The American Burger
White Castle Slider
Five holes in the patty, a griddle carpeted with onions, the bun cooking on top of the beef: the 1921 Wichita original that launched the first fast-food chain and sold America on ground beef.
Whataburger Original
Five-inch bun with large beef patty, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions; Texas-born chain (1950), beloved across the South. Cu...
Western Bacon Cheeseburger
Carl's Jr. built its name on this one: a charbroiled patty, Cherrywood bacon, battered onion rings folded inside the bun, and barbecue sauce where the ketchup would be.
Wendy's Baconator
Two quarter-pound beef patties with six strips of bacon, two slices of American cheese, ketchup, and mayo; Wendy's premium burger since 2...
Vermont Cheddar Burger
A burger that names its cheese by maker and age, two-year Cabot or clothbound Grafton: sharp aged white Vermont cheddar, crumbly and loud, melted gently over a griddled patty.
Veggie Burger (California Style)
California's plant burger builds inward from the produce, leaning on Hass avocado and 1970s sprouts to do the work beef fat would, over a patty whose paper trail runs through 1982 London and 1980s.
Utah Pastrami Burger
A cheeseburger crowned with a pile of griddle-hot pastrami and fry sauce: the Utah pastrami burger flopped in California and became a Salt Lake institution, the Crown Burgers build.
Tillamook Cheddar Burger
A burger built around aged Oregon cheddar that softens but never pours, trading the melt of a processed slice for a sharp, firm bite: the Tillamook cheese carries the build.
Theta Burger
Smash patty, American cheese, and a whole halved dill pickle laid across it, on a small toasted bun. The Town Tavern's Norman, Oklahoma signature, in a building open since 1936.
Steamed Cheeseburger
Burger patty and cheese steamed in a metal tray, served on a bun; unique to central Connecticut diners.
Smash Burger
A loose beef ball smashed flat on a screaming griddle, browned across nearly its whole face: the crust is not seasoned on, it is built by contact, and the burger exists for it.
Slider
Small burger, typically 2-3 inches in diameter; White Castle origin.
Shrimp Burger
Ground or chopped shrimp formed into a patty and fried.
Shake Shack ShackBurger
Angus beef burger with lettuce, tomato, and ShackSauce on a potato bun; started as a NYC hot dog cart in Madison Square Park (2001), now ...
Salmon Burger
Salmon is too lean to hold a patty, so the salmon burger is an engineering job: a third blended to paste to glue thumbnail-chopped chunks, bound with egg and crumb. The Pacific Northwest standard.
Salmon Burger (Alaskan)
In Alaska the salmon burger tracks the run calendar: sockeye and coho worked into a bound patty, seared and folded into a toasted bun. A state that wrote wild salmon into its constitution.
Sacramento Squeeze Burger
A smash burger with a frico ring: a fistful of cheddar dropped on the steel around the patty, fried into a lacy skirt that overhangs the bun. The Squeeze Inn's Sacramento signature since 1977.
Protein Style Burger
In-N-Out burger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun.
Oklahoma Onion Burger
Thin-smashed patty with caramelized onions pressed into the meat during cooking.
Mushroom Swiss Burger
The grown-up burger that fast food codified: why Swiss and not American, why savory and not acidic, and how Hardee's and Whataburger turned a diner upgrade into a name people petition to bring back.
Montana Bison Burger
Ground bison patty (leaner, slightly sweeter than beef) on a bun; Montana is the US's top bison-producing state.