The 10 Best Burgers in the United States

This burger was inspired by an off-menu special at Rich Table’s bar, and recently found a permanent home at RT Bistro next door. “It was a very messy burger at the bar, and the idea of keeping it neat and clean was important to us,” says chef Evan Rich. The thick char-grilled patty from Olivier’s Butchery includes 10% dry-aged ribeye for extra umami, and Rich mixes California cheddar with grated Parmesan for a Mornay-style sauce that melts like American cheese. “The aged parm and cheddar work perfectly with the aged beef,” he says. Dill pickled onions add a crunchy, tangy contrast, and their signature burger sauce includes garlic aioli, hot sauce, an Old Bay-inspired spice blend and Dijon mustard, all tucked into a housemade bun.

At The Ranch at Rock Creek, Chef Zachary Ladwig uses equal parts shoulder, culotte, brisket, and short rib from Montana Wagyu Cattle Co to make the perfect burger patty at this 6,600-acre luxury dude ranch. “It’s a throwback to a Midwestern-style juicy Lucy that I’d have on road trips through Minnesota,” Ladwig says. The patty is stuffed with black truffle, onion, short-rib and fontina fondue, then garnished with a bright frisée and celery salad dressed in truffle and aged balsamic vinaigrette to cut through the gooey indulgence. A housemade Amish potato roll bun toasted in housemade salted butter from Kalispell Kreamery cream holds everything together, with a recommended pairing of Montana craft beer or whiskey.

Chicago’s hottest new steakhouse, The Alston, also serves up the city’s best burger, courtesy of Michelin-starred chef Jenner Tomaska, with many guests ordering burgers as an appetizer to split. Tomaska dry ages prime chuck meat from DemKota Ranch Beef for 60 days for intense beefy flavor, then adds sweet and tart caramelized red onions stewed in red wine and vinegar, clothbound cheddar, raclette, and a luxurious hit of charred bone marrow for subtle smokiness. “This burger is meant to sit somewhere between a classic steakhouse burger and something a bit more French in spirit,” Tomaska says. “The mix of clothbound cheddar and raclette brings a slightly funky, savory note that ties it all together without overpowering the beef.”

This Relais & Chateaux resort in the Smoky Mountains serves a killer smashburger made from their own herd of around 25 Black Angus cattle, which are grass-fed and corn-finished for the last three months for a unique sweet marbling. Chef Jeb Aldrich uses a mix of brisket and chuck for the patty, and sandwiches double-burger patties on soft potato buns, topped with melted onions and a mountain of Gruyère cheese. “Our smashburgers feel very true to the ranch,” Aldrich says. “Everyone loves a classic juicy burger when you’ve spent the day horseback riding or hiking, but ours are extra special thanks to the high-quality meat from our Black Angus cattle.”

The burger at neighborhood bistro Pasjoli is the best-selling item on the menu, a blend of beef tenderloin and dry-aged New York strip that’s ground and seasoned in-house.

“Ultimately, we wanted a burger that had varied textures and could cook like a piece of steak,” chef Dave Beran says. They season and baste the burger in foaming butter and aromatics like garlic, shallots, and thyme. Beran wanted his burger to be a little sloppy, so he garnishes it with charred red onions braised in sauce au poivre and bone marrow aioli, with housemade brioche buns. “When we finish cooking the burger to rest, we sear the buns in the cooking fat from the burger to add a depth of aged beef fat flavor.”

The Smoke Jumper burger is named for the courageous smokejumpers who battle forest fires in the Cascade Mountains every summer, with bold smoky flavors to match. Royal Ranch, a carbon-neutral regenerative farm in Royal City, Washington, where Cowiche Creek Brewing owner, chef, and brewer Derrick Nordberg grew up, supplies all of the USDA Prime-grade beef. Nordberg cuts and grinds the burger patties in-house with a blend of chuck and brisket for the right balance of beefiness and fat content. Toppings include melted Tillamook smoked cheddar cheese, blistered jalapeños from their garden, fresh arugula, crispy dill pickles, sliced sweet onions and two slices of seared Buckboard Bacon from Carne Vita in Leavenworth, Washington, all sandwiched on a corn kaiser bun. They even make their own chipotle mayo, smoking, drying and grinding ripe red jalapeños from their garden for an extra kick.

The eight-ounce burger cooked to medium rare has been the best-selling menu item at lunch and happy hour since opening day at this John Fraser chophouse, the Vermillion Club. Pat LaFrieda grinds an 80/20 blend of Piedmontese beef, an Italian heritage breed known for lean, tender texture, and the patty is draped with melted white cheddar cheese with a classic brioche bun to soak up the juices. The secret to this burger is a medley of made-from-scratch sauces, including soy mayo, steak sauce, ketchup, and Montreal seasoning with toasted mustard seeds and Maldon sea salt instead of table salt.

The cheeseburger at Nashville’s most exclusive cocktail bar is available as a single or double, with grass-fed beef from Bear Creek Farms, aged cheddar from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, and fresh and hearth-smoked onions on a Martin’s potato roll. It’s styled off a classic French dip, with beef jus seasoned with house-made sourdough miso for smashing or dipping on the side. “We wanted something fun and interactive,” says chef Tiffani Ortiz. “The au jus is very allium-forward and made with beef bones coming off the same cattle the beef patties are made from, and seasoned with sourdough miso made from all of our bread service trimmings.”

This steakhouse serves only 10 burgers a day, often selling out before happy hour ends. Patties are made with dry-aged wagyu trim to eliminate food waste and add extra flavor, along with a blend of USDA Prime dry-aged brisket and fresh chuck. The pastry team proofs and bakes 10 fresh brioche burger buns each morning, and the prep team meticulously caramelizes sherry onions for hours to bring out their natural sweetness. Beecher’s Flagship aged cheddar and mayo are a rich, creamy complement to the flavorful beef, with a sprinkling of pickled mustard seeds as the final flourish for acidity. “The burger is an expression and culmination of everything that we have put into our dry aging and butchery program,” says Heirloom Hospitality CEO Jeremy Sasson.

Stewed onions from a secret family recipe for French onion soup passed down by owner Félix Landrum’s late French grandmother are the star of this burger at Felix Cocktails et Cuisine. Two short rib-brisket blended patties are topped with a generous scoop of stewed, caramelized onions before being blanketed with melty raclette cheese. With a final touch of dijonnaise, the burger is served between toasted sesame buns from a neighboring Annie Mae’s Bakeshop. “I aimed to capture the essence of French onion soup in a burger,” Landrum says.  It’s been a menu staple since the restaurant opened in 2017, and for good reason.