Our never ending quest to eat the best burgers in the world has taken us to dozens of countries in multiple continents. Discover our favorite American burgers so far as well as our faves in countries that include Canada, France, Portugal and Vietnam.
Our love for burgers spans both decades and continents.
It started when we were kids eating at American fast food chains. Back then, we empathised with both the Hamburglar and Wimpy – fictional characters with poor behavior patterns and questionable eating habits. After all, both of them loved hamburgers as much, if not more, than we did.
We honed this love at fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King. Back then, Daryl especially liked eating burgers at permanently closed Gino’s Hamburgers in Philadelphia while Mindi was partial to the burgers and frosted orange shakes at The Varsity in Atlanta.
Our shared burger passion didn’t abate when we became adults. Instead, we proceeded to eat burgers in more cities and countries when we traveled in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.
This tasty journey is far from over.
We don’t just eat hamburgers when we travel. Check out our picks for the best cinnamon buns, donuts, hot dogs, noodle dishes, sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts around the world. Then check out our tasty burger bowl recipe.
Our Picks For The Best Burgers In The World
We agree with the late Anthony Bourdain who succinctly stated that “a hamburger is perfection wrapped up in a bun.” This simple sentiment explains our endless quest to eat amazing burgers almost everywhere we travel.
Sometimes we order cheeseburgers and occasionally go cheese-free. We don’t always agree on condiments – Mindi has passions for both ketchup and hot sauce while Daryl chooses to let the best burgers stand on their own meaty merits (though, let it be noted that he loves exotic cheeses like Roquefort, Comté and Alsatian Münster). However, we’re always happy to share an order of fries and discuss life as we analyze the deliciousness of our meal.
After eating a world full of burgers, these are our favorites and the ones we’d happily eat again and again:
1. Classic Cheeseburger At JG Melon In New York City (USA)
New York City has so many great burger spots which is why locals can’t agree on which NYC burgers are best. Top contenders include the burgers at Minetta Tavern and Emily. As for us, we’re mad about the classic cheeseburgers served at JG Melon.
JG Melon serves a classic New York pub burger made tasty with plenty of fat and served simply with a pickle on a generic white plate. Once there, diners can also appreciate one the classic bars of NYC – a tin-ceilinged saloon with wood floors and bartenders who may have worked there longer than the bar has been serving burgers.
Eating at JG Melon, which has been serving their legendary burgers for over half a century, has its quirks. Diners usually have to wait in a queue and the Upper East Side neighborhood saloon doesn’t take credit cards. However, those first world hardships are forgotten as soon as simple yet enormous burgers and cottage fries hit the table.
Discover more great food in New York City.
2. Historic American Burger At Louis’s Lunch In New Haven (USA)
While nobody knows the humble hamburger’s exact origin, some food historians give Louis’ Lunch the credit thanks to original owner Louis Lassen’s decision to place ground beef between two slices of bread. He allegedly did this while serving an impatient customer at the New Haven lunch counter back in 1900.
We can’t say that we believe that Lassen invented the hamburger. We also can’t say that we adored our Louis’ Lunch burger which was essentially a large patty grilled in an antique flame broiling machine, served between toasted white bread and garnished with cheese and a choice of tomato or onion or, in our case, both. But the experience of eating burgers at Louis’ Lunch was fun which counts for a lot.
Discover great pizza in New Haven, the actual reason for our visit.
3. Historic European Burger At The Bird In Hamburg (Germany)
Hamburg is another contender for the place where burgers were invented since food historians trace the practice of cooking ground beef to Hamburg dockworkers who ate ground beef patties called frikadellen in the 19th century.
Despite the city’s name, we don’t buy into this origin story either. Our scepticism didn’t stop us from chowing down on ginormous burgers at The Bird mere hours after arriving in Hamburg during our first visit. It also didn’t stop us from returning to the American-style Hamburg hamburger joint during a subsequent visit.
Discover more great restaurants in Hamburg.
4. Mushroom Cheeseburger At Port Of Call In New Orleans (USA)
Located on the edge of the French Quarter, Port of Call has been slinging out top-quality burgers and baked potatoes for years. Open since the 1960s, the burger joint handily competes with spots serving fried chicken and other traditional New Orleans dishes.
Port of Call’s burgers are serious business – each starting out with a half pound of ground beef – and come with a big baked potato. We spent a few extra bucks to get cheese and mushrooms added. The unmelted cheese and wine-sautéed mushrooms melded together to create a unique burger experience.
Discover more great cheap eats in New Orleans.
5. Pub Cheeseburger At Plimsoll In London (UK)
The UK doesn’t have a stellar burger reputation due to the country’s mad cow disease outbreak in the early 1990s. However, in case you missed the memo, that was three decades ago and it’s more than safe to eat burgers in England especially if you eat one at a pub like The Plimsoll.
Located in North London, the Plimsoll can be a bit of a schlep depending on where you’re staying. However, if you like to eat tasty cheeseburgers served without healthy things like lettuce, this pub’s Dexter cheeseburger is worth the effort. This is especially true if you appreciate old school pubs and grandma china.
Discover more great food in London.
6. Alsatian Burger At Le Pied De Mammouth In Strasbourg (France)
We’ve found that the French are good at burgers, especially outside of Paris where cooks marry traditional local ingredients like cheese, charcuterie and special condiments with large beefy patties. (We should add that many of those patties are exquisitely finished.)
One of the best is Le Pied de Mammouth which offers a wide selection of sandwiches crafted with locally sourced Alsatian ingredients. During our visit, we ate a Kirken burger topped with figs, brie, grilled onions and coppa and a monstrous Magistrat (pictured at the top of this article) topped with cumin spiked Alsatian Munster cheese, smoked bacon, red onions and creamy herb sauce.
Le Pied de Mammouth’s burgers are served in locally baked artisan buns and pair well with fries or a salad. We ordered fries and washed our enormous burgers down with local beers.
Discover more great restaurants in Strasbourg.
7. Chicago’s Best Burger At The Loyalist in Chicago (USA)
Chicago is another American city with a plethora of restaurants vying for best burger. Many people give that honor to Au Cheval (see below). We did the same until our most recent trip to Chicago when we discovered our new favorite Chicago burger at The Loyalist.
Located below its sister restaurant Smyth, which happens to have three Michelin stars, this West Loop gastropub buzzes with energy and pumps out a lot of burgers plus a range of classic French bistro fare. We shared a Loyalist OG Cheeseburger during our visit plus a seasonal tomato salad and black truffle deviled eggs.
Discover more great food in Chicago.
8. Asian Cheeseburger At Burger Bros. in Da Nang (Vietnam)
Eating burgers in Vietnam may sound strange. After all, burgers aren’t exactly a Vietnamese food favorite. But burgers are wildly popular with expats in Vietnamese cities like Da Nang. However, it’s not just expats who love eating burgers at Burger Bros. Korean tourists are huge fans of this particular burger stand. Rumor has it that a Korean celebrity ate here and posted photos of his meal. This brought inevitable crowds of Koreans clamoring for burgers.
Opened by a Japanese sufer in 2015 and with the mantra no burger, no life, Burger Bros. serves excellent cheeseburgers as well as chili burgers, chicken burgers, pork burgers, fish burgers and veggie burgers. Once we got over our doubts about eating burgers in Vietnam, Burger Bros. quickly became our favorite Da Nang burger joint. As a bonus, the fries are great too.
Discover more great restaurants in Da Nang.
9. Asian-Inspired Burger At Fuku Burger in Las Vegas (USA)
We continued the Asian burger theme when we ate at Fukuburger in Las Vegas. Originally a food truck when owner Colin Fukunaga started the business, the off-strip burger joint takes pride in serving all-American burgers with a Japanese twist. While our burger was topped with wasabi mayo, Fuku sauce, American cheese and veggies, other potential toppings included fried eggs, crispy onion strings, pickled red ginger and shitake mushrooms at the time of our visit.
Discover more great restaurants off the strip in Las Vegas.
10. French Cheeseburger At Le Ruisseau (France)
Le Ruisseau, located near the Pompidou, is a hole-in-the-wall burger joint in Paris that makes high quality burgers in the third arr. The restaurant served us a great blue cheeseburger made with Blue d’Auverne and an equally great goat cheeseburger with St, Maure de Touraine. Plus, the fries served with our burgers were perfectly crisp as one would expect in the land of frites.
Discover more great food in Paris.
11. Award-Winning Cheeseburger At Gasoline Grill In Copenhagen (Denmark)
Gasoline Grill‘s original location inside an urban gas station could easily be a gimmick. It’s not. The award-winning burger joint served us an excellent cheeseburger which was topped with melted cheddar cheese, onion, pickles and gasoline sauce. Served with fries and a soda, it was also one of the cheapest meals we ate in Copenhagen.
Klaus Wittrup channeled his passion for American burgers when he opened the original Gasoline Grill in 2016 in a gas station. Though it was far from the first burger joint in Copenhagen, it was probably the first to make burgers with freshly ground meat. It was also the first to serve them inside Martin’s style potato rolls. It was definitely the first to serve them with gasoline sauce, a flavorful condiment that reminded us of 1000 island dressing, at a gas station.
Discover more great food in Copenhagen.
12. Argentinian Cheeseburger At MBH Hamburguesería In Lisbon (Portugal)
There weren’t many burger joints in Lisbon when we moved to the Portuguese capital. That situation has rapidly changed with new ones popping up almost as frequently as ramen shops. Our favorite is MBH Hamburguesería, an Argentinian burger chain that opened its first Lisbon location in 2019.
Although we discovered MBH through an Instagram ad that caught our eyes, the chain’s quality Argentinian beef burgers keep us coming back. Our favorite is the Campo de Ourique burger topped with Roquefort cheese and caramelized onion. Maybe we’ll be hungry enough to order the over-the-top Castelo, a double bacon cheeseburger with three bacon-wrapped mozzarella sticks, one day. Well, maybe not.
Discover more great food in Lisbon.
13. Cheeseburger With A Past At Earnestine & Hazel’s In Memphis (USA)
Earnestine & Hazel‘s history precedes its 1992 opening. This dive bar has a storied past that includes stints as a pharmacy, brothel and night club. Not only did musical luminaries including Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Sam Cook, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King and Tina Turner pass through the front doors during one of the bar’s prior lives, but ghosts apparently haunt the building to this day.
Open until 3am, this dive bar has just two items on its food menu – Soul Burgers and Double Soul Burgers. Keeping it simple, both hamburgers come with exactly six ingredients – bun, patty (or patties), fried onions, cheese, pickles and signature ‘soul’ sauce. There’s actually a third item since each burger is served with a bag of Golden Flake potato chips.
Discover more great restaurants in Memphis.
14. Messy But Tasty Cheeseburger At Chez Tousignant In Montreal (Canada)
As culinary multitaskers, we were delighted to take a hot burger break at Chez Tousignant near Montreal’s Marché Jean-Talon during an ice cold December day. Open since 2015, the local burger joint grinds its meat and serves its classic burgers on house-made buns.
To be clear, we didn’t just order a classic burger. We ordered the signature Tousignant burger which was topped with the usual burger accoutrements plus cheese and house-cured maple ham. It was a good move.
Discover more great food in Montreal.
15. SmokeShack Burger At Shake Shack (Fast Food)
Daryl has a passion for Shake Shack that rivals Mindi’s hot sauce passion. The American fast food chain was founded by New York restaurateur Danny Meyer and is operated by the Union Square Hospitality Group,
Although he likes Shake Shack’s standard ShackBurger with its angus beef blend patty, melted cheese and special sauce, Daryl is partial to the SmokeShack. This flavorful burger is topped with applewood-smoked bacon, chopped cherry peppers and special sauce.
Discover more American fast food chains.
16. Excellent Czech Burger At Kantýna In Prague (Czech Republic)
Carnivorous travelers who visit Prague will want to eat tartare, sausage and the occasional hamburger most if not every day during their trip. For them (i.e. us), eating at Kantýna is an absolute must.
Kantýna is a butchery, a pub, a palace, a gathering place and just about everything that epitomizes today’s Prague. Most important – its butchery sells and serves some of the city’s best burgers. Charred on the outside yet cooked rare, our beef patties looked undercooked but somehow tasted nicely done.
Discover more great food in Prague.
17. Brunch Burger At Husk In Nashville (USA)
Husk is a shining star for new southern cuisine. Keen to eat at Husk in Nashville after eating dinner at the original Husk in Charleston, we made a point to eat brunch at the Rutledge Hill restaurant in downtown Nashville.
Eating that brunch with friends provided the opportunity to eat a variety of dishes including pancakes, deviled eggs and grits with shrimp. And a hamburger. Of course, we ate a hamburger too and it didn’t disappoint.
Discover more great food in Nashville.
18. African Burger At The Dog’s Bollocks In Cape Town (South Africa)
What makes a burger African? Is it the meat? Sure. Is it the location? Yes, that too. Our burgers at The Dog’s Bollocks at YARD accomplished both of these criteria since we ate them in Cape Town
Located near our apartment in the same space as one of our favorite Cape Town coffee shops, the YARD served us tacos during the day and burgers at night. Between the two, we preferred the massive burgers generously topped with cheese and various sauces.
Discover more great restaurants in Cape Town.
19. Extra Cheesy Cheeseburger At Yavapai Tavern At The Grand Canyon (USA)
Eating on-site at the Grand Canyon can be elegant if you dine in the El Tovar Dining Room. (We did this for breakfast and highly recommend the experience.) However, it can also be casual as evidenced by our burger dinner at Yavapai Tavern inside the Yavapai Lodge. It’s an ideal spot to eat foods like nachos, pizza and some of the cheesiest cheeseburgers we’ve ever eaten.
20. Super Flat Smashburger At Superette In Toulouse (France)
We had high hopes for the smashburger at Superette given the hamburger joint’s solid reputation and hipster vibe not to mention Daryl’s love for this particular hamburger style. Alas, the cooks at Superette didn’t just smash our burger. They literally made a crêpe out of it, creating a finished patty that was more dry and burnt than crisp and fatty. But, hey, it was still fun to eat and the fries were top notch.
Discover more great restaurants in Toulouse.
21. Cheffy Double Cheeseburger At Naughty BRGR In Helsinki (Finland)
Finland’s first Top Chef winner, Akseli Herlevi, opened Naughty BRGR in 2015. Fast forward to the present and there are now more than ten Naughty BRGR’s in the country.
While we appreciate that Herlevi offers meat-free burger options, we kept things naughty by ordering a signature Naughty Burger during our visit. Made with Finish beef, cheddar cheese, French blue cheese, bacon, jam, arugula and aioli, it was a dinner winner.
Discover more great restaurants in Helsinki.
22. All-American Cheeseburger At Zingerman’s Roadhouse In Ann Arbor (USA)
Ann Arbor’s Zingerman’s is one of the most famous delis in the country for many reasons but especially for its sandwiches and bread. Meanwhile, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, the deli’s sister restaurant, specializes in American food favorites like Mac-n-Cheese, BBQ and burgers. With that in mind, we couldn’t resist ordering a Roadhouse Burger served on a brioche bun during our meal at Zingerman’s Roadhouse.
That burger didn’t disappoint thanks to its pasture-raised, dry-aged beef and accompanying hand-cut, twice cooked fries. However, adding applewood smoked bacon to the mix elevated it to the next level.
23. Italian Slider At Fransechetta58 In Modena (Italy)
Similar to The Loyalist (see above), Fransechetta58 has ties to a three-star Michelin restaurant – Osteria Francescana. Its small Emilia burger is a seemingly simple slider made with chianina meat and cotechino along with Parmigiano-Reggiano, the king of cheese.
Don’t be fooled by the Emilia’s small size. With toppings like salsa verde and balsamic mayo, it’s a rich, meaty morsel that packs a potent umami punch.
Discover more great restaurants in Modena.
24. Double Cheeseburger At Bunsen In Dublin (Ireland)
Bunsen raised the Dublin burger bar when it opened its first burger joint in 2016 despite the fact that its menu is so small enough to fit on the back of a business card. The only options on that menu are four burgers (hamburger, double hamburger, cheeseburger and double cheeseburger), three types of fries (hand cut, shoestring and sweet potato) and two drinks (soda and milkshakes).
This is the place to go to in Dublin for a big, sloppy burger. Go crazy and make it a double and add cheese. You know you want to go big, so just do it. We did it without any regrets. Not even one.
Discover more great restaurants in Dublin.
25. Lamb Burger At The Guild House In Columbus (USA)
Not every burger we eat is made with beef. Other options include plant-based products, chicken, pork and even veal. Our tasty burger at Columbus’s The Guild House used yet another protein – lamb. The perfectly cooked lamb burger was colorfully topped with feta, arugula, pickled shallots and roasted peppers.
Discover more great restaurants in Columbus.
26. Furger At F-Hoone In Tallinn (Estonia)
Eating in Tallinn’s Telliskivi neighborhood has its perks. Not only does Telliskivi has a cool hipster vibe and a plethora of architecturally interesting buildings, but it’s also home to one of the city’s most popular restaurants – F-Hoone.
In addition to dishes dishes like Estonian borscht, F-Hoone serves a whopper of a burger that they choose to call a furger. However, unlike the American whopper, this burger (or should we say furger?) features a stuffed Aberdeen Angus beef patty, cheddar cheese, red cabbage, tomato, Sriracha aioli and roasted onions inside a dark bread bun.
Discover more great restaurants in Tallinn.
27. Cheeseburger and Beer At Pop’s Place In Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Pop’s Place isn’t the only hamburger joint we taste tested in Ljubljana but it quickly became our favorite for an unexpected reason. Sure, we liked our Original California Classic burger with its custom beef blend, secret sauce, aged cheddar cheers and garnishes. That’s a given.
It was the beer menu that catapulted Pop’s Place to the top of our Ljubljana burger list. Finding Tallinn’s Põhjala beer was a true treat – it’s one of our favorites.
Discover more great restaurants in Ljubljana.
28. Patty Melt At The Ice-Burg Drive-In In Walla Walla (USA)
We didn’t let rain put a damper on our burger quest in Walla Walla. Instead, we drove to The Ice-Burg Drive In, a local favorite since 1952, and ordered a Gersch Burger which we proceeded to devour in our car.
Sure, we could have ordered a traditional burger instead or even a double or triple burger and been happy with toppings like relish, mayo, pickles, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. Instead, we added those same toppings to a Gersch Burger which was essentially a loaded patty melt.
29. Breakfast Burger At South Philly Taproom In Philadelphia (USA)
One of the first gastropubs in Philadelphia, South Philly Tap Room is a is a popular watering hole in the gentrified Newbold neighborhood. It’s also a great spot to eat burgers at any time of the day.
While the SPTR Burger is the gastropub’s signature burger, we ate a brunch burger during our most recent visit. Topped with an egg and bacon strip, it packed an undeniable protein punch.
Discover more great food in Philadelphia.
30. Burger At Sacré Burger In Reims (France)
Drinking excellent champagne in Reims is a given since the French city is smack dab in the heart of the country’s famous Champagne region. However, the opportunity to pair champagne with burgers was an unexpected treat during our dinner at Sacré Burger.
Considering that Victor Allier owns both Sacré Burger in Reims and Sacré Bistro in nearby Épernay, the confluence makes sense. It also makes us happy.
31. Cheeseburger With Benefits At General Merchants In Belfast (Northern Ireland)
We first discovered Belfast’s General Merchants in our quest for the city’s best coffee. Little did we realize that we’d also satisfy our burger quest at the same cafe.
It was a true win-win situation to drink excellent flat whites while eating a great burger. Or, on the flip side, one could say that our our cheeseburger came with coffee benefits.
Discover more great restaurants in Belfast.
32. Double Cheeseburger At Beast Burger In Chiang Mai (Thailand)
Eating a great burger wasn’t on our Chiang Mai to-do list since we were fully focused on eating khao soi and other Thai food favorites. And, yet, that’s exactly what we ate when we wandered into Beast Burger in Chiang Mai’s expat-friendly Nimman neighborhood.
The double cheeseburger we ordered, along with crinkle cut fries, came loaded with two beef patties, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, grilled bacon strips and tangy Beast sauce. Originally a food truck when it opened in 2014, Beast Burger is now a fully realized burger joint that easily earned a spot on this list.
Discover more great restaurants in Chiang Mai.
33. Pimento Cheeseburger At Phoenicia Diner In The Catskills (USA)
Sometimes we get smart and sometimes we get lucky. The latter happened when we stopped for lunch at the Phoenicia Diner on a day when the popular Catskills eatery was featuring a monstrous burger topped with pimento cheese.
Eating a burger from the regular menu would have been the opposite of a hardship. But, since this special burger combo was as tasty as it was unique, it was our luckiest day in the Hudson Valley.
Discover more great foodie finds in the Catskills.
34. Butcher Shop Burger At Naše Maso In Prague (Czech Republic)
You might be surprised to see two different Prague hamburgers on this guide but you shouldn’t be for two reasons. First, as previously noted, Prague’s commitment to meat is extreme. And, second, both of Prague’s best burgers are prepared by restaurants that are part of Prague’s prolific Ambiente restaurant group.
The burger we ate at Ambiente’s butcher shop, Naše Maso, was fantastic. Although it looked almost blue, our medium rare burger didn’t taste raw. Judging by a similar, super red burger at sister restaurant Kantýna (see above), this may be how the Czechs like their burgers. We’re all for it. Both burgers were shockingly good.
Discover more great restaurants in Prague.
35. Cheeseburger At Five Guys (Fast Food)
Five Guys serves ‘burgers and fries cooked to perfection’ throughout the US and in countries like the UK and Spain. We can vouch for the chain’s juicy Five Guys cheeseburger which was excellent on our most recent visit. The same goes for our bag of fries.
36. Noma-Influenced Cheeseburger At Popl Burger In Copenhagen (Denmark)
Copenhagen isn’t the only European city with more than one great burger joint. What makes Copenhagen unique is that one, POPL Burger, is both owned and influenced by the team behind Noma.
The Noma influences include commitments to both culinary excellence and fermentation. Case in point – our tasty cheeseburgers were glazed with beef garum made in the Noma Fermentation lab. Think fish sauce but made with beef. Yum!
Discover more great restaurants in Copenhagen.
37. Pat La Frieda Burger At Ear Inn In New York City (USA)
Established in 1817, The Ear Inn has many stories to tell. Some of those stories involve its status as the city’s oldest drinking establishment while others involve its historic 18th century building, its quirky sign and its auspicious former residents. It’s also home to some of the city’s best burgers.
We’re fans of The Ear Inn’s Pat La Frieda Burger which is made with eight ounces of meat from the vaunted NY area meat purveyor and served with both salad and home fries. However, we appreciate that others may prefer The Ear Inn’s Lamb Burger or its Veggie Burger. In other words, we’ll do us and you do you.
38. Bacon Cheeseburger At Cup Cafe In Tucson (USA)
As America’s first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2015, Tucson is a city with a deep food culture that spans the gamut from cheap eats to fine dining. It’s also a city that knows how to make burgers. We ate at great one at The Cup Cafe inside the historic Hotel Congress
Called the Real Thing, that burger came with 1/2 pound beef chuck patty, butter lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickle and a potato bun. Adding cheddar cheese and bacon was an easy decision that we didn’t regret.
Discover more great restaurants in Tucson.
39. Organic Burger At Submarine Burger In Zagreb (Croatia)
Though burgers are all the rage in Zagreb today, this wasn’t the case back in 2014 when Submarine Burger opened its original location. The fast-food outlet quickly differentiated itself by serving organic burgers as well as a selection of healthy salads and loaded fries. Today, the burger chain has expanded within Croatia and into Romania.
Submarine Burger offers several burger choices like Original, Smokehouse, Italian and French as well as options to supersize the burgers or go meat-free. And, despite its expansion, employees still locally source ingredients and make the buns and sauces from scratch.
Discover more great restaurants in Zagreb.
40. Cheeseburger And Super Spud At Westside Drive-In In Boise (USA)
We literally drove into Boise with the goal of eating burgers at the Westside Drive In during a cross country road trip – yes, we’re that obsessed. It would have been a shame had the burgers been disappointing but that wasn’t the case. They were exactly what we expected to eat at a Boise drive in restaurant.
We had a second goal which was to eat potatoes during our short time in Idaho. We satisfied that goal at Westside Drive In too. However, loaded with sour cream, bacon, cheddar and chives, one Super Spud was big enough to share.
41. Double Cheeseburger At Ground Burger In Lisbon (Portugal)
Ground Burger gets our approval with its menu focused on “Oldschool American Burgers and Craft Beer”. The popular burger joint slings burgers every day of the week at the flagship São Sebastião location as well as at a second location inside the Time Out Market.
We’re partial to Ground Burger’s cheeseburgers classically made with Black Angus beef patties, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard. When we’re extra-hungry, we order double cheeseburgers with grilled onions for double the yum.
Discover more great restaurants in Lisbon.
42. Return Of The Cowboy Burger At PNY In Paris (France)
Hoards of customers flock to PNY every day to eat solid burgers at the popular Paris chain. What they get is more of a hybrid – something in between a thicker smashed patty and a super thick pub-style burger.
We’re fans of PNY’s Return of the Cowboy, a burger loaded with bacon, English cheddar and “beignet d’oignon” which sounds so much classier than onion ring which is what is is. We consider it to be a solid upscale interpretation of a Wendy’s baconator and we’re okay with that.
Discover more great restaurants in Paris.
43. Double Double Animal Style Burger At In N Out Burger (Fast Food)
We typically order Double Double (two hamburger patties and two slices of cheese) burgers when we eat at In-N-Out in cities like Los Angeles and Tucson. However, we always request the fast food chain’s secret Animal Style option which includes lettuce, tomato, mustard cooked beef patties, pickles, extra spread and grilled onions.
44. Cheeseburger At Au Cheval In Chicago (USA)
We were super impressed by the burgers we ate at Au Cheval in 2014. Those double burgers, each topped with cheese, bacon slabs and a fried egg, impressed us so much that we returned for a repeat performance eight years later.
We weren’t so impressed the second time around primarily due to the restaurant’s poor service and dubious price structure. However, the burger was still solid so there’s that. Maybe we’ll try the burgers at Au Cheval’s newer NYC location next time.
45. Diner Burger At Donna’s Diner In Sharon (USA)
Donna’s Diner is a retro 1950’s style eatery that specializes in hamburgers and milkshakes. In addition to serving satisfying comfort food, the restaurant serves up a generous portion of kitsch with every plate including the bacon cheeseburger that we ate during our visit.
We especially appreciated the onion ring served inside our cheeseburger.
46. Catalunya Burger At Modelier Burger In Bucharest (Romania)
We never found the burger of our dreams in Bucharest. However, the Catalunya Burger we ate at Modelier was surprisingly tasty thanks to its liberal inclusion of Gouda cheese, chorizo, jalapeno peppers and barbecue sauce.
We also dug the Bucharest restaurant’s cool graffiti art, cold beer and refreshing lemonade. We dug it all so much that we ate in the restaurant’s colorful outdoor terrace three times during our visit.
Discover more great restaurants in Bucharest.
47. Cheeseburger At the Swisshotel Grand Shanghai (China)
Eating a hamburger in China wasn’t something that we expected to do. However, we couldn’t resist eating one in Shanghai at our hotel restaurant as a break from eating soup dumplings and other local dishes.
Big and juicy, that hamburger took second fiddle to the real star of the plate – the ketchup. Not always available in Asia, Heinz ketchup is the ideal hamburger condiment and tastes like home. (As noted above, Mindi is a huge condiment fan.)
Discover more about our stay at the Swissotel Grand Shanghai.
48. Double Cheeseburger At Po Boys BBQ In Athens (Greece)
We give Po Boys BBQ an E for effort when it comes to the double cheeseburger we ate at the boisterous American-style barbecue restaurant in Athens. However, while that hamburger was solid by local standards, eating it made us realize that we’d rather eat Greek foods like souvlaki when we’re in Athens.
Discover more great restaurants in Athens.
49. Cheeseburger At Sea On A Holland America Cruise Ship
We were pleased to find and eat American-stye hamburgers and hot dogs during our first cruise with Holland America. After much taste testing at the ship’s Dive-In bar, our favorite burger was the Cannonball – a 1/3 pound beef patty cooked to order and paired with Gouda cheese, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions, chop-chop salad, sliced tomato and Dive-In sauce in a toasted brioche roll.
Discover everything we ate during our Holland America cruises in Asia and Norway.
50. Big Mac At McDonalds (Fast Food)
We could be snooty and pretend that we’re too discerning to eat a McDonald’s Big Mac every now and again. But the truth is that we sometimes eat the world’s most famous hamburger when we’re traveling and in need of a quick bite. The same goes for the mega-chain’s addictively delicious french fries.
To those who question the worldwide pertinence of Mickey D’s double burgered classic, bear in mind that some people gage the value of particular currency by the cost of a Big Mac. It’s that iconic.
Hamburger FAQs
Many food historians give the US credit for inventing the hamburger while others give credit to Germany. In other words, nobody knows exactly where the hamburger was invented.
Choosing which country has the best burgers is a subjective activity that contemplates a person’s place of origin and life experiences. After growing up in America and eating a lot of hamburgers around the world, we’re on team USA in this regard.
Our unscientific research has revealed the cheeseburger to be the world’s most popular burger.
Hungry For More Food Around The World?
About The Authors
Daryl & Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on their website 2foodtrippers. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers a unique taste of the world.
Subscribe to our newsletter unless you’d rather follow us on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest.
View the latest Web Story.
Original Publication Date: November 26, 2023
