The Most Unusual Burger Buns

One of the burger's most useful features is its ability to be eaten with one hand. Supporting this quality: the crucial but oft-undervalued bun.

Though a soft potato bun or a crisp, toasted English muffin is never a misstep, burger enthusiasts around the country are reinventing the classic carb, and expanding our outlooks in the process.

Comme Ça in Los Angeles is duly praised for its traditional burger, but the chickpea veggie burger threatens to steal the show. Topped with spice-flecked tomato jam, the patty is anchored in a fittingly health-conscious tofu bun.

San Francisco's 903 abandons bread altogether; instead, lightly fried rice patties pass for burger bookends.

Beer and pretzels are fitting snacks alongside burgers, but they might be even better when they're incorporated in them. Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Tavern embraces its brew-centric roots by using buns baked with Yards ESA beer. A salty, crunchy pretzel roll is such a spot-on partner for juicy beef that it pops up on multiple menus, including those at the Farmhouse in Burlington, Vermont, the Tripel in Los Angeles and Sola in Chicago.

Burgers, you're on a roll.