The Best Burgers in Every State for National Cheeseburger Day

Friday, September 18th is National Cheeseburger Day! Burgers are baked into American food culture, from roadside stands and diners to backyard grills. The burger's family tree reaches back through older minced-beef dishes, including Hamburg steak, but the exact origin of the modern hamburger sandwich is disputed. Several U.S. cooks and restaurants made competing claims around the turn of the 20th century, so there is no single origin story everyone agrees on.

What is not disputed is how thoroughly the burger became part of American eating. Today, the country has everything from thin griddled sliders and fried-onion burgers to thick steakhouse patties, stuffed burgers, and plant-based versions. The basic idea is simple. What restaurants do with it is anything but.

To compile this list of standout burger joints across the U.S., 24/7 Tempo reviewed recommendations, ratings, and coverage from outlets including Food & Wine, The Daily Meal, Thrillist, Eater, and Yelp, along with state and regional restaurant guides. We also checked current restaurant websites and recent local coverage for location, history, and menu details. Several of the places below have been serving burgers for generations, and a few trace their roots back more than a century. Don't forget to check with your favorite fast food place today, many have deals on free cheeseburgers!

Here is our guide to a standout burger joint in every state.

• Location: Athens
• Founded: 1961

Dub's has been feeding Athens since 1961, when Weaver "Dub" Greenhaw moved from selling burgers out of a fairground truck to a permanent restaurant. The menu still sticks close to burger-joint basics, with made-to-order hamburgers and cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and a handful of sandwiches and sides.

• Location: Anchorage
• Founded: 1964

Arctic Roadrunner got its start in 1964 and has grown into an Anchorage institution without losing its old-school feel. Along with beef burgers, the menu includes Alaska-friendly options such as salmon and halibut sandwiches, plus fries, onion rings, and milkshakes. The walls are packed with customer photos, which fits a place that has had decades to collect regulars.

• Location: Tempe
• Founded: 1972

The Chuckbox has been grilling burgers over an open mesquite fire in Tempe since 1972. The setup is deliberately simple: order a burger, customize it, grab a side, and bring cash because the restaurant remains cash-only. The wood-fired cooking is the point here, and it has been for more than 50 years.

• Location: Paragould
• Founded: 1985

Hamburger Station really is housed in a former service station. The old Texaco property became a burger restaurant in 1985, and the Paragould stop has kept the roadside feel ever since. Burgers are the main attraction, with sandwiches and other diner-style fare filling out the menu.

• Location: West Hollywood and multiple Southern California locations
• Founded: 1946

Irv's traces its history to 1946, when the stand opened as Queen's Burgers along what was then Route 66. The old "No Lobster, Just Burgers" slogan survived the restaurant's later name and ownership changes. After relocations and a closure, Irv's was revived and has since expanded beyond its longtime West Hollywood home, while the menu still centers on burgers, hot dogs, fries, and other roadside-stand staples.

• Location: Sedalia
• Founded: 1948

Bud's has been serving Sedalia since 1948 and has never had much interest in menu sprawl. Burgers and cheeseburgers are the reason to stop, with pickles and onions on the side and chips instead of a mountain of extras. It is also cash-only, another old-school detail that has stuck around.

• Location: New Haven
• Founded: 1895

Louis' Lunch has operated in New Haven since 1895 and is one of the country's best-known claimants to the invention of the hamburger sandwich. The Lassen family dates its first hamburger to 1900, but burger origin stories are disputed. What is not in dispute is the restaurant's stripped-down formula: beef cooked in vertical cast-iron broilers and served on white toast, with cheese, onion, and tomato as the only burger garnishes.

• Location: Rehoboth Beach
• Founded: 1956

Gus & Gus Place has been on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk since 1956, when Gus Svolis opened the family business. Burgers are still a centerpiece, but the menu also covers boardwalk standards such as fries, cheesesteaks, hot dogs, and breakfast. Three generations of the family have kept the place going.

• Location: Tampa
• Founded: 2016

Thee Burger Spot opened in Tampa in 2016 and has built its menu around classic burgers and bigger specialty builds. One of the current attention-grabbers is "Thee Glazed One," a bacon cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut bun and offered on Fridays and Saturdays. There are more conventional choices too, in case dessert-as-a-bun is not part of the plan.

• Location: Dunwoody and six other Georgia locations
• Founded: 2010

Village Burger started in Dunwoody in 2010 and has since expanded to seven Georgia locations. The menu stays approachable, with burgers, hot dogs, wings, salads, fries, onion rings, and ice cream. It is more neighborhood burger shop than stunt-food laboratory, and that formula has traveled well.

• Location: Kawaihae (Big Island)
• Founded: 2010

Kohala Burger & Taco opened in Kawaihae in November 2010. The restaurant leans on Hawaii ingredients, including grass-fed island beef for its burgers and fresh local fish for tacos when available. Chef-owner Cary Peterson also brought experience from his family's Mexican restaurant and from working at a burger stand, which explains why burgers and tacos share the marquee without feeling random.

• Location: Coeur d'Alene
• Founded: 1907

Hudson's began in 1907, when Harley M. Hudson started selling food from a tent in Coeur d'Alene. The Hudson family has kept the counter going for generations, and the menu remains famously narrow, centered on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, drinks, and a small set of extras. More than a century in, there is not much reason to overcomplicate it.

• Location: Chicago
• Founded: Not publicly documented

That's a Burger has operated at its current Stony Island address under that name since 2015. The menu is broader than the sign suggests, with beef and turkey burgers alongside chicken, salmon, black-bean, and other veggie options, plus fresh-cut fries and sides. Turkey burgers remain one of the shop's signatures.

• Location: West Lafayette
• Founded: 1929

Triple XXX has been part of West Lafayette since 1929, when it opened as a "thirst station" near Purdue University. The curved counter and root-beer branding still give it a drive-in-era feel, while the menu covers burgers, fries, shakes, and breakfast served throughout the day.

• Location: Wilton
• Founded: 2000

Arty's opened in Wilton in 2000 and does exactly what the name promises: burgers and ice cream, with plenty of grill food in between. It has become a local stop for straightforward diner fare and frozen treats rather than a place trying to turn every burger into a stunt.

• Location: Overland Park
• Founded: 2002

Grandstand has operated since 2002 and is now a carryout-and-delivery-only burger stop on Merriam Drive in Overland Park. The current menu covers classic singles, doubles, and triples, plus specialty burgers such as fried-avocado, Hawaiian, and mushroom-and-Swiss versions, with fries, tots, shakes, and malts alongside.

• Location: Hodgenville
• Founded: 1934

Laha's Red Castle has been serving Hodgenville since 1934. The tiny Lincoln Square counter keeps the menu short and familiar, with burgers, hot dogs, chili dogs, fries, onion rings, and a few other basics. Ninety-plus years is a pretty good argument for not reinventing the menu every six months.

• Location: Lafayette
• Founded: 1947

Judice Inn opened on April 5, 1947, after brothers Alcide and Marc Judice returned from World War II and built the original restaurant with help from family. It remains a family business, serving burgers with its signature sauce and bags of chips on the side. One long-running quirk has survived too: there are still no fries.

• Location: Falmouth
• Founded: 1960

Harmon's Lunch has been a Falmouth burger stand since 1960. It is still cash-only and now operates as a walk-up and takeout spot with outdoor seating rather than the old indoor booths. Burgers, hot dogs, fries, and onion rings carry most of the load.

• Location: Towson
• Founded: 2007

Burger Bros. opened in Towson in 2007, founded by brothers Tim and Mike Murphy. The counter-service menu stays focused on burgers, fries, chicken, hot dogs, wings, and simple sides rather than burying the basics under a dozen gimmicks.

• Location: West Springfield and Holyoke
• Founded: 1939

White Hut has served West Springfield since 1939 and now also has a Holyoke location. The original still works the old diner lane with "hamburgs" and "cheeseburgs," fried onions, hot dogs, breakfast, shakes, and floats. The vocabulary is almost as old-school as the counter.

• Location: Detroit, Redford, and Southgate
• Founded: 1929

Motz's traces its burger-stand history to 1929 and now operates in Detroit, Redford, and Southgate. The focus is still on compact burgers cooked with onions, plus fries, shakes, and a small supporting cast of sandwiches. The Motz name came later, but the burger tradition is much older.

• Location: St. Paul
• Founded: 1938

Casper's and Runyon's Nook has been a St. Paul fixture since 1938. Its signature lane is stuffed burgers, alongside regular burgers and fries, and Guy Fieri has stopped by more than once. The restaurant also sits alongside the Ran-Ham Bowling Center, so a burger and a few frames can happen on the same outing.

• Location: New Albany
• Founded: 1928

Latham's Hamburger Inn traces its history to 1928, when R.W. Staggs opened the original operation in a trolley car. The New Albany shop is especially known for the Mississippi doughburger, and its longtime griddle dates to the restaurant's earliest era. The Latham family took over decades later and the name stuck.

• Location: Branson
• Founded: Not publicly documented

Billy Bob's Dairyland is a cash-only Branson diner on West Highway 76 with burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, fries, onion rings, ice cream, and milkshakes. The place leans hard into the classic small-town-diner look, from the booths to the soundtrack, without turning the menu into a nostalgia museum.

• Location: Polson
• Founded: 1962

Richwine's Burgerville dates to 1962 and spent 64 years in the Richwine family. In 2026, the family sold the Polson drive-in to new owners, who said they planned to operate year-round. That means the old March-to-September schedule is no longer a safe assumption, even though the restaurant remains tied to its burger-and-drive-in roots.

• Location: Martinsburg
• Founded: 1977

Bob Lamprecht opened Bob's Bar & Grill in Martinsburg in 1977, and the place built its reputation around a very large burger. The patties are about 11 ounces before cooking, and the sides can be nearly as oversized. In a town this small, subtle was apparently never part of the business plan.

• Location: Reno
• Diner building dates to: 1947

Beefy's occupies a Reno diner building that first opened in 1947 as Landrum's Hamburger System No. 1. The current Beefy's operation came much later, with Roy Brennan taking over in 2014. Fresh-ground burgers are the centerpiece now, but the diner itself carries most of the historical mileage.

• Location: Portsmouth
• Founded: 1912; current diner car built in 1940

Gilley's roots go back to 1912, while the Worcester Lunch Car still in use today was built in 1940. The diner was once hauled into Market Square to feed late-night customers and has been parked on Fleet Street since 1974, with the old towing truck still attached. Burgers, hot dogs, and fries remain the core of the menu.

• Location: Highland Park
• Founded: 1957

White Rose Hamburgers opened in Highland Park on Sept. 5, 1957, founded by brothers Bobby and Jack Hemmings and their cousin Jimmy Hemmings. The original location remains a classic Jersey diner stop built around burgers, fries, shakes, and breakfast fare. The streamlined counter-service setup is part of the appeal, not a bug to be fixed.

• Location: Santa Fe
• Founded: 2013; predecessor Bobcat Bite opened in 1953

Santa Fe Bite opened in 2013 as the successor to Bobcat Bite, a roadside restaurant whose history goes back to 1953. The green chile cheeseburger remains the calling card, but the current employee-owned restaurant has expanded into steaks, Mexican dishes, breakfast, coffee, and desserts. The lineage is old; the Santa Fe Bite name itself is not.

• Location: New York City (West Village and East Village)
• Founded: 1961

Corner Bistro has served the West Village since 1961 and added an East Village location in 2025. The original at 331 W. 4th St. remains a cash-only, walk-in neighborhood bar built around burgers, fries, and beer. It still calls itself the last of the bohemian bars in West Greenwich Village, which is about as West Village a sentence as you can write.

• Location: Charlotte
• Founded: 1973

Brooks' Sandwich House was opened in 1973 by Calvin "C.T." Brooks Jr. His twin sons David and Scott later carried it on, and another generation has since joined the business. The Charlotte counter is still built around no-frills burgers, cheeseburgers, and its house chili.

• Location: Velva
• Founded: Not publicly documented

Finish Line is still serving Velva with a build-your-own burger format and a wide range of toppings. Its oversized Rudland Challenge is listed as six half-pound patties with pepperoni, pepper jack, bacon, and Texas toast, plus a pound of fries, with one hour to finish. Complete it in time and the challenge listing says the meal is free, with a T-shirt and a spot on the Wall of Fame.

• Location: Akron (2 locations)
• Founded: 1931

Bob's Hamburg has been serving Akron since 1931 and bills itself as the city's oldest operating restaurant. The original East Avenue building began as a trolley car, and the old-school setup remains part of the draw. Today Bob's has two Akron locations and serves burgers alongside all-day breakfast, fries, onion rings, and shakes.

• Location: El Reno
• Founded: 1946

Johnnie's has been pressing onions into burgers in El Reno since 1946, part of the city's well-known fried-onion-burger tradition. The menu still revolves around single, double, and triple burgers, with coneys and breakfast items filling out the old-school grill lineup.

• Location: Molalla
• Founded: 1967

Big Burger has been a Molalla fixture since 1967 and remains a third-generation family-owned drive-in. The menu stays close to classic drive-in territory, with burgers that can be stacked, plus fries, seafood baskets, chicken strips, and milkshakes.

• Location: Whitehall
• Founded: Around 2010

The Burger Shack dates to the start of the 2010s and built its name around stuffed burgers, with cheese and other fillings tucked into the patties instead of merely piled on top. The restaurant says it uses 94% lean grass-fed beef, and its current menu also includes chicken, hot dogs, grilled cheese, pulled pork, and meatless options.

• Location: Central Falls
• Founded: 1932

Polish immigrant Stanley F. Kryla opened Stanley's in Central Falls in 1932 during the Great Depression. The basic Stanley Burger is still the anchor, usually paired with grilled onions and pickles, while the modern menu has expanded to doubles, bacon and mushroom versions, sandwiches, fries, chili, shakes, and more.

• Location: Spartanburg
• Founded: 1960

Ike's Korner Grill has been a Spartanburg fixture since 1960. Burgers are the main event, including a pimento cheeseburger that leans into South Carolina flavor, while fries, hot dogs, sandwiches, and oversized burger challenges round out the menu.

• Location: Brookings
• Founded: 1929

Harold and Gladys Nikalson opened Nick's on Nov. 2, 1929, after seeing the success of the Swezey hamburger system in Iowa. That broader burger concept eventually spread across the Midwest, while Nick's endured in Brookings. The tiny shop still keeps the menu centered on simple burgers, shakes, soft drinks, and pie.

• Location: Memphis
• Founded: 1912

Elmer "Doc" Dyer opened his Memphis cafe in 1912, and Dyer's still cooks burgers in seasoned grease that is strained daily. The restaurant describes the idea of its literally "ageless" grease as a legend and explains that the cooking process continually produces and maintains the seasoned grease. The Beale Street menu offers single, double, and triple burgers along with wings, tenders, fries, and shakes.

• Location: Granbury and seven other Texas locations
• Founded: 2001

Collier Albright left a corporate career and opened the first Grumps in Granbury in 2001. The Texas chain has since grown to eight locations, but the formula remains recognizably burger-joint territory, with beef burgers, cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, shakes, and a few regional touches.

• Location: Moab
• Founded: 1954

Milt Galbraith opened Milt's in September 1954, making it Moab's oldest restaurant. The little drive-in still leans into burgers and shakes, using grass-fed beef and keeping the menu more classic than trendy. After seven decades, the building itself is part of the experience.

• Location: Shelburne
• Founded: 2010

Archie's opened in Shelburne in 2010 and now uses locally sourced LaPlatte River Angus beef for its burgers. The menu has plenty of Vermont fingerprints, including Cabot cheddar, Harrington's bacon, horseradish, and maple syrup on selected burgers, alongside vegetarian options, salads, wings, and hot dogs.

• Location: Purcellville
• Founded: 2012

Market Burger opened in Purcellville in 2012 and has kept a local-food focus, sourcing from nearby producers whenever possible. Burgers, fries, and shakes are still the core of the menu, with beer and cider also available.

• Location: Discovery Bay (Port Townsend mailing address)
• Current location opened: 1983

Fat Smitty's sits on U.S. 101 at Discovery Bay, near the junction with State Route 20. Carl "Fat Smitty" Schmidt opened the restaurant at its current location in 1983. It remains cash-only, and customers still pin dollar bills to the walls and ceiling; every few years, the money is taken down and donated to charity. Burgers, fries, onion rings, and milkshakes keep the roadside-stop side of the equation intact.

• Location: Capon Bridge
• Founded: 2015

Pete and Kate Pacelli opened Farmer's Daughter in Capon Bridge in 2015 as a butcher shop and cafe with a nose-to-tail approach. The Washington Post praised its dry-aged beef burger, made with cuts including chuck, round, and short rib and topped with American cheese, pickled red onion, lettuce, and Duke's mayonnaise, as "world-class." That is a lot of pressure for one sandwich and apparently not enough to scare it off.

• Location: Glendale (Milwaukee area)
• Founded: 1936

Solly's has been family-owned since 1936 and still operates from Glendale, just outside Milwaukee. Its signature butterburger is exactly what the name suggests: a sirloin burger finished with a generous amount of Wisconsin butter and stewed onions. The restaurant earned a James Beard America's Classics award in 2022, but the counter-service diner feel has not been traded in for anything fancy.

• Location: Rock Springs
• Founded: 1996

Broadway Burger Station opened in Rock Springs in 1996, and Carl Tygum, his sister, and his mother bought it in 2006. The 1950s theme remains, along with big burgers, fries, sandwiches, and handmade shakes. The current menu still includes oversized builds and a teriyaki burger, so the diner nostalgia is doing more than decorating the walls.