The 5 Best Cheeseburgers From Non-Burger Chain Restaurants

If you're craving a good burger from a chain restaurant, it stands to reason that you would most likely visit one of the best American burger chains. It only makes sense, as a spot specifically built around its burgers should have its signature dish down pretty well. Likewise, a place that doesn't necessarily focus on burgers, but might heavily push burgers as an important menu item, will generally have reliably good burgers. But what about those places that aren't known for burgers, yet have a shockingly good one that more people should know about? Those are the places I will be highlighting for this list.

I am someone who considers a good burger as my absolute favorite food. That usually means I'm also someone who will be the oddball who orders burgers from places that might only list one on the menu out of obligation, or even as a second thought. But all of these burgers from non-burger chains have genuinely surprised me — from the quality of the meat and the thought put behind the toppings, to the pride shown in preparation and presentation, some places even genuinely held their own against many burger places. 

Bonefish Grill is among the seafood chains with the worst quality of fish, according to reviews. As for me, I have no opinion on the matter, because I'm not much of a seafood guy. So any time I have found myself at a seafood place because someone else dragged me there, I usually defer to whatever chicken, steak, or burger they have available — and it's often nothing to write home about. But when I tried Bonefish's Prix Fixe Half-Pound BFG Burger, I was blown away that such a juicy, high-quality burger was offered at a seafood chain. In fact, I've since actually been the one in my group of friends to suggest several times going to Bonefish specifically, so I could have the BFG Burger again.

A generous ½-pound patty (you know a place takes its burger seriously when it goes with a half-pounder) grilled to perfection, sits between a simple but nicely-toasted bun. Sharp cheddar cheese is a personal favorite choice for burgers, so its inclusion on the BFG Burger gives it even more points.

But what really elevates the whole thing, while also making it unique to Bonefish, is the brilliant usage of the chain's signature sauce as the condiment. I also recommend paying extra to add bacon, as Bonefish doesn't skimp on the quality of that, either.

I didn't want to go too overboard on steakhouses for this list as, after all, it's perhaps not terribly surprising that a steakhouse would offer a high-caliber burger. But then, I realized three things. Not all steakhouses automatically have good burgers, and some are in fact actually quite lackluster. Secondly, it would be disingenuous to deliberately leave out steakhouses just because they are more likely to have a good burger than another type of restaurant. And lastly, a steakhouse still isn't a burger chain. And with that, I present Texas Roadhouse's excellent Smokehouse Burger.

Most people come to Texas Roadhouse for its steaks, while some would argue that the best menu item are the rolls, made from scratch and served with that heavenly butter. But, I encourage you to not sleep on the Smokehouse Burger. Beyond the delicious, juicy, and well-seasoned patty you'd expect from a beef restaurant, the Smokehouse Burger comes piled high with nice sautéed mushrooms, two different kinds of thick cheese, and the pièce de resistance: a slathering of Texas Roadhouse's own house-made barbecue sauce.

If you've had the chain's flawlessly balanced, sweet-meets-tangy, St. Louis-style barbecue sauce, you already know how good it is — and boy does it kick this already solid burger up a notch, or 10. Toss in Texas Roadhouse's fantastic steak fries, and you've got a meal that might have you skipping the steak entirely on future visits. But yeah, go for the rolls, too.

There are a number of things you might complain about at Buffalo Wild Wings, according to customers. Not on the list is anything to do with the chain's surprisingly solid burger offerings, especially the Bacon-Smashed Hatch Chile Burger. After you have this impressive sandwich, you might find yourself wondering why the restaurant doesn't market itself as a burger sports bar that happens to also have wings, rather than the other way around.

Though a smash burger is arguably easier to make than a regular burger, don't assume that this sandwich is a slouch. The double patties are seared to a crispy perfection, and while they would be great on their own, the fact that the bacon is also smashed into the patties while cooking is a flavorful masterstroke. BWW's could've just thrown on some cheese and veggies and called it a day and still impressed at this point, but it didn't stop there. The addition of pickled hot peppers, Hatch chile peppers, and Hatch chile aioli bring not only spice, but takes the burger up to another level of deliciousness, with a combination of flavors unlike any burger I've ever had.

I've always only liked, but never truly loved, the wings at Buffalo Wild Wings, and after having this burger, I'll probably never even bother with them again. 

Obviously, one of the best things to try when visiting Waffle House for the first time is one of the chain's breakfast dishes. Breakfast in general, and the titular item specifically, are what Waffle House do best, and why most people eat there. But if you're a Waffle House regular who has never wandered away from the breakfast items on the menu, you are doing yourself a real disservice — especially if you love a good diner-style patty melt.

Most of the components of Waffle House's Texas Angus Patty Melt were easily culled from other dishes, from the thick slices of Texas toast to the American cheese, grilled onions, and optional bacon. And those things could've made a perfectly swell grilled cheese with bacon that I would've been plenty happy with, myself. But the restaurant comes out of nowhere with an astonishingly good quarter-pound burger patty that makes for a truly great patty melt. 

I know, it's tough to go to an all-day breakfast place and not get breakfast. Especially since all-day breakfast chains aren't nearly as plentiful as they used to be. But trust me when I say that the next time you're at Waffle House, it's worth the sacrifice to get the patty melt instead. If you absolutely need to it to be a breakfast, you can always order a fried egg as an addition to your burger.

There is an argument to be made that you should avoid ordering the Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse because it carries a high price tag, despite being made with fairly inexpensive ingredients. Luckily, you can get a nice little handful of that Bloomin' Onion goodness — complete with its signature sauce — on top of Outback's Bloomin' Onion Burger. As far as I'm concerned, that's not only the more cost-effective way to scratch your Bloomin' Onion itch, but is the overall more tasty way to do so, as well.

Underneath the onion topping, a savory ½-pound burger patty with cheese sits atop the usual burger accompaniment of veggies, then a layer of the Bloomin' Onion sauce is spread on the bottom bun. If you're a fan of burgers that have onion rings on top, then you'll love this. The way the Bloomin' Onion clumps together makes for more consistent bites of burger and onion than when typical onion rings top a burger. I'll bet that you'll have trouble going back to such burgers once you've had this one at Outback, which feels like the concept of an onion ring-topped burger, but fully evolved into its most ideal form.

As mentioned in the introduction, I personally judged each burger, taking into account its overall quality, taste, and presentation. The burgers needed to look and taste as good, have the same high quality of ingredients, and feel as if it was created with as much effort as anything else on that restaurant's menu. Every burger needed to be good enough, that if it had been found on the menu of a chain that specialized in burgers, you'd be none the wiser. I have liked all the burgers enough to have them again — and they've all joined the ranks of my favorite items from each chain.