder with a burnished crust to get ‘em hooked, which is not a baseless brag on Norton’s part. Even the lot he’s called home since leaving the tech industry and launching the food truck in August 2022, Panzer Nursery-a wholesale operation specializing in azaleas-won’t prompt the average passerby to stop.įortunately, Norton’s mobile kitchen, named Scarlet after the Grateful Dead song “Scarlet Begonias,” is fire-engine red, making Bumper Burger easy to spot while whizzing by, which has attracted curious customers. Norton parks his rig on a pretty bleak stretch of Southwest Baseline Road, where the neighboring tow yard, Tire Depot and landscaping company don’t attract much in the way of foot traffic.

If you’re beginning to wonder why you’re only now just learning about Bumper Burgers’ existence, well, location probably has something to do with that. (Tim Saputo) Bumper Burger Go ahead, drink the Kool-Aid. That beats what McDonald’s charges for the same meal-and the Golden Arches’ combo doesn’t even include dessert.īumper Burger Bumper Burger founder and cook Mat Norton. Extra hungry? The People’s Meal, which consists of the double-patty 50/50 Burger, side of fries with dipping sauce, cup of Kool-Aid from the front bumper-bound cooler, and a baked-from-scratch brownie, will set you back only $9.50. Want to add a slice of gooey cheese? That’ll be $4.

The entry-level quarter-pound hamburger, for instance, is a mere $3.50. It’s the business’s truly jaw-dropping prices, combined with the use of simple yet high-quality ingredients, that help it stand out in a market overrun with burgers. There has to be a stop to that kind of crap. “Whoever thought the $13 cheeseburger was a good idea is an idiot,” says Norton. And since he’s the one hovering over the grill, Norton does battle in a tie-dyed apron. The founder of Beaverton food truck Bumper Burger, whose logo includes the iconic Superman diamond emblem, has become a hamburger champion of sorts by declaring war against price creep on America’s favorite sandwich.

As tired as the saying has become, the claim that “not all heroes wear capes” applies perfectly to Mat Norton.

Aloha stacks menu