Husk
The American South is a wonderland of bourbon and great burgers. Chefs like Sean Brock and Hugh Acheson have perfected the game, right alongside old-school roadside shacks and butchers. There are a shocking number of refined and beautifully executed burgers in the South. And plenty of divey spots and greasy spoons slinging classics, too. It’s awesome and definitely gives the Midwest a run for its money when it comes to the best burgers in the country.
Ready for some seriously delicious burger porn? We’ve done the homework, taken on the calories, and parsed the best damn burgers in the southeast. Let’s explore!
VIRGINIA: Market Burger Fries & Shakes, Purcellville
Northern Virginia is quickly becoming one of America’s coolest new wine regions and with that comes great food. Market Burger Fries & Shakes in Purcellville makes an outstanding burger that outshines the rest of Virginia easily (sorry everyone else).
Market’s burger has a wonderfully grilled patty that tends to be on the thicker side. It’s delightfully juicy. The buns are also a big reason Market gets the nod here. Their brioche has some nice heft that can handle a big, sloppy burger while still being light enough not to fill you up on bread. It’s a delicate balance they pull off.
Then there are the toppings. Market Burgers are ordered single or double and then you basically build your own. Curry mayo, maple mustard, housemade pickles, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and melty American cheese are just a sampling of the great things you top your burger with. We highly recommend the locally smoked bacon and local egg fried to runny perfection.
WEST VIRGINIA: Secret Sandwich Society, Fayetteville
West Virginia shines pretty brightly when it comes to good burgers. While there are great dive burgers all over the state, we’re going a little more modern with our pick. Secret Sandwich Society in Fayetteville (there’s also one in Richmond, Virginia) is too good to pass up on any road trip through the Mountain State.
Secret Sandwich’s burgers are locally sourced and in-house prepped wonders. The meat is a nice thickness that holds moisture and is precisely seasoned. The toasted brioche serves as the perfect delivery system for a great burger. If you’re not into the local beef, then try out Secret Sandwiches housemade black bean patties.
Where these burgers truly sexcel are in their toppings and sauces. Their Eagle Burger comes topped with grilled mortadella (!), a perfectly fried over-easy (local) egg, roasted garlic mayo, tangy pickles, crispy onions, and a gnarly layer of melted American cheese. It’s a masterpiece of burger craftsmanship.
TENNESSEE: Gabby’s Burgers & Fries, Nashville
Nashville has a lot of great food to offer the weary traveler or troubadour. Hot Chicken is what everyone flocks to Nashville for these days, and that’s great. We love it too (when done right). But sleeping on Nashville’s burger scene is craziness.
Gabby’s Burgers & Fries is an unassuming burger joint. Don’t let the average facade fool you. Inside, they’re spitting straight fire when it comes to burgers. Gabby’s grass-fed burgers are prepped with a love and a little thought. They caramelize the BBQ sauce on their BBQ burger in the broiler, giving it that extra awesome edge.
These are straightforward burgers that are done with exacting precision. American, Pepper Jack, and Swiss cheese dominate the menu alongside thick cuts of smoked bacon, grilled onions, and nice green leafy lettuce. The biggest highlight is a dollop of the housemade chili. It’ll make your burger a superb mess.
NORTH CAROLINA: Emma Key’s, Greensboro
Emma Key’s in Greensboro is worth the drive. Their burgers walk that fine line between being classically crafted and just funky enough to make them very special.
A real highlight of this place is well-seasoned flattop grill. It makes for a great burger and the perfect place to toast off a bun — assuring a delicious Maillard Effect locking in all that umami flavor. The real winner on the menu is the Big Kahuna burger with melty provolone, seared pineapple, crunchy peppers, crispy bacon, and a dijon aioli. It’s fresh, messy, and full of contrasting textures and complimenting flavors.
Another big win on the menu is the LouLou which is a standard burger smothered in housemade pimento cheese. It’s messy, gooey, and fabulously decadent. If you really want to amp up the mess, add some homemade chili to the cheesy mix. Granted, this will put you square into knife and fork territory, but we think it’s worth it.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Husk, Charleston
Chef Sean Brock has changed the game when it comes to Southern food. His mantra of focusing on local, seasonal, and traditional recipes has brought southern cooking out of the stereotypes that plagued it for a century and back into the spotlight — with a massively diverse wheelhouse of cuisine and ingredients. Plus, the dude makes a killer burger that rivals Au Cheval.
Brock’s burger at Husk is as near to burger perfection as a mere mortal chef can hope to achieve. Eating the wonderfully seasoned ground meat with melty American cheese gives you a legit high. The pickle has a balance of tang and crunch that accents the sauce and sweetly grilled onions nestled in the cheese. Eating this burger is a bit like listening to the solo from Comfortably Numb. The first bite is a rush of umami and tangy luxury. As you eat, your excitement mounts like blaring arpeggios that you never want to end. Then, when you take that last bite, mopping up the remains with that perfect bun, everything fades away. There’s no resolution to that guitar solo which makes you need to listen again and again. This is a burger that definitely leaves you with the desire to eat another one — likely immediately.
Husk’s burger isn’t always on the menu, so you’re going to have to plan this one out and get a little lucky. Still, it’s Husk. So even if they’re not serving burgers, the food will surely blow you away.
ARKANSAS: Tusk & Trotter American Brasserie, Bentonville
High Southern cuisine in Arkansas is taking off — thanks, in part, to Chef Rob Nelson. Nelson’s local and sustainable-focused Tusk & Trotter is an example of great southern cuisine done with heart and a conscious effort towards making the industry a better place. It should come as no surprise that Nelson also makes a damn fine burger.
Tusk & Trotter’s burgers are cheffed up without being overwrought. The choices of bison, lamb, or beef (all from the area) make for a nice nuance in choice. The buns are locally baked and so buttery and light. Housemade chipotle aioli and pickles add the perfectly tangy and umami-spicy punch to the burgers. The sauteed onions, mushrooms, and peppers add crunch and sweetness alongside the wonderfully dense mushroom savoriness. These are good burgers, people.
If you haven’t tried a lamb burger yet, try their “Teeree” Burger. Local ground lamb is topped with fresh feta, a heap of pickled vegetables, and a sharp and tangy horseradish remoulade. It’s a flavor bomb in bread.
GEORGIA: Empire State South, Atlanta
Chef Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South is another bucket list destination for its amazing takes on southern classics. Chef Acheson’s burgers are right up there with Husk’s and Au Cheval’s when it comes to nearing perfection in the medium of the burger. There’s an artistry at play here that never overwhelms a simple truth: Burgers are supposed to be amazingly delicious first and foremost, everything else is showmanship.
Empire State South’s burgers focus on local, seasonal, and sustainable. The “burger” is usually only served on the lunch menu (though, insiders do get a double cheeseburger service post-dinner rush). The meat is grilled so exactly you’ll wonder what alchemy Acheson has unlocked in the simple art of cooking meat. The Japanese milk bun is so soft and ever so slightly sweet with the perfect toasted layer. The local cheddar, housemade pickles, and “fancy” sauce further the wonder of this minimalistic, yet profound burger.
Look, if you had to do a blind taste test between this, Husk’s, and Au Cheval’s you’d be hard pressed (sorry) to choose a winner. It’d likely come down to mood — since flavor, texture, and construction are almost all infallible across these three burgers. It’s time to hit up the ATL and find this burger as quickly as you can.
LOUISIANA: Port of Call, New Orleans
It’s hard to think of New Orleans and not think of plates piled high and cocktails filled to the brim. Food is such a big part of, well, everything down there and that’s crucial when it comes to finding a great burger.
Louisiana’s best burger, by a country mile, is at Port of Call in New Orleans. Port of Call’s in-house ground burger has a lot going for it. The biggest and most inventive change from a classic is the cheese. They use shredded sharp cheddar and apply as they serve the burger. The little shards of cheese then slowly melt as you eat the burger providing layered, cheesy texture to the whole experience. It’s rad. The mushroom burger shines the brightest — with a pile of umami-bomb mushrooms spilling out of the bun and across your plate.
Then there’s the side. We’ve been trying to avoid talking too much about burger sides in this series because this is burger town, baby. But Port of Call needs a special mention. They serve their big ol’ burgers with a big ol’ baked potato that’s loaded to the gills with all the fixin’s — including another pile of shredded sharp cheddar. At first glance, you likely think this is potato overkill. It’s not. Once you have a baked potato side with a burger, it’ll be damn near impossible to go back to plain old fries.
ALABAMA: Vicki’s Lunch Van, Montgomery
Let’s get out of the (chef) stars for a moment and come back down to earth. Vicki’s Lunch Van started as a literal van by the side of the road. The burgers were so good that they had to move into a burger shack to keep up with demand. Even now that they’ve expanded, you should expect a serious wait time when you go to Vicki’s.
Well-executed simplicity is the name of the game here. Vicki’s burgers aren’t breaking any new barriers. They’re just delicious and that’s more than enough. The local beef is ground on site and then flattened on the grill top to a superb thinness, which allows a nice crispiness to form around the juicy meat. Tangy mayo, crunchy cucumber chips, bright iceberg, fresh tomato, and spicy-sweet onions round out the burger. From there you can add some crisp bacon and plenty of melty American cheese. It’s a classic done right.
We highly recommend getting here early. The line will be long. We also tend to lean more towards ordering a classic cheeseburger here and letting it shine instead of opting for a more complicated entry. It’s simple, delicious, and hugely satisfying.
MISSISSIPPI: Neon Pig, Oxford
A trip to Oxford, Mississippi is a must for any road tripping American. The town is the home of a deeply influential literary scene, music scene, and, low key, has one of the best food scenes in the South. Neon Pig is a butcher shop where local and sustainable are cornerstones of serving people great food. And guess what else? Their very small butchershop menu has the best burgers in the state, hands down.
Neon Pig’s “Smashburger” has no business being as fantastic as it is — we are, after all, talking about a small cafe inside a butcher shop here. The burger patty is a combo of aged filet, sirloin, ribeye, NY strip, and local bacon ground into a wonderous patty. That’s served on the airiest ciabatta (!) bun you’ll ever encounter. The burger is then topped with, frankly, the best-pickled onions and pickles you’ll find outside of a Jewish deli somewhere on the Lower Eastside. Cheddar cheese is melted on top with more local bacon and a “comeback” sauce that’s been spiked with hoisin. This is a burger you’ll dream about for years to come.
We’ve focused a lot on chefs making mind-blowing burgers in this section. But maybe it’s a couple of butchers who are the real masters.
FLORIDA: Burgers and Shakes, Miami Beach
It feels like it’d be easy to go with an over-stuffed and cheffed-up burger in Miami Beach. But let’s stick with a classic. Burgers & Shakes, right across from the beach, is really just a burger joint that serves great, nostalgia-driven burgers.
The potato buns, fresh ground beef, simple iceberg, white onion, tomato, cucumber chip, and tangy house sauce all combine to make a classic burger that gets the job done. Sometimes that’s enough. The B&S burger adds some smokey bacon and a nice, runny egg to the mix with melty provolone tying it all together. They aren’t reinventing the wheel here. They’re taking tried-and-true components and knocking them straight outta the park.
Add a rad shake and some seriously awesome onion rings to the mix and you’ve got a delight of burger meal. This might be the only place where we’d recommend getting their sliders (we know, sliders are dumb in theory and practice). The mini-burgers are served on a milky, sweet challah roll that absolutely makes them burger shine even more brightly.
KENTUCKY: Proof On Main, Louisville
Louisville has one of the fastest growing food scenes in America. Proof On Main is a great example of that scene with a clear focus on local purveyors that provide lush ingredients. Their bison burger, sourced from a nearby Kentuckian herd, is one of the best burgers going right now.
The burger’s sesame brioche bun is airy and buttery. The bison patty is cooked to succulent, ruddy perfection with a nice minerality and seared umami Maillard texture. Super finely shredded iceberg accents with a refreshing crunch. The pickle and smoked bacon amp the sandwich up to eleven. And, lastly, the Tillamook sharp cheddar brings it all home (we know, Oregon is a long way from Kentucky, but Tillamook cheeses are always a strong choice). This burger is straight fire. The robust flavor of the bison patty really will have you questioning all the factory-farmed beef you’ve eaten.
If you’re in Kentucky (or southern Ohio for that matter), make sure to hit up Proof on Main for one of the best burgers in the country. It may even be the best bison burger in the nation right now. Go and test it and let us know!
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