Just drove by "Beaverton Town Square" today and was startled to see a construction fence around the "Burger King" restaurant at 11410 S.W. Canyon Rd. next to Fred Meyer. Windows were taken out and it looks like they'll be knocking the building down.

I remember during the Oregon recession back in the 70's when a lot of logging was put on hold, Restaurants were one of the first signs Oregon was having problems. Is this a sign? Is Burger King having problems? Or is the land too valuable for a Hamburger stand?

I remember when Beaverton's "Old Country Kitchen" closed which was about two blocks away. It was because the land lease was not renewed. The land owners could make more money if a company built a mini mall, which they did. Any one know the inside story on this? What will take Burger King's place?

Maybe that was just a crappy place for a Burger King? (I eat at plenty of fast food places and Burger King is about LAST on my list - personal preference.) There are a lot of other fast food restaurants nearby, aren't there? A Burgerville for example? I seem think Beaverton Town Center doesn't have a great track record for keeping businesses.

It would be nice if Hot Lips Pizza moved there or somewhere nearby - they recently shut down their Raleigh Hills store due to a flood then other issues (Hot Lips is still opening stores in Portland so they must be doing OK.) Another pizza joint in Hillsboro, Pizza Roma, is closing due to high rent (so I'm told) although they never seemed to have a good handle on cultivating business there.

Wouldn't fast food be the last thing to close down in a recession though, normally? I'd think high end restaurants would suffer first.

Andrew

Access to that BK was a huge problem -- perhaps a factor if its actually closing. Maybe a remodel to a newer brighter design?

Andrew & Skep: Both good points!

Craig there's a BK in our neighborhood if you're in need of a Whooper!!

I've been to Beaverton Town Square, but can't place where the Burger King was.

If it was anywhere near the Lombard Ave. side, it might be due to WES Commuter Rail construction.

No, it was almost in front of the Fred Meyer on TV Highway close to 217.

Andrew

Chris: Never eat at BK or Mickey D's. Must be 8 years or more now. It's just part of the Beaverton landscape for me.

Newflyer: The Burger King is next to Panda Express and down the line is Olive Garden.

Andrew: This Burger King was not on TV Hwy. The Burger King that's now closed is on Canyon Road.

OK, Canyon and TV are the same road, where does it change names? I always thought it was at 217. Does it go as Canyon all the way through Beaverton?

Andrew

I believe Canyon Road becomes TV Hwy. where S.W. Broadway intersects. This would be where Beaverton has a large fir tree which is decorated into a Christmas Tree seasonally. S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd. crosses not far from this.

... maybe they ran out of Whoppers...

The Burger King is right next to the freeway entrance. I thought the name change occurred at Cedar Hills Blvd.

It maybe something similar to waht happened last year on Lancaster Drive in Salem. They tore down the Burger King and completely rebuilt it in their modern new store style. I know it didn't make much sense to me either.

I am hoping that Keizer Station gets the promised Popeyes Chicken and Burgerville. And I have become a fan of Panda Express.

There's another Burger King less than a half mile away on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway.

I know the two have been competitive against each other as they each had different owners. It looks like one owner just finally gave up.

I think the one on Canyon was placed their to compete with Burgerville. Burgerville serves better food, but it costs more.

I'm not a huge fan of Burgerville (long story) but they do use free-range beef as I understand it, so their costs must be higher than Burger King. And I often don't feel I've eaten...real food at Burger King.

Andrew

Perhaps it is because Beaverton has a new Mayor.

Bugerville is the best hands down!

Littlesongs, that's priceless!

You're on a roll, I think I've busted a gut laughing at you at least 3 times today...Thanks so much!

BV in the last two years has raised prices and lowered quality to the point I would rather go to Red Robin for just a small difference in price and a lot better selection. Oh Yah, endless steak fries is a good thing!

I'd rather have my steak grilled than fried!

Smoochie says: "I thought the name change occurred at Cedar Hills Blvd."

You might be right. Or TV Hwy. could also start at S.W. Hocken Ave. or S.W. Lloyd Ave. I was considering all these streets in my Thomas Guide yesterday when I made the comment. It's hard to know looking at a map. My best guess is still the convergence of S.W. Canyon Rd. & S.W. Broadway St., forming TV Hwy.

BK Suck's!

That's it, with all this burger talk i'm eating at Stanich's for lunch one day soon!
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=1848&RefID=1762

Just a guess here, but I think that at one time Broadway could have been the only E-W street through Beaverton, becoming Canyon rd.(or perhaps Portland rd.) at the East end of town, and Hillsboro road (or something like that- later TV hwy) at the West end. This would support the convergence as being name change point.
My father always called Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy "Bertha-Beaverton" any idea what Bertha was?

"any idea what Bertha was?"

Bertha (originally Summit) was the Southern Pacific railroad station at Hillsdale. It was named for Bertha Koehler, the wife of SP's Oregon manager, in about 1890. SP used the name Bertha, rather than Hillsdale, to avoid confusion with its station in Hillsboro. When the Bertha-Beaverton Highway was realigned and improved in 1937, it became Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Short portions of the old highway (Bertha Boulevard) remain in the Hillsdale area.

Sources: Oregon Geographic Names, and others

The Bertha-Beaverton Hwy. ran from Beaverton city limits to Scholls Ferry Rd. where it became S.W. Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. Within Beaverton city limits it was once again Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.

Information from a 1953 Union 76 map.

I gave up Burger King, Burgerville, et. al. several years ago in order to win the battle of the bulge, if you catch my drift.

However, I stopped at a Burger King with friends a few weeks ago and had a burger and fries. Boy, did I suffer a huge gut-bomb and all the side effects that term implies. How did I ever eat that crap several times a year once upon a time? I felt like crap for hours after eating!

Fast food is a big no-no now, in spite of sometimes getting an urge for it- in spite of the gut bomb reaction. Go figure.

I felt like crap for hours after eating!

That is why I haven't eatin' at McDonald's or Taco HELL in 15/10 years.

Amy's Burger Shack on Cornelius Pass Rd and Baseline!!!!! YUMMY!

According to Google maps, Canyon becomes TV Highway at SW Hocken, and Farmington becomes Beaverton-Hillsdale at Lombard.

This seems to support Jr_Tech's theory about broadway, as both of those points are near where they intersect with Broadway. I suspect that things were realigned back in ancient times in order to reroute traffic off of Broadway.

Although it has been years since I ate at the Burgerville on Canyon Rd., it was one of the worst of the chain that I had been to. That and the one on Union and Holladay. They overcooked the meat and just seemed to not taste as good as the others. Plus they didn't have much internal seating. It would not surprise me that they close the one on Canyon near 217. It is so hard to get anywhere in that area during the day that "why bother". In fact, since I stopped working in Beaverton area years ago, There is no reason for me to go to that area and I am very happy about that. Traffic is ridiculously bad on the West side that I could care less about that area.

I drove past this BK on my way to Rockler (Woodworking Store) the other day.

FWIW There is a big banner hanging on the fence that says "Closed for Remodeling"

FWIW There is a big banner hanging on the fence that says "Closed for Remodeling"
They did this with the Burger King at/near Eastport Plaza last year. Took out much of the seating and the interior and expanded the drive-through.

To roll the convo back to archaic Beaverton street routings for a moment... I just dug out my 1956 Standard Oil/Gousha map of Portland, and it shows that Canyon turned into TV Hwy in the vicinity of Lloyd or Hocken, but Beaverton-Hillsdale ran into Broadway just west of Lombard, and then Broadway *also* joined TV Hwy.

At the time, Farmington road turned into Front st. (at Watson?) and then dead-ended into Lombard.

Also, the "Portland-Salem expressway" was only complete from the current Tigard I5 exit to just south of the Willamette river crossing near Wilsonville, and the "Banfield Expressway" started at NE 41st!

Interesting! It would be fun to find maps of the area, say 10 years apart, to see how the town "grew". I suspect that not too much planning occured in the early days. RR track locations may have been a major factor in street routings.

Indeed- on my 1950 map of Portland (Pittmon this time), the Banfield is completely absent, but the same familiar route is occupied by the Union Pacific RR.

Noticed that a sign said today that they are remodeling the Burger King not tearing it down....

"Indeed- on my 1950 map of Portland (Pittmon this time), the Banfield is completely absent, but the same familiar route is occupied by the Union Pacific RR."

Of course it would. The Banfield was constructed next to the railroad. Through Sullivan's Gulch. That is why it is all curvy, not straight.