Review | The 10 best burgers in the D.C. area

He had a portable gas grill on the patio, and in those late humid days of summer, when his garden was exploding with color, he would fire up the grill for a meal that I never declined (and I declined a lot of them as a kid): a hamburger cooked over a hot seasoned grate, with a square of American cheese slowly melting and assuming the contours of the patty. A civil engineer, my dad was meticulous in all parts of life, including his grillwork: In my memory, his ground beef patties were perfectly formed. The slices of ruby-red tomato — fruits that he had plucked from the garden and allowed to ripen by the window — were thick and uniform. The condiments were all from jars or squeeze bottles, including Heinz relish, which I quickly learned could ruin a burger with one saccharine spoonful.

I can still smell the smokiness of that burger, as if I were holding it in my hands right now. I can almost taste the burger, too, the juices and salt flooding my mouth on first bite. I have no idea what kind of ground beef my dad bought or what percentage of fat it had, and I’m pretty sure those were Kraft singles atop my patty. But none of that mattered then. What mattered was the pleasure I felt eating the burger, one of the few meals in which my childhood tastes aligned with everyone else’s around the family table, a silent joy in itself.

I’ve had a lot of fancy burgers over the years. But as I put this list together, based on tastings of 45 burgers, I kept my childhood experience front and center.

I was searching for burgers that don’t rely on pretzel buns or truffle aioli or onion straws or an obscene stack of patties draped with thick-cut, applewood-smoked bacon. I was looking for specimens that trust that the basic building blocks of a burger — beef, bun, toppings, condiments — are enough, if each ingredient is sourced and prepared with care. I was looking for burgers that triggered the same reaction I had all those years ago, sitting at the table with one of my dad’s burgers, realizing this was all the creature comfort I desired in that moment.

I was looking for burgers that understand life is about simple pleasures, like a burger off the grill, prepared by your dad who was cooking something that he knew his picky son would love — and maybe not truly appreciate until long after he was gone.

10. Classic cheeseburger at the Capital Burger

The cheeseburger at this small chain, a status-symbol joint from the folks behind the Capital Grille, is a comfort dish stripped down to its bare essentials: thick steakhouse patty, cheese and sesame-seed bun, all carefully layered in clean horizontal lines. It’s minimalist. It’s artful. It’s the Mark Rothko of hamburgers. If you’re looking for an injection of fresh, flavorful beef, this is your burger. Its patties are formed from a custom blend by Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the fourth-generation supplier that has developed a decent side hustle in specialty hamburger blends. You can customize the cheeseburger with aged balsamic mushrooms, a fried organic egg or candied smoked bacon, but please resist the temptation. This is a steakhouse burger in its purest form, cooked to your desired temperature and served on elegant white china — yet still celebrating the same elemental flavors of every backyard cookout.

$20, 1005 Seventh St. NW, Washington, 202-638-0414; 11853 Market St., Reston, 703-464-5612; thecapitalburger.com.

9. Nick-ster burger at Social Burger

Like so many others during the pandemic, Denise Lee watched in horror as beef prices skyrocketed. In her corner of suburban Virginia, where families can’t afford to treat their kids to $16 burgers, Lee, owner of Social Burger, had to make tough choices: She had to switch suppliers to keep costs down, but without sacrificing quality. “There are just some things that are nonnegotiable, which are the bread and meat,” Lee said. “I really had to look and research and see what a comparable product would be.”

She found a Pennsylvania co-op that specializes in Angus beef — she buys only chuck — and a bakery out of Philadelphia to provide the brioche buns. A professionally trained chef, Lee clearly has a superb palate. I couldn’t tell any difference in her burger, particularly the double-stacked Nick-ster, named for her nephew who once was known for his prodigious appetite. I share Nick’s enthusiasm for this burger, which I accessorize with American cheddar, sauteed onions, lettuce, tomatoes and housemade pickles, a combination so fresh and vibrant that it’s guaranteed to stimulate your appetite. Then satisfy it.

$8.50, with $1 more for cheese, 350 Maple Ave. West, Vienna, 703-364-5420; mysocialburger.com.

8. Cheeseburger at Melt Gourmet Cheeseburgers

I love road trips, especially when the excursion ends with my hands around a well-crafted burger. During the early days of the pandemic, I made a pilgrimage to Front Royal for a Double Cavern Burger with cheese at Spelunker’s Burgers and Frozen Custard, which remains a destination for anyone with a hankering for good ground beef — and lots of time on their hands. But for something closer, and just as tempting, I head straight to Melt Gourmet Cheeseburgers in Leesburg.

Launched by Debbie and Steve Hancotte in 2012, Melt specializes in two-fisted burgers built from 80 percent lean Angus beef, ground twice a week and formed into half-pound patties. There is nothing basic about the shop’s plainly named cheeseburger: Its slices of American cheese — all three of them — are so thoroughly melted, the patty looks like it’s donned a rain slicker. The ground beef comes topped with tomatoes, sliced red onions, shredded lettuce and a chipotle-infused sauce, all sandwiched inside a housemade sourdough bun. The burger is stacked so high with meat and garnishes, the kitchen impales the beast with a wooden skewer to keep it in place. You’ll enjoy breaking it down, bite by bite.

$9.95, 525 E. Market St., Leesburg, 703-443-2105; meltgourmetcheeseburgers.com.

7. Soy and quinoa tempeh burger at Elle

Don’t make the mistake of assuming this tempeh burger is a token vegetarian option on an otherwise knuckle-dragging list of red meat. I searched far and wide for a veg burger that could hold its own against the real thing: one that didn’t rely on processed, plant-based patties or a black-bean puck so squishy that it’s impossible to distinguish between the bun and the patty. Elle, the mid-century-chic cafe in Mount Pleasant, sells only one burger — and only at lunch — and it happens to feature a slab of house-fermented tempeh, which the kitchen smokes over hickory chips to add an element of “charred burger” flavor, says executive chef Harrison Dickow. The tempeh is surrounded on all sides with complementary textures and flavors, whether pickles made in-house or a burger sauce that incorporates kimchi, each adding an element of acid or umami or just plain deliciousness. It’s a preparation that immediately calls attention to itself, as if to shout that a burger does not require animal proteins to compete for the title of GOAT.

$16, available only at lunch, 3221 Mount Pleasant St. NW, Washington, 202-652-0040; eatatelle.com.

6. Proper burger at Duke’s Grocery

The Proper burger has appeared on the menu at Duke’s Grocery since the day the pub and sandwich shop debuted in 2013, which means the hamburger, more or less, still has the fingerprints of founding chef Alex McCoy on it. I point this out because McCoy has long since left Duke’s to start his own thing, Lucky Buns, a burger joint that just missed the cut for this list. The Proper burger, then, is my tip of the hat to both Duke’s and the chef who helped create it. Duke’s owner Daniel Kramer says the burger hasn’t changed much since its debut, which I file under the If It Ain’t Broke category. Based on the menu description alone, the Proper would appear to flout my self-imposed rules for stripped-down burgers: Its twin Angus patties are topped with arugula, Gouda cheese, house pickles, sweet chili sauce and garlic aioli. Yet none of these sideshow garnishes and toppings interfere with the star ingredients; they provide only accents, little pinpricks to help awaken the palate to the essential pleasures of the beef and brioche bun.

$16, 1201 Half St. SE, Washington, 202-652-0341; 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 202-733-3967; 3000 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, 202-733-4808; the Dupont Circle location is temporarily closed; dukesgrocery.com.

5. Signature cheeseburger at Swizzler

The owners of Swizzler have a theory about ground-beef blends, those custom combination of cuts that chefs often tout as the secret to their burgers: They’re baloney. Perhaps Jesse Konig, co-owner of Swizzler, doesn’t use those exact words, but it’s clear he thinks burger blends are a triumph of marketing over reality. “Our personal belief is a lot of that is kind of window dressing,” Konig said. “It’s really more about the source … and the provenance of the beef.” The provenance of Swizzler’s beef is impeccable: Konig and co-founder Ben Johnson source their grass-fed, grass-finished beef from Joyce Farms in North Carolina, where the operators rely on regenerative practices. Whatever you’ve heard about grass-fed beef — it’s lean, it’s gamy, it’s less buttery than its grain-fed cousin — just ignore it. Swizzler’s beef has no peers in the area: Its flavor has a quality that’s hard to pin down. I would call it natural, if that word had not been corrupted beyond all meaning. I guess what I mean is the beef tastes of nature, of the earth and grasses, not a feedlot in Nebraska. It makes for a superb burger.

$7.50, 1259 First St. SE, Washington, 202-930-1499; swizzlerfoods.com.

4. Double cheeseburger at Unconventional Diner

A native of the Loire Valley in France, David Deshaies has worked with Michelin-starred chefs. He has worked alongside Michel Richard, arguably the first real genius to run a kitchen in Washington. So it was no surprise that when he opened Unconventional Diner, Deshaies wanted to put his own spin on the American burger, not unlike Daniel Boulud with that Gallic goliath known as the DB Burger.

But after multiple experiments, Deshaies returned to the fundamentals: “The best double cheeseburger is a simple American one with potato bread and American cheese and very thin patties, very crispy. That’s it. There’s no secret.” Deshaies’s beef blend — a combination of chuck, short rib and neck meats — runs leaner than many, but the kitchen brushes the patties with butter before plopping them on the grill. Topped with lettuce, tomato, browned onions and housemade pickles, the burger is a handful — big, sloppy and satisfying. A great American burger built by a Frenchman.

$16, 1207 Ninth St. NW, Washington, 202-847-0122; unconventionaldiner.com.

3. Single cheeseburger at Sloppy Mama’s BBQ

The first time I tried the cheeseburger at Sloppy Mama’s, it was during the pandemic. I had ordered a variety of smoked meats for takeaway — back when we were keeping the world at arm’s length — and owners Joe and Mandy Neuman tossed in a couple of burgers as a thank you. They had just put the burgers on the menu, one more hedge against an uncertain future for restaurants at the time. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d even try one. I didn’t need the extra calories. But when I took a bite, I was transported, “Ratatouille”-like, back to King’s Food Host in Omaha, sitting in a fake-leather booth and savoring a loosely formed burger that tasted like no other. I have no idea why Sloppy Mama’s burger, topped with onions and American cheese, causes this flashback. I doubt it has anything to do with Joe Neuman’s choice of beef: His patties are made with the trimmings from prime briskets. But if I had to guess, the connection probably boils down to animal fat, and lots of it. These burgers are not afraid to revel in the richness that can only come from good beef.

$6, 5731 Langston Blvd., Arlington, 703-269-2718; sloppymamas.com.

2. Red Apron Original at Red Apron

If you want a master class in the art of hamburgers, you need to sit down with Nathan Anda, the chef and sage behind Red Apron. For his signature burger — a twin smash-patty beauty that looks ready for prime time from the moment it hits the table — Anda has developed precise techniques for every step of its construction. He insists on a coarse grind for his beef chuck, which he sources from Seven Hills Food. The coarsely ground, 3½-ounce beef balls lead to better caramelization when pressed flat, he says.

Anda also waits 30 seconds before even pressing the ball, which is placed cold on the flat-top; the technique, the chef insists, allows the meat to spread evenly. After flipping a patty and adding American cheese, Anda will cover the combination with a dome and inject a little water underneath. The water evaporates into hot steam, creating a sauna to melt your cheese, perfectly. The beauty of the Red Apron Original is no accident; it’s a reflection of the precision engineering that led to this exquisite burger.

$17, 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, inside the Roost food hall; $17.75, 8298 Glass Alley, Fairfax, 703-676-3550; redapronbutchery.com.

1. Double cheeseburger from Steeze Burger

At age 27, Hunter Karametos has attained wunderkind status with his pop-ups under the Steeze Burger banner, a name that sounds phonetically like “cheeseburger” but actually invokes a slang term that combines “style” with “ease.” When Karametos stands over his portable Blackstone griddle, he is the embodiment of steeze: a grill man, a hamburger historian and an evangelist for his brand of homegrown burger. While conducting research for Steeze, Karametos consumed more than 150 burgers to understand what elements tripped his pleasure receptors. He was particularly fond of the dry-aged patties at Burger & Beyond in London, and he would come to learn why: They include bone marrow, he says. Karametos sources his beef from farms in northern Montgomery County, and his custom blend, like Burger & Beyond’s, includes marrow. Topped with steamed onions, pickles and American cheese, it’s a burger that sends your needle into the red zone on first bite. Your brain cannot begin to process the experience, so it just goes along for the ride — delirious over this buttery and rewarding burger, the best around these parts.

$8.50. Check Steeze Burger’s Instagram account for pop-up locations: instagram.com/steeze.burger.

Runners-up: I encountered so many good burgers while compiling this list. Among those that just missed the cut: the Smashed Soko at Soko Butcher in Takoma Park, Md.; the OG Bun at Lucky Buns, various locations; the Ghostburger at Ghostburger in Shaw; the prime Angus burger at Eat Well MD by I.M. food truck; the QH Burger at Quarry House in Silver Spring, Md.; the Apollo at Burgers@ Apollo in Camp Springs, Md.; and the B&E burger at Bob and Edith’s Diner, with various locations in Northern Virginia.