LAGuide

The Best New Burgers In LA

It’s never a bad time for a burger—and these are the best new ones in Los Angeles.
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photo credit: Jessie Clapp

These might not be our all-time favorite burgers in LA (yet), but they're certainly the new ones that have our attention. There are decadent French burgers, Mexican-inspired ones topped with queso Oaxaca, and classic fast-food versions that are way better than anything you can get at a drive-thru. Let's get eating.

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Burgers

Fairfax

$$$$Perfect For:Quick EatsWalk-InsLunch
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Trophies is a new order-at-the-counter burger spot on Fairfax from a former Burgers 99 chef. Considering that place makes one of our favorites in burgers in the city, expectations for Trophies were high—and it delivered. The burgers fall into the “fast food-style, but way better than fast food” category with thin, slightly greasy patties topped with American cheese and other classic things like diced onions and pickles. The menu is small with just three different burgers, and our current favorite is the Spicy BBQ Bacon, which comes with spicy BBQ sauce, chilies, grilled onions, and bacon—an ideal meld of heat, sweet, and salt. 

Camphor’s secret, off-menu burger is only available at the bar or patio, which means if you’re heading to this French spot in the Arts District, make sure you’re seated in the right spot. This burger is not to be missed. The patty is a mix of duck and dry-aged beef, giving a sweet, slightly gamey flavor that plays nice with the tangy caramelized onions. The soft brioche bun and savory beef fat remoulade push this baby into true decadence territory. Its $30 price tag is pretty steep, but it’s quite hefty and comes with a heap of fries and three dipping sauces. Tip: Mix the ketchup with the spicy aioli. 

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

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As Connie & Ted’s and Dudley Market have proven over the years, some of LA’s best burgers can be found at seafood spots. The Lonely Oyster appears ready to keep that tradition alive with its TLO burger, which initially stands out for its sheer size. With a half-pound short rib and brisket patty, thick gem lettuce, tomatoes, and caramelized onions, it arrives at the table a good six inches tall, which is exactly what we want in a classic bar burger. It happens to taste great, too. 

Oy Bar opened in summer 2022 and immediately became one of our favorite new bars in the city. It’s a great place to roll up to the bar for a stiff cocktail after a long week, but what makes this Studio City dive truly special is the food. And in particular, the burger. A heavy helping of cilantro is something you don’t often see on a burger, but Oy Bar proves it’s a great match with a thick, medium-cooked burger patty. Combine that with gooey toma cheese, hoisin ketchup, lettuce, red onion, cucumber, and dijon—stacked on a plump sesame bun—and you’ve got a savory, herbaceous masterpiece. 

While most people come to The Wolves to drink well-made cocktails and gawk at the stained glass ceiling, there’s another reason to head to this dimly lit, Beaux-Arts drinking hole downtown: the burger. Topped with herb butter, sherry caramelized onions, white wine sauce, and comte cheese, this French beauty is not your average bar burger. It’s a rich, gooey stand-out that happens to be exactly what you need in your stomach after too many absinthe cocktails. 

photo credit: Liz Ward

$$$$Perfect For:Vegans

Extra Market fits in nicely on a particularly hypebeast-centric stretch of Fairfax. This plant-based cafe doubles as a merch shop where you can pick up a new skateboard or sneakers, but the focus is primarily on delicious vegan food that isn’t remotely healthy. Their signature dish is a hefty double cheeseburger made with two extra-thick, well-seared Impossible patties, crunchy homemade pickles, and a generous squirt of tangy special sauce—it might be the beefiest vegan burger in the city. Make it a priority the next time you’re walking around Fairfax and looking for a quick vegan meal that costs around $10.

Emmy Squared is best known for its Detroit-style pies, but they also make a damn good burger. Now that the Brooklyn-based pizzeria has stepped into the kitchen at Santa Monica Brew Works, you can order one of their pub-style, pretzel bun creations any time of day. Our favorite is the “Le Big Matt” burger, a gigantic double-stack bound together with gooey cheese. The  juicy, grilled patties come topped with crunchy pickles and a bright pink “sammy sauce.” Though we wish this $19 burger came with a side of fries, the sheer heft of this thing makes up for it.

Hamburguesas Uruapan, a burger outfit with a food truck in Compton and a brick-and-mortar in Anaheim, proclaims itself the “House of the Original Mexican Burger.” And we have to admit, their Michoacan-inspired burgers are pretty unique, more similar to a souped-up torta cubana than anything you’d find at a smashburger spot. A thin, griddle-seared patty is stacked with two kinds of cheese (American and queso Oaxaca), ham, bacon, a split hot dog, tomato, lettuce, onion, lettuce, jalapeno, avocado, (*pause for deep breath*) ketchup, mustard, salsa roja, and grilled pineapple. Somehow it all works—saucy, spicy-sweet, and savory, this beast was polished off quicker than we’d like to admit. Don’t be shocked when this concept goes national.

Only available during a daily Happy Hour that runs from 5-6pm, the Kishka Burger at Birdie G’s requires some effort to get your hands on. So we’ll ask you this question first: how does the phrase “$25 blood sausage burger” make you feel? Because you’re into it, it doesn’t much better than the transgressive, anti-bar-burger burger Jeremy Fox puts together: a thick slab of juicy, holiday-spiced blood sausage (it has the texture of ultra-tender meatloaf), aged cheddar, cornichon pickles, raw onion, and tangy-sweet persimmon “comeback sauce” on a pretzel bun. 

Vamos Vamos is a casual nacho and margarita bar in Santa Monica from the people behind Hippo and Everson Royce Bar. There's a strong New Mexico theme to the menu, which is apparently the state where the owners first met (we just assumed they got really into Breaking Bad). The cocktails are great and most of the food is fine, but if there’s one essential thing to hone in on during your post-beach hang, it’s their green chili cheeseburger. It’s essentially the fantastic Everson Royce burger (one of our favorites in LA) given the Santa Fe treatment, with chopped hatch chiles and monterey jack swapped out for cheddar and pickles. We’re not sure it upsets the original, but we’re definitely into the combination of oozing cheese and spicy roasted chiles.

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