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Enjoy this story from our archive, originally sent to TT members on .

Word of Mouth

Find the best burgers off the menu

The off-menu add-on to Foreign Cinema's burger: a balsamic fried egg.

Everyone loves a juicy secret--and we also love a juicy burger.

Though we hate to blow the cover of well-guarded secret menus, we’ve found some burgers that are too good to keep under wraps; thus, the tell-all intel below. You’re welcome.

In San Francisco, Foreign Cinema’s burger is a weekend brunch staple, as is the restaurant’s famous tangy-sweet balsamic fried egg. But those in the know ask to combine the two: the balsamic-fried-egg-topped burger. Covered in grilled onions and Dijon aioli, this is brunch at a new level.

The most clandestine burgers are at Peels in New York and Jack Allen’s Kitchen in Austin, where on-the-menu burgers are mere decoys. Don’t be tempted by Peels’ cheeseburger or you’ll miss the secret smash hit: beef on a fried onion roll with house-made pimento cheese, bacon, pickled jalapeño and red-onion slaw. Skip the hickory-sauce-smothered Fat Jack burger at Jack Allen’s and request the Fat Chick, a promiscuously intense version made with chicken breast.

Read About Unusual Burger Buns
See Our Five Favorite Burgers

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