Seven Destination-Worthy Burgers Across Chicago

Chef-owner Emidio Oceguera has been making his hamburguesa aplastada (smash burger) in the backyard of what would later become his restaurant, Cerdito Muerto, since he was in college. “It was a hit 20 years ago and it was a no-brainer for me to share with the rest of Chicago,” says Oceguera, who grew up above the Pilsen restaurant that previously housed his father’s billiards hall. Tacos, tostadas, and flautas are the stars of the menu, but the burger has become a sleeper hit to share or scarf on your own. The double patty is a blend of USDA prime dry-aged beef and pork chorizo and gets housemade chipotle crema, curtido, and chihuahua cheese, all layered inside a perfectly soft potato bun.

Chicagoans everywhere rejoiced when this perpetually packed cheeseburger temple in the West Loop started taking limited reservations this summer for the first time since it opened in 2012. Now you can skip the line, take a seat, settle in, and freely wrap your hands around either a single or double stack of beef patties, Dijonnaise, griddled onions, pickles, and sharp American-Cheddar on a brioche bun. If you want to go all out, add a sunny-side up egg and a few thick slabs of bacon, and don’t forget to include a side of crispy fries with mornay sauce, garlic aioli, and fried egg.

The menu at 16-year-old Longman & Eagle has changed over the years, but executive chef Alex Swieton says the double smash burger (along with the wild boar sloppy Joe) has been a signature, and a best-seller since the beginning. “It’s had a few variations, but the one consistent element has been the high-quality Slagel Farms beef,” she says. The smash patties are served with white American cheese, caramelized onions, house pickles, and Dijonnaise on a brioche bun from Turano Bread. “I think this current version is the best. It’s kind of no-frills, and it hits every note of what you want from a burger.” Order it with a side of hand-cut French fries with giardiniera aioli for the full effect.

For the more decadent options, head to Gavroche, Jason Chan’s French bistro in Old Town, where everything seems to come with a side of foie gras, black truffle, or caviar. In fact, all three luxury items are added to the King Louis burger ($28) when you make it a Royale for $55. Both burgers come with thick patties made up of a proprietary blend of Schweid Family brisket (80%) and short rib (20%), pickled red onion, black truffle aioli, and toasted brioche bun, and the Gruyère on the regular burger gets swapped with raclette on the Royale. Add a stack of beef fat pommes frites and it becomes clear why both burgers have topped best-of lists since the restaurant opened.

This 12-year-old mainstay is known for its duck fat hot dog, but chef-owner Kevin Hickey’s Up & Over burger is also worth a trip to  Bridgeport. It arrives stacked high with two all-beef patties, secret sauce, pickles, shredded lettuce, and American-style Cheddar, on a fluffy toasted brioche bun studded with black sesame seeds. “It’s a play on the In & Out Double Double animal-style,” says Hickey, who debuted it as a secret menu item before it earned a permanent spot. If you head in on a Monday, the weekly burger lab lets the kitchen get creative with one-off specials, from a Bottlefork bacon burger with Dunbarton blue Cheddar to a Pizzaiola with pepperoni oil mayo, tomato basil jam, and Fior di Latte cheese.

Two things that stand out on Gretel’s griddle burger are the dark, caramelized edges of two beef patties and the generous layer of dill pickles (you can’t have too many). There’s also white and yellow American cheese, red onions, and a house garlic aioli all inside a thick, golden bun dotted with black and white sesame seeds on the top and bottom. The Gretel team credits the burger’s success to consistency and keeping the formula straightforward since they opened in 2022. You’ll find dry-aged prime burgers and sliders at their sister restaurants, The Good Wolf and Little Bad Wolf, respectively, so try all three and pick your favorite.

No reservations; more info here.

For 10 years, this casual sister restaurant beneath the three Michelin-starred Smyth, has served a cheeseburger that’s dubbed the OG. Since its inception it’s continually topped Best Burger lists (as in, around the world), and it’s served as late as 10 p.m. Mon.-Sat. The burger’s six-ounce patty is a blend of short rib and beef chuck that’s ground in-house, and griddled alongside charred Benton’s bacon fat-enhanced onions. Those onions, along with pickled ones, American cheese, pickles, and housemade Marmite, are added to a sesame seed bun that gets an added layer of onion aioli for maximum craveability. There’s a reason this one will never leave the menu.

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