15 best burgers in London

This Victorian corner pub in Finsbury Park is home to one of London’s most-celebrated burgers: the Dexter cheeseburger, which is stuff of north London legend. The star of The Plimsoll’s menu is a thick, juicy beef patty (dry-aged and packed with flavour), draped in American cheese and sandwiched in a toasted bun. On any given night at the pub – which is run by the Four Legs team, formerly in residence at The Compton Arms – you’ll find one of these at practically every table. It’s that popular – and deservedly so. While this burger doesn’t come with chips, make sure to grab an order of the fried potatoes with aïoli, which are just as good (if not better).

Price: from £11
Address: 52 St Thomas's Rd, Finsbury Park, N4 2QQ
Website: instagram.com/the.plimsoll

Black Bear Burger

When in doubt, you’ll always find yourself in safe hands at Black Bear Burger. Originally a street food stall in Broadway Market, the concept quickly expanded as Londoners fell in love with its eponymous signature. It’s a salty, melty, meaty patty (made with grass-fed, dry-aged beef) topped with cheese, smoked bacon, onion jam and garlic mayo, held together in a freshly baked bun and served with hand-cut, skin-on fries (with habanero honey mayo, obviously). You’ll even get a mini soft serve in a waffle cone for free with your bill – just in case you weren’t already sold. Thankfully, it has spots all over town: in Exmouth Market, Brixton, Shoreditch, Camden, Victoria, Paddington, Canary Wharf and Westfield Shepherd’s Bush.

Price: from £11.50
Address: various across London, including Brixton, Shoreditch, Camden, Victoria and Paddington
Website: blackbearburger.com

Lagom

Lagom isn’t primarily a burger joint. In fact, it’s an acclaimed live-fire restaurant with Scandi roots (its chef-patron, Elliot Cunningham, drew on his Swedish heritage when devising the menu) and firm favourite for Sunday roasts. That said, it’s most famous for its smash burger, which is regularly rated among London’s best – and it’s easy to see why. As with Lagom’s other dishes, the aged beef patties are cooked over open fire, giving them an irresistible char and smokiness. Then, the rest is simple – American cheese, vinegar slaw and mustard mayo – but wow, it's definitely effective.

Price: £9
Address: 17 Bohemia Place, London, E8 1DU
Website: hackneychurchbrew.co/pages/food

Bleecker

Bleecker’s black-and-white branding may be minimalist, but its burgers are anything but. The award-winning burger joint was inspired by owner Zan Kaufman’s meal at cult burger joint Zaitzeff in New York City. The burger was so good that, two years later, she quit her job as a corporate lawyer, moved to London and began building her own burger empire. It sources its rare-breed, grass-fed beef from small UK farms, which is dry-aged before being cooked to order by the Bleecker team. We recommend ordering the double cheeseburger – a two-patty beauty with American cheese, onions and house sauce, all packed into a soft sesame bun.

Price: from £9.30
Address: various across London, including Spitalfields, Victoria and London Bridge
Website: bleecker.co.uk

Supernova

A relative newcomer on the London burger scene, it didn’t take long for Supernova to become the burger hotspot. Its first site opened in Soho in 2023 to explosive fanfare and has had near-perpetual queues out the door ever since. Riding high on London’s recent obsession with smash burgers, Supernova specialises in patties that are literally smashed onto the griddle, making them thinner, crispier and supremely flavourful. The menu is deliberately short – matching the minimalist interiors – and consists of just two burgers: a classic cheeseburger and the house burger. Both are made with two patties, American cheese, pickles and onions, but where the classic comes with mustard and ketchup, the house comes with Supernova’s own sauce (similar to an elevated Big Mac-style sauce). Whichever you choose, you’ll be set back less than a tenner, and every bite will be a mix of crunch, ooze and tang.

Price: from £9
Address: 25 Peter St, London, W1F 0AH
Website: supernovaburger.com

Bun & Sum

With locations in Camden, Hackney, Whitechapel and Bow, Bun & Sum has quickly built a reputation for delivering some of the best halal burgers in the capital. Its Big S’mac is the headline act – a tower of two crisp-edged, smashed patties; American cheese; lettuce; onions; pickles and the all-important house-made S’mac sauce, slathered generously on both sides of the bun. It’s equal parts an homage to classic fast food and totally its own thing, and at just £6, it’s close to unbeatable. As for sides (the Sum of Bun & Sum), expect fries cooked in beef dripping and loaded with caramelised onion, cheese and house S'Mac sauce, or smashed cheeseburger patty, ketchup, mustard, onions and pickles. Essentially, sides made with just as much thought as its beloved burgers.

Price: from £4.50
Address: various across London, including Camden, Hackney and Bow
Website: bunandsum.com

Coqfighter

As you may have guessed from the name, Coqfighter’s USP is chicken. So, if you’re in the mood for a burger but experiencing a bit of beef fatigue, this one’s for you. It has six options spanning a big range of flavours and techniques, and vegans are even covered with the fried chik'n fillet burger. But, you won’t want to miss the Original, which layers crispy buttermilk fried chicken with sambal mayo, Korean hot sauce, pink onions and shredded lettuce. It’s sweet, spicy and crunchy: a full-blown sensory overload in the best possible way. The bun is glossy and soft, offering just the right balance to the intensity of the filling.

Price: from £9
Address: various across London, including Soho, King's Cross and Finsbury Park
Website: coqfighter.com

Blacklock

Blacklock is all about meat, whether it's quality chops, legendary Sunday roasts or the all-important burger. Though it seems like a relatively low-key menu item that's often overshadowed by the slabs of meat elsewhere, it's secretly one of the best things on offer. The beef is rich and flavourful, cooked medium with a deep sear and topped with onions caramelised in vermouth – yes, vermouth! – which imparts a grown-up sweetness. The cheese is molten, the bun golden and the whole thing a perfect example of how a chophouse can turn its expertise to a burger.

Price: £14
Address: various across London, including Soho, Canary Wharf and Shoreditch
Website: theblacklock.com

Patty & Bun

Patty & Bun has been flying the flag for inventive London burgers since 2012, and it's still at the top of its game. The 'Ari Gold' is considered its signature cheeseburger: a perfectly messy mix of aged beef, ketchup, Patty & Bun’s own smoky mayo, pickled onions and lettuce. The 'Smokey Robinson' ups the ante with caramelised onions and bacon for an extra dose of smokiness. It’s also one of the few places in the city where you’ll find a lamb burger on the menu – the ‘Lambshank Redemption’, made with coriander, chilli, lettuce, buttermilk baby courgettes, pickled aubergine, cumin aïoli and feta. Plus, veggie and vegan options get just as much love here – the mushroom fritter burger is a thing of beauty.

Price: from £11.5o
Address: various across London, including Soho, Clapham and Liverpool Street
Website: pattyandbun.co.uk

Manna

Manna is a newer burger joint on the scene, having opened in 2022, but it's already landed two permanent locations (Soho and Battersea Power Station) and a whole lot of acclaim. This is another one for those who worship at the altar of the smash burger, as Manna is all about caramelised patties with crisp edges. Its Classic Smash is a combination that never fails: American cheese, mustard, ketchup, mayo, pickles and diced onions. If you feel like branching out, you can double up or go spicy with the Hot Smash, a fiery stack of chilli cheese, pickled jalapeños, pickles, Manna’s house sauce and Nashville hot oil.

Price: from £10
Address: Soho and Battersea
Website: mannaburgers.co.uk

Lucky Chip

Lucky Chip has been flipping patties since landing on the scene as a burger van in Netil Market back in 2011. Now a fully fledged London institution, the restaurants still make some of the best burgers in London. The menu is packed with heavy-hitters like the ‘Kevin Bacon’ – a glorious pile of aged beef, applewood-smoked bacon, cheese, ketchup, mustard and pickles – and the ‘El Chappo’, which throws roasted jalapeños and blue cheese into the mix. Feeling extra-indulgent? Make sure to close your meal out with one of the notorious ice cream sandwiches.

Price: from £10.20
Address: Hackney Wick and London Fields
Website: luckychip.co.uk

Jupiter

Netil Market is on every serious foodie’s radar: it's a hub for killer street food, and some of London’s most adored restaurants started there. Jupiter looks primed to be the latest on that list, as it’s been open for about six minutes and has already been collecting rave reviews. From the same team behind Dom’s Subs, Jupiter is a love letter to the classic American burger, mid-century diners and fast food joints. And, crucially, its burgers are brilliant. The signature here is a smashed patty layered with mustard, ketchup, pickles, onion, tomato and lettuce, all in a Martin’s potato bun. This is comfort food done impeccably well.

Price: from £10
Address: Netil Market, 13-23 Westgate St, London, E8 3RL
Website: instagram.com/jupiter___burger

Dove

Jackson Boxer’s Dove is a relaunch of his celebrated seafood restaurant Orasay, now with more of a comfort food focus. Like most people, we hear comfort food and think “burger”; thankfully, so does Boxer, and the one he’s serving at Dove is truly superior. The patty is made using 50-day dry-aged rib cap, brisket, chuck and suet, accompanied by white onions (that have been slow-cooked for six hours in caramelised butter and champagne) and a generous dollop of gorgonzola. Oh, and the bun is toasted in aged beef fat. The catch? There are only 10 made each day, so you’ll want to secure yourself an early table to be certain of getting your hands on one of the best burgers in London.

Price: £18
Address: 31 Kensington Park Rd, London, W11 2EU
Website: dove.london

Bake Street

Bake Street is a Hackney cafe that moonlights as a burger joint. During the week, it’s a go-to for pastries, cakes, sandwiches and coffee, but at the weekend, Bake Street serves a brunch menu featuring cult-status smash burgers. Its super-thin, crispy patties come with American cheese, American mustard, ketchup, pickles and fried shallots, all of which just about fits into a soft brioche bun. Anyone who has Bake Street as their local is truly lucky. Be prepared to queue, but it’ll be worth the wait.

Price: from £9.5o
Address: 58 Evering Rd, Lower Clapton, London, N16 7SR
Website: instagram.com/bakestreetldn

Buster’s

Down in Brixton, Buster’s (from the team behind Ploussard) is doing things a little differently – namely, using rich, marbled Welsh wagyu beef as the base for its fabulous burgers. Its signature, the Buster, is a real showstopper: a buttered potato roll filled with wagyu beef, Buster’s housemade sauce and green peppercorns. The fries are incredible too, and you can amp things up even further with IPA cheese sauce for dipping. Buster’s proves you can take burgers upscale without losing any of the fun.

Price: from £9
Address: 3 Atlantic Rd, London, SW9 8HX
Website: busterslondon.co.uk