There’s no shortage of great burger options in the Bay Area. We have smash burgers, Thai-inspired burgers, PB&J burgers, Chinese burgers, fine dining burgers, and $3 burgers. You can find a burger to suit your liking in any city and at any price point. Here’s a list of the burger spots you can’t miss.
Best Traditional Burger: Beep’s Burgers
Beep’s Burgers is a retro burger spot dishing out thick quarter-pound Angus beef patties with classic toppings like lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. Their secret ingredient is a blend of mayo, ketchup, paprika, and cayenne. The best part? The burgers here are only 8 bucks.
Best Old-School Burger: Sam’s
This old-school burger joint opened in 1966. Anthony Bourdain himself named it one of the top burgers in the world. It’s a solid cheap burger after a night of drinking in North Beach.
Best Fusion Burger: Jo’s Modern Thai
Jo’s Modern Thai is known for their experimental Thai cuisine focused on fresh, colorful plates. You don’t want to sleep on their laab burger made with a fried pork patty, lettuce, cucumber, herbs, shallot, laab dressing, and makrut lime mayo. It’s a burger unlike any other. You won’t find any fries here, but if you’re used to pairing your burger with something crispy, we recommend their fried wings or to balance with freshness, get the crunch catfish salad.
Best Chinese Burger: Terra Cotta Warrior
Roujiamo is a stuffed Chinese flatbread that’s crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Terra Cotta Warrior offers variations filled with Shaanxi-style pork, spicy lamb, burger beef, and vegetables.
Best Burger Not on a Traditional Bun: Zuni Cafe
Zuni Cafe is a staple in the city, but it’s easy to overlook their burgers in favor of much more flashy dishes. The burger is pretty eye-catching in its own right as it towers with bacon, charred onion, house-made pickles, and bleu cheese on slices of rosemary focaccia instead of buns.
Best Patty Melt: True Laurel
True Laurel technically doesn’t serve a burger, but we would argue that once you take a bite of their patty melt you’ll agree it’s up there with the best burgers in the bay. Their patties are made with dry-aged beef and crisped with lacy edges. We love that it’s served on a slice of bread well-toasted in tallow (beef fat). It’s filled with cheese, caramelized onions, and pickles for a simple sandwich that adds up to more than a sum of its parts.
Best Breakfast Smash Burger: Maillard’s
Maillard’s “Breakfast Sammie” is a smashed Duroc sausage stacked on a homemade buttermilk biscuit along with American cheese, Moroccan spiced honey, and a soft scrambled egg. It’s only available from 9 to 11am.
Best Unique Smash Burger: Smish Smash
Smish Smash set a high bar for the smash burger when they opened in 2020. Their traditional smash burgers are incredible, but we love their unique collabs and creations even more. They’ve incorporated birria, pastrami, and even spam into their smash burgers. We appreciate that they go the extra mile to fine tune the toppings on their burgers instead of just swapping out the patty.
Best PB&J Burger: WesBurger
Wesburger has a solid selection of smash burgers, but the most unique item on the menu features a traditional thick patty. It’s slathered with creamy peanut butter and strawberry-jalapeno jam. It’s finished off with sharp white cheddar and onion rings.
Best Halal Burger: The Burger Shop
The Burger Shop dishes out a Halal smash burger with crisp, juicy patties. Both sides of the buns are griddled to incorporate extra toastiness. You build your own burger here with add-ons, but if you’re really hungry a triple burger is available. Don’t forget to add grilled onions and bacon.
Best Burger on a Homemade English Muffin: Spruce’s Burger
This burger is a luxury made with an 8-ounce wagyu patty. There’s also a rumor that the patty can induce labor. Spruce’s burger is only available on the bar menu.
Most Unique Burger You Can’t Get: Burger Dog from Hot Dog Bills [Only at Olympic Club]
This hybrid between hot dog and burger is one of the most exclusive dishes in town. What started as a unique creation by a hamburger trailer in 1950 across from a golf course became an Olympic Club member-only delicacy.
Best Burger Only Available on Wednesdays: The Laundromat Burger
On Wednesdays from 5 to 9pm, The Laundromat serves dine-in only smash burgers in both meat and vegetarian variations. No modifications or substitutions are allowed.
Notable Mention: Trick Dog’s Burger on a Hot Dog bun
This hamburger-hotdog hybrid is made with 5 ounces of ground chuck and brisket. It’s served on a hot dog bun and drizzled with their signature “Doggie” sauce.
