25.) Pearl’s Deluxe Burgers 708 Post Street SF, CA 94109 (415) 409-6120
24.) Rocky’s Crown Pub 3786 Ingraham Street San Diego, CA 92109 (858) 273-9140
The best pub style burger in the West. Simple, greasy and to the point. Surf’s up.
23.) Grüner 527 SW 12th Avenue Portland, OR 97205 (503) 241-7163
Portland has really come up in the food scene and their Grüner Burger is the best the city has to offer. A juicy delight of salty, savory satisfaction, it’s served on a poppy-seeded potato bun with pickled red onions, aioli, arugula, smoky bacon and melted fontina cheese.
22.) Rustic Canyon 1119 Wilshire Boulevard, SaMo, CA 90401 (310) 393-7050
Often voted Los Angeles’ best, the Breakfast Burger is 8 ounces of organic, Niman Ranch beef spruced up with thick cut bacon confit (that’s cooked in frickin’ duck fat), sharp cheddar, a fried egg and arugula, nestled into a perfectly-toasted Rockenwagner brioche.
21.) Shake Shack 11 Madison Avenue # 1, New York (212) 889-6600
20.) Blazer Burger 440 RT 22 North Salem, NY 10560 (914) 277-4424
Full disclosure: I grew up on the Celsus Burger served here so I’m a little biased. But even the most impartial observer would understand the intoxicating combination of coarse, fatty ground beef, seared to perfection on a fresh kaiser roll with crisped bacon, greasy-grilled onions and meticulously-melted swiss. Home is whenever I’m with you.
19.) Kua ‘Aina 1200 Ala Moana Blvd # 665, Honolulu, HI - (808) 591-9133
Huge, juicy beef patty, fluffy buns, and superb add-ons such as grilled pineapple and fresh avocado. I gotta get back to the island! Aloha no ka oi!
18.) Corner Bistro 331 West 4th Street New York, NY 10014 (212) 242-9502
The best pub style burger in New York is also the best value anywhere in Manhattan--by far. For around 10$ you can enjoy a decent beer and a greasy, coarsely ground, no frills bacon cheeseburger. Not organic, not fancy, just damn tasty.
17.) Squeeze Inn 5301 Power Inn Rd Sacramento, CA 95820 (916) 386-8599
Yes, the burger itself is very tasty and pretty large as well. But what makes this place stand out is their unique style of applying a large sheet of cheese--eclipsing the patty itself--and allowing it to fry to a satisfying crisp on the griddle.
16.) Village Whisky 118 So. 20th Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 665-1088
15.) Minetta Tavern 113 MacDougal St. NY, NY 10012 Bleecker St. 212-475-3850
Made with Pat La Frieda’s peerless Black Label ground beef blend, this hip Greenwich Village eatery can get away with charging close to $30 for a hamburger cause it’s just that damn delicious.
14.) 900 Grayson 900 Grayson St Berkeley, CA 94710 (510) 704-9900
13.) Kuma’s Corner 2900 West Belmont Avenue Chi, IL 60618 (773) 604-8769
This Metal Bar names most of their burgers after Heavy Metal legends. Whereas I will always be partial to Led Zeppelin, here I go with the original Kuma, featuring bacon, cheddar and a fried egg atop an impossibly large 10 oz. patty and sandwiched in between a rugged, salted pretzel roll.
12.) 5-8 Club 5800 Cedar Avenue So. Minneapolis, MN 55417 (612) 823-5858
The Juicy Lucy was made popular here. Your choice of cheese melted in a molten core INSIDE of the patty. Be careful when you bit into it, you might get scalded by deliciousness.
11.) Sparky’s BBQ 115 FRANKLIN ST. HATCH, New Mexico 575.267.4222
Green Hatch Chile Burger. A New Mexican sensation, and nothing like it anywhere else.
10.) Burger Bar 3930 Las Vegas Blvd So. #121A Las Vegas, NV 89119 (702) 632-9364
This place is all about choices. All-star chef Hubert Keller delivers the goods in a variety of high-end kobe beef, buffalo and turkey meat and lets you choose from a list of amazing add-ons, such as lobster tails or even black truffles. Build your own masterpiece.
9.) Peter Luger 178 Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 387-7400
8.) Le Tub 1100 North Ocean Drive Hollywood, FL 33019 (954) 921-9425
This Key-West style dive bar makes you wait upwards of an hour for what has got to be the biggest pub-style burger I’ve ever eaten. Nearly 3/4th a pound of beef that is the perfect blend of salty, savory and juicy.
7.) Spruce 3640 Sacramento Street SF, CA 94118-1710 (415) 931-5100
San Francisco’s best is brought to life with perfectly seared ground chuck and house-made pickles and pickled onions.
6.) Umami Burger 850 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles -(323) 931-3000
LA’s obsession with this popular series of burger joints is well-founded. The Manly Burger packs so much flavor in between the bun, it’s ri-goddamn-diculous. Bacon lardon, beer-cheddar cheese and smoked onion strings will help with that. This burger is many things, but unfortunately it is not oversized.
5.) Holeman & Finch 2277 Peachtree Road NE#B ATL-GA 30309 (404) 948-1175
This stylish Atlanta gastropub only serves around 20 of these masterful double-cheeseburgers every night at around 9:30, at the ringing of a bell. Don’t miss out. It’s like an In-n-Out double double on some serious Barry Bonds juice.
4.) Radius 8 High Street Boston, MA 02110 (617) 426-1234
Boston’s boss of burgers is the Radius Burger--a 9 oz. patty perfectly engineered by renowned chef Michael Shlow to seal in the juiciness of the beef: lightly char the exterior on a grill before placing the burger into a salamander so that it doesn’t dry out. Top it with cheddar cheese, mild horse-radish and a healthy dose of crispy fried onions...Proceed to devour.
3.) DB Bistro 55 W. 44th St., New York, NY 10036 212-391-2400
The World’s Original Gourmet Burger is $32, which is actually a value when you consider that it’s stuffed--gloriously--with savory, braised short ribs and seared foie gras. When introduced in 2001, The DB Burger elevated hamburgers to a whole new stratosphere. It’s no less delicious now than it was then.
2.) Spotted Pig 314 West 11th Street New York, NY 10014-2369 (212) 620-0393
The best burger in New York is all about the best meat--like steak on a bun...a cross-charred, buttered brioche bun. Made with an insane amount of pungent blue cheese and served with an even more insane amount of outstanding rosemary garlic shoestring fries.
1.) Father’s Office 1018 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA (310) 736-2224
The top of this list was by far the easiest choice. The first-rate FO Burger is a proprietary blend of aged ribeye smothered in a heavenly compote of bacon and caramelized onion reduction with gruyere and maytag blue melted on top. Absolute perfection. No condiments allowed (much to Mike's chagrin).
Well, there you have it. Think anything is missing, or that this list is fundamentally flawed? Well, I think you're fundamentally flawed. But this is America, damnit, so feel free to chime in...