While fast food lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to exciting new items to try, you really can’t beat the simple pleasure of a perfectly executed burger. But which is the greatest? To settle the debate, we’ve ranked the top burgers through the decades, paying particular attention to the chains that use old-school techniques and the freshest ingredients. From fast food 'flops' that were actually pretty great to historic recipes that have barely changed over the years, we reveal the best burgers of all time – counting down to the tastiest of them all.
Click or scroll through our gallery to see where your favourite fast food burger comes on our list – and if it makes the cut at all.
Our ranking is based on reviews, accolades and the popularity of each burger, taking into account sales, longevity and the reaction to the products at the time of their release. This list is unavoidably subjective.
Once upon a time, Burger Chef was America’s second-largest burger chain, with almost as many locations as McDonald's. The fast food giant opened its first restaurant in 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana and pioneered selling a hamburger, fries and a drink as a complete meal. Burger Chef’s signature item and top-seller (until the company collapsed in 1996) was the Big Shef, a double flame-cooked beef patty with American cheese, lettuce and the chain’s secret sauce. Hardee’s, which took over Burger Chef in 1981, briefly resurrected the Big Shef burger for a limited time in 2001, 2007 and 2014 at select Midwestern locations.
Super cheesy and loaded with teriyaki sauce, this scrumptious limited-edition burger landed on McDonald’s menus in the US in the late 1980s. The Cheddar Melt – essentially a Quarter Pounder topped with onions, teriyaki sauce and an indulgent Cheddar cheese sauce – made a brief comeback in 2004 and 2014, but it's still one of the brand’s most sorely missed limited-run menu items. McDonald’s lovers in Brazil can still get their hands on a slightly adapted version, featuring a beef patty, Cheddar-flavoured sauce and onions sautéed in soy sauce.
While this iconic American brand might not have made its way across the Atlantic (yet), Sonic Drive-In is worthy of a mention thanks to its super-juicy burgers and delicious frozen drinks. Set up in 1953 under the name Top Hat Drive-In, the chain has since expanded to more than 3,500 locations across the US. Our order of choice is the SuperSONIC Bacon Double Cheeseburger, packed with two seasoned beef patties, two slices of melty American cheese, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo.
Similar to White Castle's iconic sliders, Burger King’s (or, in Australia, Hungry Jack's) Burger Shots consisted of a figure of eight–shaped patty topped with mustard, ketchup and pickles and served on a pair of linked buns. Sold in two- or six-piece packs, they were introduced in 2008 – but they didn’t stay around for long, despite having a small but loyal following. This wasn’t the chain’s first foray into the miniature burger world; it introduced a set of mini patties called Burger Bundles in 1987, but they stayed on the menu for less than a year.
Dairy Queen will always be best known for its frozen treats, but the global chain, which was founded in Joliet, Illinois in 1940, also serves up pretty decent burgers at its DQ Grill & Chill branches. Dairy Queen launched five new Signature Stackburgers in 2022 – its biggest menu overhaul in nearly 20 years – and the FlameThrower Grillburger is generally considered the tastiest of the lot. The fiery burger consists of two beef patties, Dairy Queen’s signature FlameThrower hot sauce, melted pepper jack cheese, jalapeño bacon, tomato and lettuce, all stuffed into a toasted bun.
This diminutive burger is at the heart of a massive burger empire, albeit one that has no plans to expand outside of the US. Many consider White Castle to be the first fast food burger chain, and its signature Original Slider has been on the menu for over 100 years. In 1947, White Castle patented a unique method of stamping five holes into each slider to lock in flavour and speed up the cooking process. Its burgers are still made the same way today: steam grilled with onions and pickles, and dished out by the sackful. There are a couple of different varieties on the menu, but we say the Cheese Slider is the best of all.
Founded in 1946, Original Tommy’s may only be a small chain (with locations across California and Nevada), but it’s become renowned for its tasty chilli-topped double cheeseburger. The golden bun comes loaded with two juicy 100% beef patties, American cheese, a dollop of fresh, lightly spiced chilli, pickles, tomato and mustard. The chain is known for sourcing high-quality ingredients, and for being generous with its serving sizes – it offers extra portions of chilli, mustard, onion and tomato for no extra cost.
One of the biggest (and, in our opinion, tastiest) flops in fast food history, the Arch Deluxe was introduced in 1996 via the largest advertising budget in fast food history (at the time). Marketed as a gourmet option, it was intended to appeal to sophisticated adult palates. Created by fine dining chef Andrew Selvaggio (pictured), the burger consisted of a quarter-pound beef patty on a bakery-style potato bun, topped with peppered bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, onions, ketchup and Dijonnaise. Diners said it was absolutely delicious, but it simply didn’t sell – and it was quickly discontinued.
This round-up wouldn’t be complete without giving a nod to the Whopper, arguably the world’s second most famous burger. Though it’s seen as a rival to the Big Mac, the Whopper was actually launched by Burger King in 1957, pre-dating its competitor by a decade. The hamburger has undergone several recipe revamps over the years – including changes to its portion size and the type of bun used – but its biggest selling point has always been the prominent flame-grilled flavour of the quarter-pound beef patty. The Whopper comes with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and sliced onion, though we consider the addition of cheese essential.
Denny’s is best known for its extensive Grand Slam breakfast menu, so it makes sense that the diner’s most popular burger option is a breakfast-themed delight. The gargantuan Slamburger sees a half-pound patty topped with bacon, hash browns, a fried egg and cheese sauce, then crammed inside a sesame seed bun. Coming in at over 1,000 calories, it’s not for the faint-hearted. The burger is a permanent menu item at Denny’s restaurants in the US and Canada, but its availability varies outside of North America.
The burger connoisseur’s order of choice at McDonald’s, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese tastes markedly different from the other hamburgers on the menu. This is because it’s the only one made with fresh, unfrozen beef that’s cooked to order – a major recipe change that was implemented in 2018. As with all the best McDonald’s items, the burger is a simple but perfectly balanced affair, consisting of one 100% beef patty with two slices of cheese, fresh onions, pickles, mustard and tomato ketchup. It’s been a fan favourite since 1971 for a reason.
A pioneer of the drive-in concept that's much loved for its draft root beers and retro burgers, A&W is pure Americana – but it has a surprising number of international branches, too. At last count it had approximately 600 restaurants in the US and 400 outside of the States, mostly dotted around Southeast Asia. The burger menu is simple and concise, championing classic cheeseburgers of various sizes. Our pick is the signature Papa Burger, featuring two juicy US beef patties and two slices of melted American cheese, finished off with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and tangy A&W Papa Sauce (which fans rate as one of the best burger sauces out there).
Another discontinued burger we’d love to see on menus again, Burger King’s (or, in Australia, Hungry Jack's) Angry Whopper is perhaps the most popular riff on the classic Whopper the chain has ever released. Featuring a flame-grilled patty topped with jalapeño slices, pepper jack cheese, spicy fried onions and fiery Angry Sauce, it was first introduced in the US in 2009 as a limited-edition item. It quickly gained a cult following, with fans begging Burger King to bring it back – which it did, in 2012, 2013 and 2019. The Angry Whopper made its most recent comeback in January 2024 (it's currently available at Canadian locations only).
Love a barbecue burger? The Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's Jr (or Hardee's, depending on where you are) is one of the best fast food versions out there. It’s currently the chain's biggest burger, boasting a whopping 1,020 calories – and it comes with two meat patties, each topped with a slice of American cheese, two strips of bacon, two onion rings and a generous amount of sweet barbecue sauce.
One of the more premium fast food chains on our list, Wahlburgers – a joint venture from actor Mark Wahlberg and his brothers – was made famous by the reality TV series of the same name, and has locations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. There are some seriously creative options on the menu, but fans rave about the O.F.D. Burger: a flavour bomb made with two beef patties, Swiss cheese, bacon, sautéed mushrooms and tomato jam. The name stands for 'Originally from Dorchester', an homage to the neighbourhood in Boston, Massachusetts where the Wahlberg boys grew up.
A towering tribute to the beauty of bacon, the Baconator is a double cheeseburger topped with six strips of crispy bacon, American cheese, ketchup and mayo. The item was first introduced at Wendy's restaurants in 2007 to boost ailing sales – and it quickly became one of the fast food world’s most successful launches, with more than 68 million Baconators sold in less than a year. It continues to be a firm favourite, not just because of the huge amount of bacon it contains, but because Wendy's uses fresh beef that’s never frozen, and you can taste the quality.
The Big Mac isn’t the largest burger on our list (and it's certainly not the most sophisticated), but it’s easily the most famous. It debuted at a McDonald's branch in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 1967, offering local workers a more filling alternative to the existing options on the menu. It was an instant hit, and the burger was launched nationwide the following year. The recipe features two beef patties, a three-part sesame seed bun, Big Mac sauce, pickles, lettuce, chopped onion and cheese, and has barely changed over the years. However, in 2023, McDonald’s said it would be making some major improvements to the iconic burger, including softer buns, meltier cheese and more sauce – and rollouts are already happening across the globe.
One of the more under-the-radar chains in our power ranking, Freddy’s was founded in 2002 in Wichita, Kansas, and quickly garnered a die-hard fanbase who raved about its perfectly juicy smashburgers, shoestring fries and gooey cheese curds. The burgers themselves are cooked to order and smashed on the grill with plenty of seasoning – resulting in an irresistibly crispy, charred exterior and moist middle. The Original Double is a simple affair that really showcases the quality of the beef, with two delicious patties, pickles, raw onion, American cheese and mustard on a toasted bun.
The pride of Texas, Whataburger has been slinging its signature hamburgers since 1950. The chain remains mostly focused around the Southern United States, with 75% of its locations in the Lone Star State. Texans rave about the burgers here, and it's easy to see why; the hearty Double Meat Whataburger is a triumph of simplicity, with the rich flavour of the beef really shining through. The burger comes with just the right amount of lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and mustard – but we say ask for double cheese to take it to the next level.
Smashburger didn’t invent the technique of smashing a burger on a sizzling grill to lock in flavour – but it can be credited with bringing it into the mainstream. The Denver-born fast food chain was founded in 2007, and it now has more than 200 outposts all over the world. To make its burgers, Angus beef chuck steak is cut into slices and flavoured with a special seasoning blend that includes ground-up roast chicken skin. The result is a riot of flavour that's best experienced in the form of the Double Classic Smash (two juicy patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, Smash Sauce and ketchup).
Gus Belt opened the first Steak ‘n Shake location in Normal, Illinois in 1934 – and he was famous for wheeling a barrel of steaks into the dining area of the restaurant, then grinding them in front of his customers. This move highlighted the quality and freshness of Steak n' Shake's burgers, inspiring the slogan ‘In Sight It Must Be Right’ along the way. The chain has attempted to expand into Europe and the Middle East over the years, and the quality of the burgers on the concise menu remains high. Our pick, the decadent Butter Double Steakburger, consists of two smash-grilled steak burgers topped with American cheese and grilled onions, and finished with melted butter.
In New Mexico, it's all about the green chile. Native to the state and loved for its zesty, subtly sweet flavour, this tangy pepper is roasted, peeled and chopped, then used to top burgers in restaurants all over the region. Albuquerque-based Blake's Lotaburger is a fairly small chain with branches concentrated in the Southwestern US – and its LOTA Burger New Mexico Style brings fans double meat patties, melty cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and pickles, plus a generous serving of the spicy speciality. It’s a unique treat you won’t find anywhere else.
Founded in San Antonio, Texas, in 1979, this relatively small fast food chain has branches in the US, the Middle East and Central America. It's renowned for the hearty size and freshness of its burgers; the buns are baked in the kitchen every morning, and the meat is ground in house. When it comes to customising your burger, it’s all about that Fuddruckers toppings bar, which allows you to include the fresh vegetables and sauces of your choice. Order the original Fuddruckers burger (available in four sizes), pick your cheese (options include Cheddar, pepper jack and blue), then pile it with as many – or as few – extras as you like.
Bacon burgers don't get much tastier than the SmokeShack. This meaty treat features a sturdy but fluffy potato bun stuffed with a juicy, charred beef patty, applewood smoked bacon, chopped cherry peppers and Shake Shack's signature ShackSauce, a slightly spicy blend of ketchup, mayo, mustard and pickle brine. The chain's more famous ShackBurger is also great, but we think the perfect balance of flavours makes the SmokeShack all the more special. Founded in New York City in 2001, Shake Shack now has over 400 branches globally – yet its burgers remain as consistently delicious as ever.
The Fatburger certainly lives up to its name. This hearty burger is available in sizes ranging from small to the XXXL (which contains three enormous patties, coming in at one and a half pounds' worth of meat). But it’s not just about size at Fatburger; devotees of the chain, which was founded in California and now has locations scattered across the globe, say the quality of the made-to-order burgers is akin (or even superior) to that of In-N-Out. For us, the go-to order is the Original Medium Fatburger, which is just the right size, with one succulent patty and all the classic toppings.
Generally considered to be more upmarket than other burger joints, Five Guys broke the mould when it opened in the 1980s, offering diners an entirely new fast food experience that showcased freshly cooked, juicy beef burgers with unlimited free toppings. Today the thriving chain is one of the world’s best-loved burger brands, with more than 1,700 locations globally. The concise menu has just four basic burger options, allowing you to make each meal your own via a range of extras. We say keep it simple with the cheeseburger, so you can really appreciate the flavour of that amazing beef.
A Midwestern favourite, butter burgers boast a historic preparation style that dates all the way back to 1885, when the burgers were literally smothered in butter before serving. The version at family-run Wisconsin burger chain Culver's is a lighter interpretation (the bun is buttered, rather than the meat), but it still captures the glorious decadence of the traditional recipe. And it’s not all about the butter; the burger itself is always fresh and cooked to order, and fans rave about its perfect char and juicy middle. The original, served with real American cheese (made in Wisconsin), red onion, pickles and sliced tomato, is really all you could ever want in a fast food burger.
Despite only having locations in select parts of the US, In-N-Out is a global sensation, renowned for teasing fans with occasional international pop-ups. But the hype is absolutely justified; the burgers at the California-born chain are impossibly fresh-tasting – and each individual element is thoughtfully prepared, from the tangy burger 'spread' to the perfectly squishy buns. Amazingly, it’s also one of the cheapest fast food burgers available. Our order of choice is the Double-Double, but make sure you ask for it Animal Style, which means you'll get mustard cooked into the patties, plus grilled onions and extra sauce.
Now discover the fascinating stories behind America's lesser-known burger styles
Last updated by Lottie Woodrow.