Best Burgers In America Slideshow

A trio of siblings quietly opened a tiny corner pub 20 years ago on Peachtree Street in Atlanta that served craft beer, liquor, and single malt Scotch along with "a really good hamburger." Although the original location of Vortex Bar & Grill closed when it relocated to a larger loft building a few blocks away, the crowds still pack the bar and its sister location in Little 5 Points for their juicy half-pound sirloin hamburger. But, be nice when you come here. The trio is known to physically remove rude clientele from its "Idiot-Free Zone."

Since taking over the Harvard Spa, a small convenience store, in 1960, Joe and Joan Bartley's plan has been simple: to perfect the hamburger. They started small, setting up a small grill next to the greeting cards and paper goods that were sold in the store. As word traveled, the Burger Cottage took off. The homemade burgers, onion rings, sweet potato fries, frappes, and lime rickeys are served in a dining room that resembles a dorm room, complete with posters and bumper stickers, fitting, since Mr. Bartley's faces is right on Harvard Square.

Eddie Lakin opened Edzo's Burger Shop in Evanston (a new Lincoln Park location is on the way) as a way to make it home by dinnertime in time to eat with his family. Lakin and his crew cut and grind American chuck beef each morning and only add salt and pepper to their griddled and charred burgers. Some 10 varieties of hand-cut, twice-cooked french fries and creamy thick milkshakes are also offered.

The patio is the place to sit to enjoy a mesquite grilled burger here. The restaurant is part of a family-owned chain of Goode Co.restaurants in Texas, which includes three pit barbecue restaurants, two seafood restaurants, a live music venue, and this burgers and taco restaurant.

French chef Hubert Keller's Burger Bar has locations in San Francisco and St. Louis as well as Las Vegas, where Zagat survey respondents ranked it the best. The chain is so popular that it's headed to Beijing in 2013. The 140-seat restaurant inside Mandalay Place serves the "ultimate build your own burger" with a choice of Black Angus beef, USDA prime, lamb, buffalo, and Kobe beef (plus other non-beef options); a choice of plain, whole-wheat, sesame, onion, potato, or ciabatta bun; eight cheeses; 26 toppings; and 12 condiments like sliced zucchini, pineapple, prosciutto, beetroot pickle, and black Perigord truffle sauce.

The Golden State prides itself on using products from California to make its menu items, notably the burger. The Harris Ranch beef burger is topped with Fiscalini Farms Cheddar, glazed applewood-smoked bacon, arugula, aioli, and ketchup.

This North Miami restaurant serves an 8-ounce classic steak burger with romaine lettuce, tomato, and red onion. Those looking for something for exotic can try The Cuban, a patty of ground beef, pork, and chorizo topped with sautéed diced onions and shoestring potato sticks. The burgers come with hand-cut or seasoned french fries, coleslaw, onion rings, sweet potato fries, or yucca fries and a pickle wedge.

Le Parker Meridien's Burger Joint in Manhattan's Midtown may seem an unlikely spot for the Big Apple's tastiest (and one of its best valued) burgers. The $6.89 hamburger comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, sliced pickles, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise.

Sketch Burger offers a multitude of options for its Sketch Burger sandwiched between a LeBus country white hamburger bun. The 8-ounce ground beef burger (Kobe, turkey, and vegetable options are available) comes with shredded lettuce and tomato and a choice of seven sauces: harissa aioli, chipotle, wasabi, green goddess, hot mustard, barbecue, and tahini. Order a side of Belgian hand-cut fries.

Open for breakfast and lunch only, 900 Grayson serves the Grayson Burger, a Creekstone beef burger topped with rashers of Nueske's double-smoked bacon, New York white Cheddar, crispy shoestring onions, house-made barbecue sauce, and herb french fries.

The restaurant's mascot is of a devilish cook, but Ray's Hell Burger (part of a chain of Ray's restaurants) has earned top marks for its burgers like The Big Devil, a 10-ounce burger seasoned one of four ways: a grilled steak blend, au poivre that is seared with a black peppercorn crust, blackened with spicy Cajun spice, and diablo grilled with chipotle sauce. Diners get a choice of eight cheeses and toppings that run the gamut from lettuce and grilled onions to roasted bone marrow with persillade and seared foie gras with truffle oil.