13 Mouthwatering California Burgers And Where To Find Them

To feed your burger addiction with fresh and fully loaded content, we’ve created a list to out-stack any creative customized combo you’ve dreamed up. We’re lookin’ for the burger that’s so fresh you’ve gotten to know the back story of the ranch it grew up on. You’ve built up your vocabulary through ingredients from all of the burgers you’ve tried. The burgers are getting wetter, cheesier, taller, and sexier. Does your burger ooze with yolk? Did your toppings make it into an aioli? We’ve raised the standard and pretty much any burger that’s going into your mouth better have a story to tell. So slap some butter on those buns and let’s get toasty. We’re not shy of crazy — are you?

CITIZEN KITCHEN | FULLERTON, CA

Located inside The Hotel Fullerton, Citizen Kitchen’s menu is the brainchild of Chef Zach Geerson, where focus is seasonal ingredients in a modern and innovative fashion. The new Barcelona Burger, whose patty is made of Geerson’s four-way burger blend, is topped with seafood paella, duck confit, pimenton aioli, frisée, almonds, and sherry vinaigrette. You better believe we are not holding back on this one! Be bold. You can always sleep off your food coma at the hotel… and then come back for a night-cap with a cocktail. Rusty Nail anyone? This cocktail features Pig’s Nose and Drambuie, garnished with a lemon twist. Cheers!

Citizen Kitchen’s Barcelona Burger | Photo courtesy of Chef Zach Geerson

PIG PEN DELICACY | SANTA ANA, CA

As if you needed another reason to love bacon, Pig Pen Delicacy’s sophisticated and modern interpretations of bacon and pork favorites have us obsessing over their new Maple Bacon Jam Burger, featuring bacon jam, Havarti cheese, chive aioli and fried onion strings over the top of an all-beef patty. What’s on the menu for dessert? That’s right, you guessed it — bacon! You have to order a side of candied bacon for the ride home, as this oven-baked bacon with brown sugar and spices adds to that mic drop moment.

Pig Pen Delicacy’s Maple Bacon Jam Burger | Photo courtesy of @misoo_hungry via Instagram

THE WHARF | GARDEN GROVE, CA

The Caj-sian fare at The Wharf, situated in historic Downtown Garden Grove, takes America’s favorite sammie and kicks things into serious overdrive. These guys are not afraid to do things differently with a keen eye to detail and a palate for the finer ingredients of their reimagined Vietnamese cuisine. A classic burger is transformed here with cajun shrimp grilled to perfection to crown a pork belly (yes, pork belly) patty, while it’s all doused in a healthy helping of melted cheddar cheese for modern surf-and-turf action.

The Wharf’s Surf n Turf Burger | Photo courtesy of 100eats

SLATERS 50/50 | ORANGE COUNTY & SAN DIEGO, CA

At Slater’s they are reinventing the idea of what it means to play with your food. If you like over-the-top, in-your-face burgers that are loaded with flavor (AKA bacon) then Slater’s may already be showing up in your Waze app as your home location. Just when you thought their magical 50/50 burger couldn’t get any better, they reinvented your standards. Hey! It’s just in their nature. The re-formulated burger is thicker, juicier, and just as sexy as it was before. Build your own jaw-dropping burger by using this patty as your canvas. Whether it turns out to be a Pollock or a Manet, sandwich it with a toasted-to-perfection brioche bun and the critics will be satisfied.

Slaters 50/50’s Jalapeno Popper Burger | Photo courtesy of Slater’s 50/50 via Instagram

VACA | COSTA MESA, CA

If you work by South Coast Plaza then you might as well call Vaca the employee break room, because everyone ends up here when they’re clocked out. You’re the type of person that really digs superior tasting meats and that’s why you keep coming back here, or it could be those Spanish cocktails you can’t get enough of. Well now you have yet another reason to come back here — the burger. The twist on this tradition comes from the hands of celebrity chef, Amar Santana. The Hamburguesa features a grilled prime beef patty and crispy Spanish chorizo on a fluffy brioche bun with smoked paprika aioli and overnight tomatoes. And if you feel like taking this burger to the next level, accept the option to add Spanish cabrales bleu cheese or Spanish manchego cheese.

Vaca’s Hamburguesa | Photo courtesy of Travel Costa Mesa

HOPDODDY | THE TUSTIN MARKET PLACE | TUSTIN, CA

Thoughtfully crafted, well proportioned burgers made with the freshest available, all-natural ingredients is what you get at Hopdoddy. And lucky us, they just opened a new location at The Tustin Market. Their beef comes from those happy, humanely raised cows. You know, the ones that are never, ever given growth hormones or antibiotics! Not feeling the beef? They also offer bison, lamb, chicken, turkey, sushi-grade tuna, and a black bean-corn patty. If you’re the type of person that can fall in love with an aioli so much that you just want to rub it all over your face and put it in your hair, then the Primetime Burger is for you. This beauty features grass-fed beef, Brie cheese, arugula, caramelized onions, that truffle aioli that makes you act strange because you love it so much, steak sauce and beefsteak tomato. The overall flavor profile of this burger is very rich but it won’t leave you feeling weighed down with regret. You can attribute this to the thoughtfully crafted proportions of the burger.

Hopdoddy’s Primetime Burger | Photo courtesy of Hopdoddy via Facebook

25 DEGREES | HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA

In case you were ever wondering the precise temperature difference between a raw and well-done hamburger, it’s 25 degrees. Where the burgers are as fancy as the decor, this burger bar offers chic sophistication, on and off the plate. This is the kind of place where you come for the burger and you stay for the atmosphere. With the amount of different ingredient options available in this house, your imagination (and your wallet) is your only limitation. Just a teaser of what we’re talking about, their cheese selections include the benedictine, creamy smoked mozzarella, tart and creamy crescenza, and a blue veined prelibato gorgonzola that has us melting in our seats. If you start to feel like you’re drowning in options, just opt for the Number 5 “Truffle Style” featuring mushroom, truffle oil, dijon aioli, arugula, caramelized onion, and smoked mozzarella. You’ll thank us later. Seriously, this truffle addiction will be hard to kick.

25 degrees’ Number 1 Burger | Photo courtesy of @likefoodla via Instagram

FRITZI DTLA | LOS ANGELES, CA

Located in the historic Arts District in Los Angeles, the industrial-chic restaurant, Fritzi, has Chef Neal Fraser serving up his other-worldly, artisanal nosh, including his Fritzi Burger. Chef Fraser’s burger features a nine-hour sous-vide Nueskie’s bacon-beef blend patty, topped with creamy fontina fondue, crisp iceberg lettuce, calabrese relish, and thousand island, which is then served with your choice of fries, tots or potato waffle. Pair with Arts District Brewing Co. beer for the ultimate ticket to burger nirvana. This spot screams fancy in your mouth all while promoting a casual no dress-code vibe. The best part, you get that transcendental moment for your tastebuds without the hefty price tag.

Fritzi’s Fritzi Burger with their 9 hours sous-vide patty | Photo courtesy of @misscutiefoodie via Instagram

PETIT TROIS | LOS ANGELES, CA

Chef Ludo Lefebvre reinvents your interpretation of the double cheeseburger, inspired by the cheeseburger at Au Cheval in Chicago. The Big Mec at Petit Trois features two 4-ounce beastly, prime beef patties that are flooded with bordelaise sauce and topped with American cheese and garlic aioli. This savory, delicious masterpiece that they call a burger doesn’t have us missing lettuce and tomato in the slightest. Rumor has it, there may even be foie gras in that sauce, and we couldn’t be more delighted. Not that this burger needs directions, but we do suggest cutting it in half, eating it until it falls apart in your hands, and then just putting your face in the plate.

Petit Trois’ Big Mec | Photo courtesy of Eddie @hungryinla via Instagram

LOVE & SALT | MANHATTAN BEACH, CA

You might not expect this Italian-inspired restaurant with a California soul to offer a burger, but they do. You’d think this was the best kept secret in LA, but let’s be honest, a burger this good doesn’t stay hush-hush for long. This now famous burger that was intended to be on the DL (hence the Downlow Burger name) features wagyu beef, caramelized onions, aged cheddar, house pickles, rosemary parmesan, and tomato aioli. This is the kind of burger you could fall in love with, as it hugs you in all the right places.

Love and Salt’s Downlow Burger | Photo courtesy of Eddie @hungryinla via Instagram

THE STANDING ROOM | REDONDO BEACH, CA

The next time you’re in Redondo Beach and you’re headed to the liquor store for some beer and Lotto tickets, you might stumble upon a very tiny counter where some of the best burgers in LA are served. Enter with no regrets, or on a cheat day, because you’re about to have one of the best fancy-gastropub-meets-Asian-influenced burgers touch your lips. Whether you decide on the Cash Burger served with shishito pepper, bacon, cheddar, American cheese, onion ring, Korean aioli, and hoisin bbq sauce… or the Hapa Burger, featuring spring mix, onion, scallion, sesame leaf tossed in spicy vinaigrette, fried egg, gouchu Q and Korean aioli, you are guaranteed an absolute flavor bomb.

The Standing Room’s Cash Burger | Photo courtesy of The Standing Room

HAWKINS HOUSE OF BURGERS | LOS ANGELES, CA

You could go into cardiac arrest just by looking at this burger. The Whipper Burger features two generously portioned Angus beef patties, ooey gooey cheese, pastrami, a hot link, and your classic burger produce to balance this beast of a burger out. By no means should you think that this burger is compensating with size, because not one ingredient is unnecessary, each being full of flavor and contributing to texture and structure. Just a heads up, the burgers do take about 20 minutes to make since they are made-to-order. You can tell that person behind the grill is persnickety about the details, and we couldn’t be more excited to reap the benefits.

Hawkins House of Burgers’ Whipper Burger | Photo courtesy of @thebestfoodperiod via Instagram

JACK IN THE BOX | VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Jack’s new Brew House Bacon Burger is making fast-food sexy, and not in a Carl’s Jr. kind of way. This beauty features 1/4 lb signature beef patty, topped with authentic porter ale cheese sauce, tasty grilled onions, and hickory smoked bacon – all on a toasted artisan potato bun. Follow that up with an order of their crispy garlic herb French fries, or those curly fries that you’ve become so loyal to, and you might think you were at an actual brewhouse. Then you realize you’re actually in a drive-thru and last-minute impulsively add the Oreo shake, because at this point you’re all in and committed to this fourth meal moment.