Hamburgers are truly a food born in the United States of America. The origins hail from the nation’s obsession with beef, coupled with the modern highway system; the humble burger can be high-end or low, grabbed quickly via drive-thru, or sought out as
a destination. It’s hard to say what makes a perfect burger simply because there are so many different iterations of the seemingly simple beef-and-bun device.
Los Angeles remains at the center of America’s burger obsession. The few-frills food is done up in countless ways, from the beachy towns of the South Bay to the heart of Los Angeles’s culinary movement. It’s no wonder that burgers appear on so many menus across the city, with Angelenos maintaining strong opinions on which patty reigns supreme: smashed or classic. Here are some of Los Angeles’s best burgers, including old-school burger counters, walk-up windows, street stands, and sit-down spots.
New to this update are Burgers Never Say Die, Keith Lee’s favorite Easy Street Burgers, and South Los Angeles’s expanding Storm Burger. Removed from this round are For The Win and the shuttered Smack Burger.
