The hamburger is the most popular snack on the globe. The chronology of the dish dates back to Mongolian times, but its origin has been diluted in the face of its rabid (and eternal) actuality. Its etymology takes us to the German city of Hamburg, but if we have to grant nationality to the dish we will not hesitate to point to the United States as the unofficial home of the most famous round sandwich of all.
From its worldwide expansion thanks to large fast food chains, to the recent boom of gourmet burgers, to the even more recent success of smash burgers or vegan burgers. The hamburger, like matter, never disappears, it only transforms, because, like matter, we seem to need it to survive.
So, because beyond any of its forms, today the hamburger is an essential dish for us, we bring you some of the best in town and you know how to decide when the craving comes… or you feel the need.
Chivuo’s sandwiches & beers
For us, the hamburgers of Chivuo’s crown this list in their own right, although this is purely subjective, of course. But there is something at Chivuo’s, beyond the quality of the burgers’ buns, the ingredients and sauces that accompany them, the appetizers and craft beers that complete the menu: the quality of the meat.
Their burgers are so good they could be eaten on their own, like a Russian steak on a plate with fries …. A other, they have an extra called cheese drop, which is nothing more than smearing melted cheese all over your burgers for 1,5 € and the experience is hilarious and caloric.
carrer del Torrent de l’Olla, 175 (Gràcia) Carrer del Pintor Fortuny, 15 (Raval) Rambla del Poblenou, 99 (Poblenou) Carrer de Potosí, 2 (La Maquinista)
💸 Cheeseburger (Burger Melt) – 12,9€
Central Burger, the artisanal burger without artifice in Via Laietana
Big burgers, fresh products, artisanal preparations and sauces, freshly baked bread, hand-cut fries… and a clear philosophy: in the burgers from Central Burger the ornaments are superfluous and what matters is the taste.
In addition, their extensive menu allows you to customize their burgers to suit your tastes: different types of bread -or without bread, directly-, choosing the type of meat (with vegan option, chicken, 100% Galician beef without preservatives…). And you can pair each hamburger totem with their hearty starters (tequeños, onion rings), with some of the craft beers they have on their menu and their delicious desserts.
📍 Vía Laietana 45 (Urquinaona)
💸 Order the house recipe (Burger Central) – 10,95 €
Torpedo Bar hamburgers (and natural wines) for cooks
Here you will find some of the best sandwiches in Barcelona and hamburgers were not going to be less. Bar Torpedo is a little gem, a rara avis that has become a haven for late workers, late night enthusiasts and, the best sign, a place where chefs go to eat.
Their hamburger is the master and mistress of the menu, but without detracting from their meatball sandwich, the soft shell crab or tongue pastrami sandwich. They also have tripe or Russian salad sandwiches. All this is signed by the chef Rafa Peña, responsible for the restaurant Gresca, which has earned him 2 Soles from the Repsol Guide.
📍 Carrer d’Aribau, 143
💸 Classic Burger – 10,9€
La Sagrada american
They have just arrived in the city, specifically in the streets of La Barceloneta and they already deserve all the good things that can be said about them. Grilled hamburgers cooked on volcanic stone with a menu that, at least once a month, incorporates some temporary novelty.
In fact, these are perhaps the most interesting burgers of the month at La Sagrada because of the innovation of some of its proposals, such as its hamburger with Lotus cookie sauce.
And tequeños, of course. They also have tequeños.
📍 Carrer de Sant Carles, 11 (Barceloneta)
💸 Burger La Sagrada – 14,30€
Hideout the first smash burger in town
Possibly the most brutal smash burgers we’ve ever tasted despite the simplicity of their offerings. Lucas and Beatriz, its founders, say they were the first to bring this technique to Barcelona, which consists of flattening the meat on the griddle in order to force the caramelization and enhance the flavors.
And although smash burgers have already spread all over the city, the hideout burgers are still a must, as are their bravas.
Now, by the way, they have renewed their menu. The first to arrive are the first to see that the party is over, so, fed up with the smash, they have created the fat smash, a burger with more meat, halfway between the classic and the smash, which caramelizes but keeps the juiciness inside. In addition, new nods to the Brazilian origin of its owners, with a coixinha that wants to become the star star starter.
📍 Carrer del Consell de Cent, 242 (Eixample) | Avinguda Diagonal, 121 (Poblenou)
💸 HideOut Burger – 12,40€
Mirch Barcelona indian style burger
In the words of Iván Surinder, its manager and also founder of the tandoor Indian Restaurant Mirch is his rebellious younger brother. There you will find creamy curries full of flavor, a small but innovative menu in a place where it is difficult to find space for many days.
But if there is one thing Chef Surinder excels in, it is his vada pavs, Indian butter chicken burgers, the classic and mellow curry sandwiched in brioche bread (they also have a vegetarian alternative with their potato-based burger). A different and irresistible burger that breaks new ground in the world of the world’s most popular snack. By the way… their bravas! You have to try their bravas!
📍 Carrer dels Àngels, 12
💸 Butter Chicken Pav – 10€
Steel hamburger shelter in the Borne
Located on that border where the Born ends and Barceloneta begins, Acero is an unpretentious burger joint, which is how all burger joints should be. They have no tables, only a bar in a place that simulates a food truck. There are no desserts either and at 23:00 the kitchen is closed. And yet the site is a blast.
Of course, call in advance andcall in advance and with the intention of trying their “Trufada”, because they literally run out of burgers before closing time.
📍 Carrer de l’Espaseria, 10 (Born)
💸 Steel Burger – 9€
La Porca
The double bacon burger is their undisputed leader. So much so that in 2019 they won the Best Burger in Barcelona contest. Two smashed burgers of 90gr of beef with crispy bacon, English and smoked cheddar cheese, mayonnaise made with the roast juices and pickle relish on brioche bread.
Their bravas, served with grilled porchetta and chipotle mayonnaise, are also another must and one of the most sought after in the city.
📍 Carrer de Mata, 16 (Poble Sec)
💸 Double Bacon Cheese Burger – 11,50€ – 11,50€
Fast Eddie’s, when two burgers are enough to get to heaven
You have to have a lot of confidence in yourself to open a restaurant with only two dishes on the menu. Fast Eddie’s has it, clearly: a cheeseburger and a fried chicken burger (and a couple of sides), and the rest, as they say, is extra.
Both sandwiches are tremendous, and make you understand why a small, smoky joint in the Borne has achieved success with such a short menu. Tasty bites, clear flavors and the sensation that you could eat three in one sitting.
📍 Carrer de Carders, 6 (Borne)
💸 Cheese Burger – 8€
Kemako, Japanese burgers
From Japan we know the sushi the ramen y to Japanese-Barcelonian supermarkets but what you surely didn’t know were their hamburgers, which have nothing to envy to the ones you had already registered.
At Kemako they make burgers with a Japanese accent using from Wagyu beef in some, to sunomono (pickled cucumber) or miso and wasabi dressings in others. Their Tori no karaage (fried chicken) is also dizzying, and so are their sauces, so there are few excuses left to order a burger with a difference.
📍 Carrer de Carders, 6 (Borne)
💸 Cheese Burger – 8€
La Vrutal, vegan hamburgers esisten
No more excuses, vegan food is the present, and most likely, the future. So enough of the excuses that meat can only be from animal and hamburger only from McDonalds. La Vrutal shows us that there is life beyond the carnivorous burger and that you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy burgers that are good without having to compare them to anything else.
In other words, plant-based burgers with ingredients that adapt to each recipe. From jackfruit, falafel… Every burger has its what, and all of them have their tasty flavors, so get out of the way, the vegan burger is as good a burger as any other.
📍 Rambla del Poblenou 16 (Poblenou)
💸 Blind Date – 14,20€
Big Al’s, one hamburger, three meats
We have already said at the beginning that if the origin of the hamburger is difficult to trace, the adoptive father of the dish is clear: United States. A good part of the burgers as we know them come from there, but everywhere there are classes, and those of Big Al’s, which claim to be authentic American sandwiches, play at another level.
Here is the paradise of gochism that we imagined. Although all of them are worth it, keep an eye on the Three Ways, which has a beef burger, breaded beef and pulled pork (we swear it’s a delight) or the Luther Burger, with double meat between two artisan donuts from Boldú (we swear, again, that it’s another delight). In other words, the gochada we wait for when we want the hamburger to fulfill the function of clogging our arteries.
📍Carrer de Còrsega 178 (Eixample)
💸 The BBC – 13,90€
Uncle Joe, rustic style
Few things make you feel more at home than the comfort of familiar food. Here the surprise is not so much in the combinations, but in the great ingredients, and in the rustic fries, in tune with the place, which do not disappoint.
Mozzarella, brie, ham… Tio Joe’s burgers have recognizable flavors so you don’t have to worry about anything but enjoying them while you forget about the add-ons: the burger (no smash, no vegan, no nothing…), just a good burger.
📍Via Augusta, 9
💸 Tita Lola – 10,80€ – 10,80€
Tanso Izakaya, Wagyu Burger
Tanso’s burger is not Tanso’s specialty. Tanso’s specialty is Wagyu beef, one of the best meats in the world, and for this reason, the hamburger they make with Wagyu beef is excellent. A deep flavor to which they add a truffled sauce that takes the burgers to heaven.
📍 Passeig de Sant Joan Bosco, 47
💸 Wagyu Hanabaga – 18,90€ – €18,90
Machaka, smashed of the good ones
The smashed burgers have become a stable trend in Barcelona, a passing fad that has filled the city with places that flatten their burgers. That is why it is a merit to stand out in this list. Machaka does it from the name, with a local born to focus on that, on crushing burgers to get the mastery of the subject.
They crush them to the limit, thinning and caramelizing them to a crispy crust that doesn’t ruin a juicy interior. Combined with a fluffy brioche bread, not much more is needed. We tried the one of the month, La Clandestina, with American cheese and bacon, but any of the others on the menu you can understand the hype of (good) smashed burgers in the city.
de Balmes, 165/ deC/ l Consell de Cent, 421
💸 The usual – 8,90€
Bemba Smash Burger
If you only have three dishes on the menu, it is clear that you are doing three things right. At Bemba, a good smash joint, they sell a cheeseburger, a cheesebacon and the bemba burger, with beef and chorizo criollo smasheados and caramelized, with homemade chimichurri mayonnaise, creole sauce and mustard and cheese. Yes, we know, we get hungry just listening to it. Imagine when you stand in front of it watching it being made.
📍C/ de l’Encarnació, 38, Gràcia
💸 Bemba Burger – 12€
You may be interested in: 12 incredible free buffets in Barcelona and surroundings