MIAGuide
The 18 Best Burgers In Miami
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
Like fire exits and bathrooms, you should always know where the nearest great burger is. That is why we made this list. Well, that and to have an excuse to eat four cheeseburgers a week for two months. Nonetheless, we now present to you our absolute favorite burgers in Miami. And after reading this guide, you can feel secure in your knowledge of where to find the nearest excellent burger.
THE SPOTS
Lately, it feels like Blue Collar has been missing from the “Miami’s best burger” conversation. We will simply not stand for this. So let us say loud and clear: Blue Collar’s dry-aged cheeseburger is one of the very best burgers in Miami. It’s not new or trendy. There is no special sauce or smashed patties. It’s just a thick, unbelievably good blend of NY strip and brisket covered in american cheese and served on a golden Portuguese Muffin—which we put right up there with the potato bun in our own personal burger bun rankings. Blue Collar’s burger is representative of Blue Collar’s best traits: no hype, all quality, and always leaves you 12% past full.
You go to The Louvre to appreciate classic works of art. And you go to Off Site to appreciate bar food. They both take their respective works just as seriously, as evidenced by this cheeseburger. It might not immediately grab your attention when it hits the table, but as you bite into it, you will be greeted by all the essential cheeseburger flavors, dialed up to 11. This is mostly thanks to the super flavorful patty—a mix of koji-cured chuck, brisket, and short rib.
The menu at this Downtown restaurant and bar changes often, but their cheeseburger has been there since day one. If it ever leaves, we might cry a little. There isn’t an aspect of this burger we don’t love: thin, deeply charred patties with american cheese, jammy onions, pickles, shredded lettuce, and 1000 Island Dressing (a burger condiment we don't see as often as we’d like). Pair it with a classic dirty martini or their shell-tini, a briny martini with oyster shell-infused gin.
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
Louie’s smashburger gets everything right. The potato bun is squishy but not soggy. The double patties are thin and seared from edge to edge. The sauteed onions are sliced so thin they're practically translucent. The melted american cheese melts into all the cracks and crevices. But it's the "Louie’s Special truffle sauce" (an additional but very worth it $2 upgrade) that bumps it into that top 1% of the city's smashburgers. It tastes a little like the sauce from that fast food restaurant that’s not open on Sundays (but 700% better). Thankfully Louie’s is open on Sundays, and the fact that you get to eat it in a tiki hut 20 yards from the ocean doesn’t hurt either.
Unwrapping a warm USBS burger fills us with the kind of joy we haven't known since Christmas Day, 1996 (the year the Nintendo 64 came out). The housemade potato bun is so soft that your fingers leave little imprints like a memory foam mattress. The smashed and seared patties are covered in a runny cheese sauce that sinks into all the burger’s little cracks and charred bits. It's a classic smashburger with just enough unique elements to make it taste like a one-of-a-kind creation. Add to that the pun-loving team who run this food hall stand like the Bob's Burgers superfans they are, and this place always puts us in a good mood.
photo credit: Tasty Planet
This small North Beach spot is named after the various (and delicious) Lebanese wraps on the menu. But their burger is great—and the only Lebanese-style burger we know of in Miami. It’s stuffed with coleslaw and fries, which might be a little hard to manage if it wasn’t all pressed into a neat, crispy little burger package on the same grill as their wraps. And just like the wraps, the outside of the bun gets some gorgeous grill marks in the process. Pair it with the housemade rose water, which you can sip while you walk off the meal on the Miami Beach boardwalk across the street.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
North Beach’s Silverlake Bistro is one of Miami's most consistent restaurants, and not unlike Rick Astley, their burger will never let you down. This is also a good one to seek out if you're kind of sick of smashburgers. It consists of two un-smashed patties, lots of melted cheddar, porcini mayo, and strips of thick bacon, which are “optional”—but, in our opinion, essential. Another great thing about this burger: it comes with a big pile of crispy, skinny fries. There’s an option to make them truffle fries, and we can’t think of a more satisfying way to spend a few dollars.
photo credit: Joshua Perez
The cheeseburger à l’Américaine at Pastis is not only very good, but also an appropriate burger for a restaurant where so many people are concerned with looking attractive. It’s not drippy or greasy, and stays composed to the very last bite thanks to the sesame seed bun that holds the cheesy double patties and sliced onions in place very well. But the flavor of the charred beef is what comes through most in this burger. The french fry portion is also generous enough for your friends to steal as many as they like.
photo credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC
This slightly random South Beach hotel bar is a reminder that martinis and cheeseburgers are one of life’s great pairings. The Greystone Bar will most likely be populated by tourists and possibly a jazz pianist. The dark bar has a small “comfort food” menu, but you’re here for the smashburger (and waffle fries). The burger is straightforward but really well-executed—caramelized onions, pickles, american cheese, finely shredded lettuce, and two smashed patties. And the waffle fries are crispy, thick-cut, and evenly seasoned. Add a side of the house sauce. They don’t say what’s in it, but it’s spicier than most secret burger sauces, and goes so well with your fries, burger, and dirty martini.
Marygold's french onion burger tastes exactly like it sounds. There’s so much brûléed comté on it, the cheese drapes over the meat and slips onto the lettuce beneath it. Taking a bite creates a cheese rope between your mouth and the burger you could use to play tug of war. And the sweet grilled onion marmalade brings the “french onion” part of it home. It’s also $30. So this isn’t an everyday burger (for your wallet or your cholesterol), but if you just found some cash inside that coat you haven’t worn since your trip to New York three years ago, it’s the perfect splurge-burger—a splurger?
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc
We love a steamed bun, and Apocalypse BBQ in Kendall makes a stellar steamed-bun cheeseburger. Their boss burger isn’t complicated: it’s meat, cheese, pickles, and a house sauce. But simple is better when great ingredients are involved. Their housemade pickles are sweet but peppery. And the tangy boss sauce is everything Big Mac sauce wishes it could be. Then there’s the cheese. It gushes over the tender brisket and short rib patty like slow-moving lava. The meat is pressed and cooked perfectly. But those steamy potato buns could inspire Sir-Mix-A-Lot to write a sequel.
The Chug burger is elusive, but worth the effort. The towering creation, held together by nothing but good burger engineering and every one of your fingers, used to be a fixture on the Ariete menu. Then it vanished, and now it appears at Chug's every Thursday from 3pm till close. It is very much worth organizing your week around. It’s two patties, american cheese, pickles, shredded lettuce, and house sauce between a sesame seed bun. But, like everything this Coconut Grove Cuban diner does, it’s perfectly cooked, meticulously arranged, and hits your table looking like the burger equivalent of a supermodel.
Smashburger aficionados, meet Ted’s. It’s a Wynwood pop-up operating in front of J. Wakefield on Sundays from 3pm till sold out (these hours could change, so check their Instagram for the latest info). These are the best smashburgers in the whole city—the kind of smashburger that looks like it was smashed by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (famous Icelandic strongman, in case you were about to Google that.) They sometimes sell out, so try to get there a bit early. Your effort will be rewarded in the form of crispy, lacey, cheesy beef.
photo credit: Courtesy Cowy Burgers
Two words: bacon jam. That gloriously chunky ingredient, which is used liberally in the Cowy burger, makes this burger pop-up worth stalking a little. But even the burgers without the bacon jam—like the Craver covered with confit red peppers—are great. They’re a tad messy, but they give each burger a diaper-esque wrapping job that saves your lap from sauce drippings. We don’t usually cover pop-ups unless they are consistent, clear about posting their schedules, or just very good. Cowy Burger is all three, and you can usually find them at a bar (like The Corner) or brewery (like J. Wakefield).
photo credit: Tasty Planet
There are a lot of factors that go into making a burger taste good, but perhaps the biggest one is the beef. If you agree with this fairly obvious statement, then the Proper Sausages burger is for you. They’re one of the best meat shops in town, so it makes sense that the wagyu patty they use tastes incredible, and is cooked to a perfect medium rare. They could serve that thing on two slices of stale white bread and it’d probably still be on this guide. But, thankfully, they accentuate the meat with a sturdy bun, a juicy slice of heirloom tomato, and some local lettuce.
Like Proper Sausages, Babe’s is a meat shop in Palmetto Bay. So, yes, the patty is predictably delicious. But theirs is more of an old school burger—they keep it simple with just american cheese, pickles, and sriracha mayo. The bun is one of those squishy burger buns that gets steamed the longer you leave it in its wrapper. There are no fancy tricks going on with this one, but every bite is classic burger perfection. This should be in the dictionary under the word “burger,” in case you’re listening, Merriam and/or Webster.
photo credit: Photo Courtesy La Birra Bar
La Birra Bar is a fast-casual burger spot in North Miami with a borderline overwhelming amount of options, but the correct choice is their golden burger. This place doesn't have much personality inside. You're not coming here to have fun. You're coming for a quick burger—but what a burger it is. It’s got two patties covered in melted american cheese, very finely diced onions, and a sauce binding everything together. But the best part about this burger might be the buns they bake themselves. They’re soft, sturdy, and never soggy—kind of an absolutely perfect burger bun.
We haven’t had a conversation about Miami’s best burger without someone mentioning Pinch. And that someone is us. It’s just undeniably good. And you won’t get mad at the burger’s thick patty, even if you prefer the thinner smashburger style. It’s really juicy and has a somewhat looser texture than the other burgers on this guide. Caramelized onions and a brioche bun add just enough sweetness, and the addition of bacon for an extra few bucks creates an enjoyable sweet and salty juxtaposition. It’s a messy, two-handed burger for sure—but well worth borrowing your neighbor’s napkin for.
