Brooklyn Bites: The borough’s 9 best burgers

By Scott Lynch

Burger trends may come and go — are we almost done with all these “smashed” places yet? — but the city’s most ubiquitous sandwich remains just that. Ubiquitous. There are new generic burger joints opening all the time. Vegan burgers keep trying to push their way into the mix. And just about every new neighborhood bistro/bar/cafe still puts one on their menu.

And we are so grateful for all of that! Burgers rule. Big fat cheffy ones. Slapped-together cheap ones. Cool creative ones. Weird creative ones. We like them all. Or, at least, we like to try them all. So: are these Brooklyn’s nine best burgers? Yes. Do you have a burger that you love that’s not on this list? Also yes. (My editor would like you to know he bemoans the omission of Little Grenjai’s Thai smashburger in Bed-Stuy and the Hatch green chile cheeseburger at two8two Bar & Burger on Atlantic.)

Anyway, here you go:

9. Grilled!, Bushwick 
264 Suydam Street just north of Knickerbocker Avenue
Slutty Vegan got a ton of hype when it opened in Fort Greene a couple of years ago — and the plant-based fast food there does hit the spot — but my favorite vegan burger in the borough remains the one at Grilled, located across the street from Maria Hernandez Park and run by the dentist next door, who founded the place as a form of activism.

Vegan double burger at Grilled!, $9 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Grilled’s double burger is made with Beyond Meat patties and comes laden with all the traditional fixings: pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, a lively special sauce, and lots of melted (vegan) cheese. Also, and unlike Slutty, Grilled offers you a place to sit while you wolf your meal.

8. Peter Luger, Williamsburg 
178 Broadway at the corner of Driggs Avenue 
Somehow, in all of my decades of living in New York City, I had never eaten at the legendary Peter Luger Steak House (est. 1887) until earlier this year. And it was so good! Not sure what that Pete Wells review was all about, but I had a great time and ate some great food.

Luger Burger, $19.95, with optional cheese, $1.95, and fries, $4.95, at Peter Luger (Photo by Scott Lynch)

And then last week I went to try the Peter Luger burger (est. 1995) and it, too, was so good! Even though they misheard me (?) and cooked it “medium” instead of medium rare. Just a big hunk of high-quality beef, thick slice of raw onion, optional cheese, optional steak sauce, optional pile of nicely crisp and super-salty fries. A perfect (if hefty) lunch. Next time I want it straight-up rare though.

7. Hart’s, Bed-Stuy 
506 Franklin Street between Fulton and Hancock Streets
Hart’s is like the Platonic ideal of the cozy neighborhood spot. The first restaurant in what has become a mini-empire of, well, cozy neighborhood spots — the team also runs Cervo’s, The Fly, and Eel Bar — Hart’s has only 30 seats but seemingly 30,000 locals who consider themselves “regulars,” and most of them will tell you to get the burger here. And I will too.

Lamb burger with optional anchovies at Hart’s, $27 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

It’s a gorgeous, gamy lamb creation that comes with three marinated anchovies draped on top — optional but highly recommended — as well as a pile of juicy fennel-based slaw. It all works together beautifully and is one of my most frequent (if pricey) burger cravings.

6. Lori Jayne at Alphaville, Bushwick 
140 Wilson Avenue between Suydam Street and Willoughby Avenue   
For a different, more rock-n-roll Brooklyn dive bar experience that also features a superb burger, the move is Lori Jayne, which NYC native (and rock star) Sam Braverman opened almost two years ago in the back of Alphaville.

Cheeseburger, $11, with fries, $5, at Lori Jayne (Photo by Scott Lynch)

This thing is a quarter-pound beauty, topped with bone-broth caramelized onions, thick pickle slices, melted American, and a slathering of sauce that Braverman describes as “if In-n-Out spread hung out with a Cajun remoulade.” Great hand-cut fries too.

5. The Long Island Bar, Cobble Hill 
110 Atlantic Avenue, at the corner of Henry Street 
Beloved by locals for its strong drinks, old-school vibe (it was first opened in 1951), and a food menu that punches way above its diner-ish weight, the iconic, neon-lit Long Island Bar near the western end of Atlantic Avenue always attracts a lively crowd.

The L.I. burger with fries at Long Island Bar, $22 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

But the reason I go here is the stellar double-stacked L.I. Burger, all meaty and thick and messy with cheese and “fancy sauce.” The perfect bar burger. Bonus: the fries are also among the very best in Brooklyn.

4. Swoony’s, Carroll Gardens
215 Columbia Street between Union and Sackett Streets
Chef Salvatore Lamboglia is a true Brooklyn treasure: raised in Bensonhurst, longtime Carroll Gardens resident, and now proprietor of two of the borough’s best restaurants, the self-explanatory Cafe Spaghetti, and the more recent, and utterly delightful, “American bistro” Swoony’s, which he opened last year.

Swoony’s burger with fries at Swoony’s, $25 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

And while there may not be any pasta on the Swoony’s menu, there is an excellent burger, a decadent, double-patty job with melted American and Thousand Island dressing served on a lovely soft Portuguese roll. A pile of terrific, heavily salted fries completes the package. Swoon-worthy for sure!

3. Gator, Greenpoint  
105 Norman Avenue at the corner of Leonard Street  
Chef Allyx Seemann’s under-hyped “contemporary American” restaurant Gator serves a lot of really good food in a warm, neighborly environment. But if you’re a first timer here, you really should get Seemann’s beast of a burger, cheffed-up just enough to keep you on your toes, with a crisp miso tempura mushroom on top and a generous drizzle of tangy yuzu aioli dribbling down the side.

Cheeseburger with miso tempura mushroom at Gator, $20 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

A party on a plate. It’s also available at Gator’s newish brunch service, in case you want to take a long afternoon nap.

2. Blue Hour, Bushwick
1525 Myrtle Avenue at Grove Street 
By a considerable margin, the best gas station burger in Brooklyn is Blue Hour’s, a new-this-summer halal joint located in a BP at one of those chaotic three-way intersections along Myrtle.

Double smashburger at Blue Hour, $10 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The menu is loaded with bangers (a chopped cheese, a “cwunch wap supweme”, a hot chicken sandwich) but the double-patty smashburger is a very solid place to start, a cheesy, oozy beauty with lots of pickles that tastes great at 2 in the afternoon and probably even better at 2 in the morning. Ask for hot sauce. And get a box of tots.

1. Red Hook Tavern, Red Hook 
329 Van Brunt Street at the corner of Sullivan Street 
Famed pitmaster Billy Durney, whose Hometown BBQ cranks out what is often, and correctly, called the city’s best barbecue, nailed the neighborhood tavern concept with equal aplomb when he opened this spot in the summer of 2019. There’s lots of drinks to be had here of course, and the food menu is stacked with classics like shrimp cocktail, roasted chicken, and, most memorably, the dry aged Red Hook Tavern burger.

Dry-aged tavern burger with frites at Red Hook Tavern, $29 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

This is a thick, intense patty, cooked perfectly medium-rare and blanketed with gooey American atop a raw onion in a sturdy sesame bun that does its job without a lot of fanfare. (Not dissimilar from the Peter Luger burger, come to think of it — and nearly $10 pricier.) Still. Stellar stuff.