14 Most Original Burgers You Can Find In The US
It doesn't really matter what kind of cuisine a restaurant is serving, there's often a burger on the menu for good reason — everyone loves them. Chances are they're in your own regular meal rotation, whether you prefer a standard lettuce-and-tomato deal, something that combines the best of burger night and Taco Tuesday in a spicy beef fajita burger, or one that sounds more difficult to make than it is, like a blue cheese-stuffed burger with fig and pear. Fancy!
People have had a long time to perfect the burger. Although it's often claimed that the first recognizably modern burgers came onto the scene in 1885, you could argue the idea goes back to ancient Rome. There, they were serving something called isicia omentata, which was basically minced meat that was seasoned with fish sauce, pine kernels, and some other optional ingredients, then formed into patties and served between bread. We've had hundreds of years to take that "optional ingredients" part and run with it, and we haven't looked back.
We wanted to take a look at some of the most unique burgers being served up around the U.S., and believe us when we say it was tough. There's some serious creativity going on out there, so let's talk about some wildly complicated burgers you're going to want to visit these restaurants for, some you'll be surprised to learn even exist, and best of all? You might just get some inspiration for your next burger night.
1. The Coronary Bypass Burgers at The Vortex — Atlanta, Georgia
There's a pretty good chance you've heard of the Heart Attack Grill, the controversial Vegas restaurant that prides itself on massive portions and burgers with names like the Quadruple Bypass. While that restaurant, opened in 2005, achieved much controversy, Atlanta's The Vortex had already taken on the big, bad-for-you, but oh-so-delicious burger market. It opened in 1992, and by now, it's safe to say the Single, Double, Triple, and Quadruple Coronary Bypass Burgers have been perfected.
Let's take the biggest and most outrageous: the Quadruple Coronary Bypass. Not only are there 28 slices of cheese, 27 strips of bacon, 32 ounces of meat in the form of 6 burger patties, four fried eggs, and all the fixins', but it's also served with Texas toast instead of burger buns. The burger — and the fries and tots it comes with — clocks in at just under 10,000 calories, and if you happen to have room for dessert, you can follow that up with some deep-fried cheesecake. You might want to bring some friends to take on this monstrosity!
Multiple locations
2. The Walking Ched at Zombie Burger — Des Moines, Iowa
There's two locations of Zombie Burger, one mall restaurant and one in a historic part of Des Moines. It's absolutely living up to its name, and if you're a horror fan, you'll need to make this place a bucket-list stop. The burgers are themed after zombie and horror movies (there's even The Negan and the Undead Glenn, for fans of "The Walking Dead"), and there are plenty of unique options here. None, however, are quite as unique as The Walking Ched, which isn't served with a boring old hamburger bun, but between two patties of deep-fried macaroni and cheese.
That got your attention, didn't it? We haven't even finished with the cheese, because it's also topped with slices of cheddar and a heaping glob of non-deep-fried macaroni and cheese. Finish the whole thing off with some caramelized red onions, bacon, and mayo, and you've got a burger that you'll be happy to eat every day until the end of the world.
Multiple locations
3. Deep-fried burgers at Dyer's — Memphis, Tennessee
If you're just scrolling through looking at all the photos of these seriously delicious burgers without reading much, this one might have you puzzled. There's seemingly nothing much out of the ordinary going on here, and even the menu looks pretty typical. You can choose from a single, a double, or a triple burger, then decide if you want cheese. What's so special about these burgers? They're still being made in the same grease that's been used for the last hundred years... give or take.
Dyer's proclaims it "Doc Dyer's ageless cooking grease," and promises that yes, even when the restaurant has moved locations, the grease went along, too. The first incarnation opened way back in 1912, and the idea to reuse the grease happened accidentally at first. It turns out that burgers cooked in the grease from other burgers are downright delicious, so the intrepid burger-makers kept doing it. Now, Dyer's stresses that the grease is regularly strained, and it's perfectly fine. So fine, in fact, that when the patties come out of the deep-fry in the cast iron skillet, there's no need to hide behind, underneath, any typical burger toppings.
(901) 527-3937
205 Beale St, Memphis, TN 38103
4. The Sunday Morning at Hidden Spot — California
If you're the type that believes breakfast is a meal that can be enjoyed any time of the day, we have a burger for you. It's being served up at Hidden Spot, a California restaurant with three locations in Emeryville and San Francisco. First, we'll say that literally everything on the menu looks amazing from the hot sandwiches all the way to the chicken bites. We're here to talk burgers, though, and it's The Sunday Morning that's breakfast on a bun.
Between those soft brioche buns and piled high on a half-pound Wagyu beef burger are some of your favorite breakfast foods, including honey-cured bacon, cheese, tater tots, and a fried egg. Add some spice with pickled jalapeño, and several spicy sauces, and it's sure to start almost any morning off right. While you're there, check out some of the toppings on other funky burgers: The Hidden comes with grilled pineapples and cabbage, The Kitchen comes with kimchi, and the oddly-named The BM comes with pork pate, daikon, and a fried egg.
Multiple locations
5. Mac and Cheese Burger at Capitol Burger — Utah
Anyone who happens to be passing through Utah near Capitol Reef National Park needs to keep an eye out for the Capitol Burger food truck, because these aren't your usual burgers. Imagine what would happen if you took the chef out of a fine dining restaurant, asked them to come up with some stellar burgers, and gave them a food truck so they could reach as many people as possible. That's kind of what happened here, and while there's a ton of fun and funky burgers being served, one of the stables is the Mac n Cheese Burger.
Sure, it's a burger piled high with mac and cheese, but there's also roasted chilis and smoked bacon, too. There's a few reasons this one is truly not to be missed, and that's starting with the fact that this is some deliciously creamy stuff. It's also not so over-the-top that it's impossible to eat, which would be really unfortunate — particularly because it's coming from a food truck, and you're kind of on your own. Capitol Burger gets consistently stellar reviews all around, so if you're in town for a bit, plan on stopping a few times.
facebook.com/capitolburgertruck
Location varies
6. Frito Pie Burger at Buster's Place — Murfreesboro, Tennessee
What is a Frito pie? The name is a little bit of a misnomer, as this Texas dish is basically a can of chili poured into a bag of Fritos. What a world we live in, right? Given that we're talking about burgers, you can probably guess where this is going.
Yes, you can get a Frito Pie Burger, and it's being served at a Tennessee restaurant called Buster's Place. This version kind of combines the two ideas, taking everything that's delicious about a Frito pie and putting it on a burger, while keeping traditional burger toppings like lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Weird? Absolutely. Do you need a fork? Definitely, along with quite the stack of napkins. It is, however, the best of both worlds, and we also feel we need to mention that there's also a pimento cheese burger on the menu, too. We're fans: The world definitely needs more pimento cheese.
(615) 895-5464
1615 NW Broad St, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
7. McGuire's Terrible Garbage Burger at McGuire's Irish Pub — Florida
Ah, Florida. In our search for some of the most original burgers in the U.S., we had a feeling that Florida wasn't going to disappoint, and oh, boy were we right. Head to McGuire's Irish Pub in either Pensacola or Destin, and check out the Terrible Garbage Burger. (We feel the need to note that in spite of the fact that there's a lot of Irish flags that seem to be stuck in a lot of food, we're pretty sure Ireland would like to be left out of this one, thank you very much.)
At the time of this writing, there's only a single review on the web site under this burger — and it's not even about the burger. The burger is advertised as having "Some of everything — it's absolutely disgusting," and yes, ice cream is involved, because of course it is. So is peanut butter, wasabi, pepperoni, pineapple, hot fudge, BBQ sauce, a bunch of cheese ... and a whole bunch of other stuff. Corned beef is in there too, along with a single burger patty. Whether or not you're going to run to Florida for this one, well, that's your own personal choice. (And, perhaps, problem.)
Multiple locations
8. Peanut Butter and Jeallousy at Slater's 50/50 — Multiple locations
To be fair, it was difficult to pick just one burger to spotlight off the menu at Slater's 50/50. Slater's has locations in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Hawaii, and it's not serving up your typical burgers. While many people will say that the ideal beef ratio for stovetop burgers is 80/20 or 90/10, Slater's prefers 50/50... and that's not beef and fat, that's beef and bacon.
In addition to some incredible-looking turkey and bison burgers, there's the standout Peanut Butter & Jeallousy. And yes, that Angus beef burger comes with not only peanut butter and strawberry jelly, but there's bacon and ice cream on there, too. And honestly, it sounds kind of amazing. Peanut butter and jelly are already perfect, then add the caramelization of the patty, the chill of the ice cream, and we know that everything is better with bacon. We kind of really, really dig this one, especially considering you can definitely replicate this at home.
Multiple locations
9. The Original Burger at Louis' Lunch — New Haven, Connecticut
We're here to talk about originality, and in the case of Louis' Lunch, it doesn't get much more literally original. It's been passed down through four generations, and it's also mentioned in official histories of the hamburger. Louis Lassen was said to have been the very first person to put a hamburger patty between toast, an invention that's officially (i.e., by the Library of Congress) dated to 1900.
Louis' Lunch is still doing things the same way, and even using the same cast-iron griddles. Stop here and you'll get a patty, onion, slice of cheese, and a tomato on toast, and although it sounds almost ridiculously straightforward, it's still pretty popular. Sure, you can definitely make a burger this way at home, but there's something truly special about sitting down at one of the OG burger joints in the country. So much of our foodie history has been lost to the mists of time, this is one original that deserves embracing.
(203) 562-5507
261 Crown St, New Haven, CT 06511
10. Yenta Burger at JewBoy Burgers — Austin, Texas
When it comes to restaurants that pull inspiration from different cuisines, it doesn't get much more varied than Texas's JewBoy Burgers. Opened by a Cleveland-born, Texas-raised Jewish chef that's combining traditional Jewish cuisine with everything that makes Tex-Mex a nationwide favorite (with a little bit of Detroit thrown in for good measure), JewBoy is serving burgers, burritos, and dogs that are unlike anything you'll find anywhere else.
We're going to give the Yenta Burger a shout-out, because while it's based on the standard JewBoy burger that's basically a smashed and steamed patty, the Yenta replaces your typical burger bun with latke. Classic latkes are grated potatoes and onions held together with a basic batter, then fried, and if you're wondering why you've never thought to make them in lieu of a burger bun, well, we had similar thoughts. There's a spicy version of the Yenta, too, that adds pepper jack cheese and chilies in the potato buns.
(512) 291-3358
5111 Airport Blvd, Austin, TX 78751
11. Squeeze Burger with Cheese Skirt at Squeeze Burger — Roseville, California
Love cheese? It's safe to say that they definitely do at Squeeze Burger, a California burger joint that's definitely not making your average cheeseburgers. Instead of just a slice or two, burgers come with a cheese skirt that's made with a quarter pound of shredded cheese per burger. That's an almost unthinkable amount of cheese, and we're totally here for it. Patties are steamed and with the help of some ice, and at the time of this writing, Squeeze Burger is approaching 80,000 cheese skirts made.
The restaurant also prides itself on being an ultra-friendly, ultra-fresh, locally-run place that's small enough to feel like your hometown hangout, and good enough to be a destination. Most of the burgers come with your standard toppings, but with the cheese skirt, who needs anything else?
(916) 783-2874
106 N Sunrise Ave, Ste C1, Roseville, CA 95661
12. High on Fire/Sourvein at Kuma's Corner — Illinois and Indiana
When we found our inevitable way to Kuma's Corner, we ran into a problem: There are so many fun and funky burgers on the menu here that it was tough to pick even two to give a shout-out to. This is the place that counts buttermilk frizzled onions, horseradish Dusseldorf mayo, and avocado mash among its toppings, after all, but we ultimately settled on two.
First, the High on Fire (left) is the perfect burger for anyone who loves things with some seriously flavorful heat. House-made hot sauce, habanero aioli, and jalapeno bacon jam bring the heat, pineapple brings the perfect amount of sweetness, and simply put, it's just a beautiful burger. Secondly, we'd like to mention the Sourvein, which is a burger that you'll need to bring your appetite for. Piled on are chicken tenders, bacon, and strips of Belgian waffles. Add in a smear of raspberry aioli and a drizzle of maple syrup and you have a burger that's seriously beyond words.
Multiple locations
13. Toro Loco Burger at In a Pickle — Waltham, Massachusetts
At a glance, the menu at In a Pickle looks like your delicious yet standard sort of small-town American restaurant. There's a little bit of everything, starting with pancakes and paninis, and going all the way to burgers. Those burgers get super interesting, because while we're totally there for the Wasabi Burger, we need to talk about the Toro Loco Burger.
It was featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," so you know it's pretty wild stuff. Eating this might require going in with a plan, because in addition to both sriracha and jalapeno aioli, there's also a whole block of fried pepper jack cheese. Also, there's no plain old onion strings here. This burger comes with Flamin' Hot Cheetos onion strings, and we're of the opinion that there's no way to go wrong with the combination of cheesy heat.
(781) 891-1212
265 Moody St, Waltham, MA 02453
14. Muddy Pig at Crazee Burger — San Diego, California
First, a disclaimer: Crazee Burger truly lives up to its name, and it was another one that was almost impossible to pick a single burger to spotlight. Let's put it this way. You're not restricted to beef here, there's also boar, buffalo, water buffalo, alligator, camel, and elk on the menu. There's also a Nopal Burger, which gets an honorable mention for including a cactus leaf, but we need to talk about the Muddy Pig.
There's absolutely nothing that's the least bit strange about putting bacon on a burger, but the "muddy" part is where things get weird. That isn't a funky flavored mayo smeared on the bun, that's Nutella, the chocolate and hazelnut spread that took a while to get popular in the U.S. Once Americans discovered it, there was no turning back, and now it's even on burgers. Go figure. Oh, and it doesn't stop there, either, as this burger also comes with caramelized plantains. The spread is a winning combination with those plantains, and we admit that the more you consider this one, the better it starts sounding.
(619) 282-6044
3993 30th St, San Diego, CA 92104