Portland’s Little Big Burger Coming to Mission Valley and El Cajon

Portland’s Little Big Burger, which has been looking to expand into San Diego since last summer, is scheduled to open two eateries here in the first part of 2018. Joining recent Portland transplants Coava Coffee Roasters and Salt & Straw Ice Cream, Little Big Burger will launch its first local outpost at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon at the end of January with another coming to Mission Valley’s Park Valley Shopping Center, whose anchor tenants are Best Buy and Saks Off 5th, in March.

Founded in 2010 by Portland restaurateurs Katie Poppe and Micah Camden (Blue Star Donuts, Boxer Ramen) the burger chain was sold in 2015 to Chanticleer Holdings Inc., which is in the process of growing the brand; at least 10 locations are planned for the Southern California region. DJ Moss, who is overseeing Little Big Burger in San Diego, tells Eater that more outlets are planned. Moss says the menu, which features quarter-pound hamburgers and cheeseburgers made with Cascade Natural beef, Tillamook cheese, and Camden's Catsup from the Northwest as well as a veggie burger and truffle fries, will remain the same but that our local eateries will also carry San Diego-brewed beer.