Berlin, that indomitable city of insatiable appetites and haphazard pursuits of food trends, has always had a flirtation with food that is both fleeting and earnest. A city famous for its street food—most notably the greasy Döner Kebap that’s forever ingrained into our DNA and lifeblood as our official late-night cravings—now finds itself challenged by another passion: the burger. But here’s the thing about Berlin and burgers: for a a long time, the Berlin burger game was a bit like watching your dad try to dance to techno. Enthusiastic, but embarrassing.

You couldn’t swing a XXL-Currywurst without hitting some mediocre attempt at the American classic. For years, Berlin’s burger scene resembled a parody of itself—mediocre, overly fluffy and bready buns, an unforgivable fascination with mayonnaise, and an overabundance of toppings that verged on psychotic. Berlin's restaurateurs, bless them, are many things, but burger savants they are not. Or rather, they weren’t. Because something has indeed shifted. Berlin’s burger landscape has evolved, and I, ever the noble and overly picky gourmand, set out to discover just how far we’ve come.

The mission behind the burger quest was simple: rally the entire Berlin food community, devour every recommended burger—some more than once, if needed —and emerge with an indisputable verdict. After weeks of relentless tasting, working our way through over 50 burger joints, one thing became clear: Berlin, though still playing catch-up to the Europasn burger giants of England and Sweden, is in the midst of a bona fide burger renaissance. A new generation of contenders has emerged, driven by innovation, ambition, and a newfound appreciation for what makes a burger truly great. Let’s dig into the beef.

The Dark Ages of Berlin Burgers: A Retrospective

Looking back on over 15 years of trailing Berlin's burger scene, it's been a journey of highs, lows, and long stretches of culinary mediocrity. In the early days, the best burger you could find was at The Bird, a steakhouse that stood out solely because its meat quality was leagues ahead of the competition—so much so that we forgave the abomination of serving it on a tiny, limp English muffin. Over the next decade, a few hopefuls, among them the yellow food truck Buns Mobile or the elusive Volta Burger (who remembers?), gave us fleeting moments of excitement. But while Sweden and England were already head deep into their own burger renaissance during the 2010s, Berlin remained in a culinary burger coma and the only burgers people got excited about, were multi-patty abominations trying to pack as many obscure ingredients as possible between two buns. Aside from watching Burgermeister steadily polish its act and expand into a solid chain, there was such a lack of innovation that my burger list went untouched for years.

The Game-Changer: Goldies

If Berlin’s burger scene had a messiah, it would be Goldies Burger. Vladislay Gachyn and Kajo Hiesl, the ey-Michelin star chefs behind the project, are try culinary disruptors who didn’t just change how Germans view the humble cheeseburger—they sparked an existential crisis among burger joints nationwide. What Goldies did was simple, but revolutionary for Germany: they popularized the American smash burger in all its crispy, greasy glory.

Forget the lumbering mayo-slathered behemoths of old—Goldies went minimalist with the iconic ketchup, mustard, raw onions, pickles, and American cheese combination. This isn’t just a burger, it’s an homage to simplicity, a love letter to the modest yet mighty cheeseburger. And as for the bun—oh, the bun—Goldies shattered the Bekarei Brioche Bun dominance by being the first to import the Martin’s Famous Potato Roll, a soft, slightly sweet affair that’s become the new standard-bearer for high-end burgers across the city. Goldies not only created a burger craze, but they also paved the way for a whole new generation of burger artisans. It’s their fault, really, that I had to eat my way through 50 variations of their handiwork.

What Makes a Great Burger?

Before we talk about anything, we need to speak about the nitty gritty details of a burger, Because yes, details matter. Through my exhaustive, and occasionally indigestion-inducing, quest, I’ve distilled the perfect burger down to its core components, and my preferences boil down to an hommage to the ultimate benchmark of simple burgers, the ground zero of burger innovation: The McDonald's Cheeseburger. Of course McDonald's is not one of the best burgers of Berlin, but it definitely is the benchmark of all burgers.

The Bun: It’s not just a vessel—it’s the bedrock of the experience. Potato buns and brioche fight for supremacy, but ultimately, it’s the balance that matters. The bun should neither dominate the meat nor disintegrate in your hands like wet tissue paper and the perfect bun-to-meat ratio in your bite is pivotal the overall experience.

The Meat: Quality beef and the sear are everything. The best burgers come off a hot griddle with caramelized edges, whether you prefer a smashed patty or a thicker, juicier cut. Without that sear (and there are plenty without), you might as well be eating minced regret.

The Cheese: There is no debate here—American cheese is non-negotiable. Gruyère and aged cheddar may sound sophisticated, but when it comes to burgers, they fail to melt with the unctuous grace of processed, American cheese.

The Sauces: A cheeseburger without ketchup and mustard is like Berlin without graffiti—lacking soul. Heinz is the only acceptable ketchup, and I will die on that hill (no, Werder Ketchup is not acceptable). American mustard cuts through the richness with just enough sharpness. Plain mayonaise on a burger is not acceptable, full stop. Burger sauces can be great, but they need a LOT of love and expertise, any half-assed sauce will not do it.

Toppings: The simpler, the better - that’s the rule of thumb for toppings. Theoretically, there is room for pretty much anything on a burger (many burgers on the list of the best burgers showcase that), but the more you complicate it, the higher the pressure for you to pull it off. Onions are crucial, whether raw or caramelized. Ideally both, but raw are more essential. So are pickles and you need at least three, Bacon? Overrated. Don't get me started on the bacon jam that's entered the scene lately. So are tomato slices to be honest, who needs that slice of unripe, Dutch winter tomato on your sandwich? That’s right, no one. Iceberg lettuce can make sense, but only in rare occasions and it needs to be combined with a GREAT burger sauce. Eggs, avocado, and other, similar interlopers should be strictly forbidden. 

THE BEST BURGERS OF BERLIN

Yes, we tried over 50 burgers. Because we felt we had to. And because our arteries weren’t yet protesting loudly enough. For the first time, we even introduced scores, because if there’s anything more controversial than politics or pineapple on pizza, it’s food rankings. Everyone else is using a scale from 1-10, we of course need to be f-n special and use a scale from 1-5, based on the classic New York Times five star review. Why? Because we might end up using that on the website as well. Write us if you think that’s a great (or terrible) idea.  

Naturally, when we started scoring burgers, chaos ensued. Devotees of so-called "iconic" burgers, long past their prime, were incensed when we dared to score them below what they perceived themselves to deserve. Newsflash is that there are new burger chiefs in town and your 2012 burger game is just not good enough anymore.

But here we are, with 11 burgers that made the final cut, and I must say, it’s a list I’m proud of. Some of these might be as unfamiliar to you as a credit card in a Berlin restaurant, but trust me—they deserve your attention.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, what nuggets of burger enlightenment have surfaced from this marathon of meat and bread? First and foremost, the sear is sacred. Without that sizzling, caramelized crust, your burger will just be a lump of steamed beef mince. A proper sear is what turns a burger from mere calories into something you’ll fantasize about at 2 a.m., cursing the distance between you and the grill that gave it life.

Also, the burger bun duopoly of Martin's and Bekarei is in desperate need of disruption and I’m really hoping for more, domestically baked options. Secondly, for the love of beef, don’t forget the salt—an under-seasoned patty is a culinary misdemeanor. And finally, personally I don’t really mind the lazy Goldies knockoffs‚ but for the future I encourage everyone to look beyond the German borders; there’s a whole world of buns and beef waiting to inspire. My guess is that this will solve itself, the current Goldies burger is just too easy to copy (reality check: if you're smashing your beef that hard, it really doesn't matter if it's high quality) and Goldies will eventually be forced to innovate in order to maintain market share.

So yes, Berlin may still be jogging a few steps behind the burger meccas of England and Scandinavia, but it’s definitely finding its stride. Burgermeister and Goldies have historically led the charge, inspiring a vibrant scene, but with the amount of innovation happening, that’s bound to change. If you’re willing to wander off the beaten path and chew your way through the city, you’ll find burger brilliance in the most unexpected corners. Berlin has, at long last, learned how to groove to the burger rhythm and the burger future of the city is as bright as it's ever been.