16 Regional American Burgers That Deserve National Attention

There's everything to love about burgers, starting with the almost endless possibilities. Not all burger toppings are created equal, but you have to love something that is so customizable and easy to make, perfect for each individual person that comes to the dinner table. If you're looking for some inspiration for your next burger night, you've come to the right place.

We wanted to shine the spotlight on burgers beloved in certain, specific regions of the country in hopes of maybe — just maybe — helping them go national and get the respect that they deserve. Some areas swap out the standard beef for something completely different, and there are all kinds of funky and creative toppings to talk about here, too. And yes, some might look a little strange at first glance. But then? Sit with it a minute, and for every single one of these, you'll see why they're so beloved.

The best news? Some of these use ingredients that many of us keep on hand as pantry staples, so there's no waiting if one of these strikes your fancy. Others might mean adding something extra to your shopping list, but we can absolutely say that it's 100% worth it. So, let's bring on the burgers and get into it!

Head to Michigan, and you'll quickly find yourself wondering what makes the state's beloved olive burger so unique. The answer to that varies. Some places opt for topping burgers with sliced olives and a heaping helping of mayo to bind the whole thing together. Sometimes, you'll find Swiss cheese touted as a must-have component, and some use a sauce made from olives, a dash of brine, and something creamy — like cream cheese.

That's the gist of the idea, and like most burger-related deliciousness, there's room for interpretation. That's even true in Michigan, as one of the hotspots frequently cited as being the creator of the olive burger keeps its sauce secret. The Kewpee Sandwich Shop in Weston traces its olive burger back to the 1920s, and there are only a few family members and longtime employees who know how to make the OG. Sure, you can make this one at home, but for the real deal? That'll take a trip to Michigan.

You might expect to find New York to be the home of the pastrami burger, but we're actually heading to Utah for this one. The origin story is a pretty long one, but the basics involve a man named James Katsanevas, who was in California when he either discovered or created the idea of topping a burger patty with thinly sliced pastrami.

What happened next varies by the telling. Some stories credit James for opening a restaurant in Salt Lake City, while others say he shared this admittedly brilliant idea with his brother, Manuel. Manuel opened Crown Burger and used his brother's discovery as his flagship sandwich, and burgers in Utah were never the same. Which is true? We're admittedly not sure, but we do know that pastrami burger-selling chains hit big in the 1970s. Crown Burger is still making these deliciously spicy burgers, and the proprietary sauce is still secret.

At a glance, Florida's frita Cubana is easy to explain: Take ultra-thin fries and tuck them between your burger patty and the top bun. One of the most popular places to get the real-deal frita Cubana is El Rey de las Fritas in Miami, and the burgers here are carefully constructed from seasoned beef, sweet and light Cuban buns, and extra-crispy fries. Add mojo sauce, cheese, plantains, a fried egg, or all of the above, and you get a burger that is as much about the textures as the flavors. Perfectly cooked patties, the crunch of the fries, and a kick from spicy sauces and seasonings come together in a way that has become a massive favorite.

As the name suggests, these burgers have their origin in Havana, Cuba. They were a standout street food as far back as the 1930s, and made their way stateside in the 1960s. And yes, El Rey's special seasoning is technically a secret, but smoked paprika and cumin are essential ingredients for flavorful patties.

Wisconsin is something of an underestimated foodie paradise, and we're not just talking about the state's famous dairy and cheese industry. A large population of German immigrants settled in Wisconsin and brought bratwurst with them. They're wildly popular — at a baseball game here, you're more likely to get a brat than a hot dog — and Wisconsin's brat burger simply reshapes the famous meat.

It's not entirely clear when or where burgers made from reshaped brats made it onto the scene, but fortunately, you'll find bratwurst patties in Wisconsin grocery stores. Fortunately for those living elsewhere, they're easy enough to replicate. Strip the casing from a brat and simply reshape it into burger form, and that's it! Get a kick of flavor by cooking your patties with a little bit of beer, and the pros note that these are particularly delicious with caramelized onions, cheese, mustard, and served on pretzel buns.

Head out to the American West, and you're not only likely to see bison running free, but you'll see them on the menu, too. Careful stewardship has brought bison back from the brink of disappearing completely, and today, bison burgers are a big deal out in Wyoming and Montana. However, there's a major catch. If you've stumbled across bison and tried to use it in your standard beef burger recipe, you might have been disappointed. That's because bison is super lean, and burger aficionados know that it's the fat in a beef burger that makes them juicy.

Fortunately, you can make bison burgers just as tasty by adding onions, shallots, or garlic to the ground meat. Overcooking can and will ruin your burger, but the meat itself is celebrated for being incredibly rich and flavorful, as well as being high in protein and B vitamins. Visitors and Wyoming locals might have the opportunity to head straight to the source and order a bison burger from some of the ranches that raise them.

Let's start with the obvious: Missouri's guberburger is super fun to say. (Go ahead, try it. No one's listening, and if they are? We're going to follow it up with an equally fun burger idea you can share with them.) This regional favorite is famous — or perhaps infamous — for its seriously unexpected topping, and that's peanut butter.

Hold on, not so fast! There are plenty of people who will say that it absolutely works, bringing a deliciously nutty and salty dimension to your burger. We actually know who to thank for pioneering this pretty neat idea, and it's the now-defunct Wheel Inn in Sedalia. The idea lives on — particularly in burger spots around Kansas City — and it's easy to make at home. Before your burger comes off the heat, add a dollop of peanut butter. As for the other toppings, bacon is an absolute win, and so are pickles, sliced banana, and bacon jam. Admit it: You're thinking seriously about this now, aren't you?

Anyone who likes to walk on the spicy side needs to try green chile cheeseburgers. You'll find a ton of spots across New Mexico serving up outstanding green chile cheeseburgers, and it's been like that for decades — so long that giving credit to the OG is something of a best-guess kind of situation. There is, however, a fascinating story that goes along with these spicy burgers.

One of the old-school places serving green chile cheeseburgers is the Owl Bar in San Antonio. (Yes, San Antonio, New Mexico.) Locally grown green chiles have made it onto burgers since the 1930s, and even though the town is tiny — Population: 42 — it was a stone's throw from the Trinity Testing Site. History buffs will recognize that as the place where the Manhattan Project culminated in the atomic bomb, and those working at the still family-owned Owl Bar tell stories of scientists who would stop by. Here's a slightly less ominous fun fact: The Owl Bar's recipe has been the same since 1945.

Anyone who's heard of or been to Culver's has heard the term "butter burger," but that's not actually what we're talking about here. There's a good reason Culver's calls those fan-favorite burgers as such, and that's the practice of adding butter to the bun. However, it turns out that the butter-related, flavor-infusing trick you use for steak works just as well on burgers, and in Wisconsin, it's not unheard of to see a bit of butter added to the top of a burger patty. 

If you're wondering whether or not you should try this one for yourself, the answer is a definite affirmative. Fat is an important part of making perfectly juicy burgers, so much so that if you're grilling burgers, you might want to opt for using beef with a higher fat content. Adding a bit of butter is pretty much adding butterfat to your beef fat, and the result is something that might just make you believe magic is real. It's been popular in Wisconsin since it was popularized by Solly's in the 1930s — although the state has been frying burgers in butter for much longer than that — and there's only one word of caution. It can quickly turn into something messy, decadent, and over-the-top, as a little bit of butter can go a long way.

Onions might be a love-or-hate kind of thing, but if you love them, you'll have to take a page out of Oklahoma's playbook. The name is definitely accurate, as a single onion burger can and should contain a lot of onion — you'll find some recipes calling for half an onion per burger. Some note that a legit onion burger is pretty much half onion and half beef, so it kind of goes without saying that this one isn't for the faint of heart.

How it's made is just as important as the ingredients. Thin slices or shreds are piled high on the ground beef, and it's all cooked together for some serious flavor in each juicy bite, and caramelization is key. Honestly, so is making sure you have some serious ventilation going before giving it a shot. Oklahoma has had a long time to perfect this one, as it was born out of the scarcity that came with the Great Depression. Affordable onions were used to make expensive beef go just a little bit further, and the fact that it's delicious is a bonus that's kept it a beloved go-to.

We'd really like to know what's going on in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill County, because the strange name bestowed on the Fluff Screamer is just the start of the weirdness. First developed by Tony's Lunch in Girardville, it's a burger that comes with house-made chili paste and Marshmallow Fluff. Onions and butter are also involved; some add cheese, some add extra chili paste, and some get that combination also served on their fries.

Copycat burgers have popped up around the area, and if you're thinking that this sounds like the kind of thing that was definitely invented by a teenager, you're absolutely correct. It's been popular since the 1970s, with plenty of fans who insist that there's something about the combination that's just as good as it is strange. It's over-the-top with a spicy heat that's dialed up to the max that gets softened by the Fluff, so ... we can kind of see how that works?

Sometimes, we stumble across things that are such a stroke of genius that we can't help but be a little salty that we didn't come up with the idea first. That's definitely the case with San Antonio's bean burger, and no, it's not a veggie burger. A city staple since the 1950s, it starts with a beef patty and refried beans. You'll find quite a bit of variety as far as toppings go, but there's typically onions, cheese, crushed Fritos or tostadas, pico de gallo, picante sauce, and, if you'd like to go old-school, add Cheez Whiz. 

It's surprising that this one hasn't gone mainstream elsewhere, because it has everything going for it, from the mix of textures to the combination of freshness and saltiness, and the versatility to tailor something to your individual preferences. There are a few different stories about who was the first to put together these tastes of Texas on a hot dog bun, but we do know it was popularized by the now-defunct Sills Snack Shack. Fortunately, the legacy lives on elsewhere.

Chili dogs are pretty standard fare across the country, and so are chili cheese fries. Why hasn't the humble hamburger gotten the chili treatment in more places? We're not sure, but California understands the assignment. Specifically, we're talking about Los Angeles, the city that's home to truly stellar delis that never disappoint and Original Tommy's, the burger joint that's been serving up chili-covered burgers since 1946. There are tons of locations around L.A. and in Las Vegas today, and you can opt for a single, double, triple, or quarter-pounder, with or without jalapeños.

Other SoCal restaurants have followed suit to offer other interpretations of the chili cheeseburger, but Original Tommy's is, well, the original — and its chili recipe is a closely-guarded secret. It's a meat-heavy chili with cumin and cayenne right out there at the front, and it's just as messy as it sounds. But if you think that it also sounds delicious, you're not alone — the secret sauce has won legions of fans, and legit has us wondering why the idea has largely stayed in SoCal.

Of all the regional burgers we're talking about here, this is the one that's perhaps had the farthest reach. The Midwest's Juicy Lucy reinvented traditional cheeseburgers by putting the cheese in the middle of the patty, and it's a pretty brilliant upgrade that keeps the cheese perfectly and deliciously melty. It's a little unique in that it's not about the ingredients as it is about the way it's made — although the extreme meltability of American cheese makes it a common choice.

We know that we can thank Minneapolis for this downright delightful cheeseburger, but there are two places — Matt's Bar (which calls it a Jucy Lucy) and the 5-8 Club — who both steadfastly insist that the credit is theirs. It's one of those long, ongoing debates that will probably never have an answer, and that's a shame. The creator absolutely deserves a massive pat on the back, several gold stars, and at least a lifetime achievement award. Both places have loyal fans who swear it's the best around, and both places will warn customers that the cheese inside is very, very, very hot.

It's an unfortunate truth that the slugburger could use a bit of rebranding, because it just doesn't sound like something you'd go out of your way to order. That's a shame, because it's pretty darn delicious. Just like Oklahoma used onions to stretch beef further on its burgers, Mississippi's slugburger uses ingredients like breadcrumbs, flour, potato flakes, or grits. 

Then, they're deep-fried instead of grilled, and the result is a burger that's delightfully crispy on the outside, while staying tender and juicy on the inside. As for the name, that's a reference to the nickel — also called a slug — that they originally cost back in 1917, when they were created and sold by the enterprising John Weeks. They were so popular that one mobile hamburger stand turned into a family business with multiple stands, and it's still the star of an annual Slugburger Festival in its hometown of Corinth.

The Pueblo slopper might have a questionable name, but it's also pretty accurate. For starters, it was created in Pueblo, Colorado, and as for the second part of the name, it is very, very messy and absolutely impossible to eat without utensils. It's not clear who first decided to take a cheeseburger and cover it with chile sauce, but it seems to date back to the 1950s. There are some variations on the idea: Sometimes it's an open-faced burger, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's red chile, or it could be green. Raw onions are common, and so is extra cheese. Oyster crackers are a possibility, and those in-the-know say that it all turns into perfectly melty, goopy goodness.

This one is ultra-regional, and you're likely to find it in the relatively immediate area around Pueblo. That's an absolute shame, because it's easily one of the most unique burgers we've come across, and who doesn't love green chile sauce?

The steamed cheeseburger has a surprisingly storied history in Connecticut, as it's a contender for being one of the oldest regional burgers around. The idea dates back to the end of the 19th century, and these burgers are precisely what the name suggests. Meat is steamed instead of grilled or fried, and that means there's none of the perfectly crispy, caramelized bits that many might suggest define a truly great burger. Steamed burgers are — unfortunately — a little on the gray side, but they're also incredibly juicy.

They're pretty polarizing as well, but honestly, we've never met a burger we didn't like. One of the most popular places for a steamed cheeseburger is Ted's Restaurant in Meriden, and this place has been packing molds with ground meat and cooking them in steam cabinets since 1959. The beef is ground twice, the patties are incredibly dense, and after about 10 minutes in the steamer, the burger is assembled and topped with cheese that's also steamed. You'll often hear it said that it's not as flavorful as burgers made in more traditional ways, but that's what toppings are for, right?