The Abridged version:
Benjy Egel, the senior food editor at Abridged, spent seven months eating burgers around the Sacramento region.
His list of the region’s 13 best includes gut-stuffers in Sacramento and six of its suburbs, from Davis to Rocklin.
Some of the top burgers are simple but done well, while others include premium meat blends or international flavors.
Over the past seven months, I’ve eaten more than 50 burgers at restaurants across the Sacramento region. These, I’m convinced, are the 13 best.
My list of favorites, in no particular order, spans from Davis to Rocklin. It includes excellently done fast food and premium products worth paying a little extra, classics made right and innovations meant to invoke foreign dishes. Rather than judging high-end burgers against cheaper options, I evaluated each based on how good they were at what they were trying to be.
While this list contains no inherently vegetarian burgers, several of these restaurants, particularly those dedicated to burgers as a concept, offer vegan patties as alternatives to their meaty main choices. I’ve flagged those in each entry, along with the price and address.
Think I’m missing something? Write it in the box at the bottom of the story. Just be sure to ID a single burger, rather than simply giving the restaurant’s name.
Pangaea burger at Pangaea Bier Cafe
Pangaea Bier Cafe’s Pangaea burger and fries. (Tyler Bastine)
Yes, Pangaea Bier Cafe is closing, but you can still taste this burger until March 19. Pangaea catalyzed Sacramento’s nascent craft beer scene when it opened in 2008, debuting a chalkboard of Belgian, German and choice American brews that continues to be among the city’s best 18 years later. Along the way, the Curtis Park restaurant’s chefs developed a premier burger, one that won the Sacramento Burger Battle three times during the event’s heyday of the mid-2010s.
A half-pound Harris Ranch patty plays host to melted Tillamook cheddar, bacon, housemade pickle chips and a tangy sauce that’s part Thousand Island, part sambal oelek. Piercing the airy, Folsom-baked Bella Bru bun is easy; the real work comes next. Get it before Pangaea shuts down, or cross your fingers that Rob and Kin Archie find the new location they’re seeking.
$22 w/ fries or salad | 2743 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento | Vegetarian option: no
Hawaiian burger at Kitchen747
Kitchen747’s Hawaiian burger. (Tyler Bastine)
“If you build it, they will come.” The “Field of Dreams” quote backs developer Juli Hilton’s vision for West Roseville, where she’s behind a massive housing expansion and several nearby restaurants, including Kitchen747. The generically named New American restaurant with a lovely patio could easily be mistaken for another, were it not for burgers that make you stand up and pay attention.
While many are grand, the Hawaiian burger (introduced about a year ago) edges them all out for the top spot. Piedmontese beef imported from Northern Italy is supported by two grilled pineapple rings, teriyaki sauce that’s complimentary instead of cloying and aioli with a backstory: Hilton sources the garlic from Christopher Ranch, the Gilroy farm her family founded in 1956.
$19 w/ fries | 2320 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville | Vegetarian option: yes
Turkey bánh mì burger at Tommy J’s Grill & Catering
Tommy J’s bánh mì burger. (Benjy Egel)
Any self-respecting college town has a burger joint worth its salt. In Davis it’s Tommy J’s, also known as Froggy’s (the two businesses merged in 2013), a bustling corner locale that turns into a karaoke bar at night.
The Firehouse (garlic blue cheese spread, Frank’s RedHot sauce, bacon, housemade guacamole and Thousand Island) and the Aggie Jam (a tongue-grabber with the same spread, Cajun mayo and bacon jam) have both won the Davis Burger Battle within the past five years, but so has the turkey bánh mì burger, which beats them by a nose in my book. While turkey can be a bit dense, this half-pound patty holds up perfectly against a fiery Vietnamese slaw (đồ chua) and savory layers of hoisin sauce and mayo between sesame buns. Pick the golden, fluffy fries as your side.
$18 w/ fries, tots or salad | 726 2nd St., Davis | Vegetarian option: yes
Double smash burger at Elixir Bar & Grill
Elixir’s double smash burger. (Benjy Egel)
A crusty, 20-year-old dive bar on the fringes of Downtown Sacramento, Elixir has less than 10 items on its food menu. All it needs are the stellar chicken wings and the single ($12) or double smash burgers, which have become local barfly lore over the past few years.
Two patties are preferred in order to taste more of the pleasant char covering each scraggly slab of meat, with crunchy lettuce, white onions, American cheese and a mild house sauce all members of the supporting cast. Served in red plastic baskets with skinny, crispy fries, it’s everything you want at the end of a bar tab.
$14 w/ fries | 1815 10th St., Sacramento | Vegetarian option: no
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Monk’s burger at The Monk’s Cellar
Monk’s burger at The Monk’s Cellar. (Benjy Egel)
The funky scent of fermentation greets customers as they walk into The Monk’s Cellar, a Belgian-inspired brewpub in downtown Roseville. Order a portobello mushroom cap or housemade nut patty burger to go with your beer, and you’ll still be treated to sweet pickled onions, melted Gruyère, peppery arugula and a mix of garlic aioli and Russian dressing.
But eschewing meat means missing out on the best part of Monk’s burger: a hefty blend of brisket, short rib and chuck, custom ground by 80-year-old Roseville Meat Market. Duck fat fries and Belgian frites sauce can accompany your meal for an additional $2.
$19 | 240 Vernon St., Roseville | Vegetarian option: yes
Gami burger at Gami Burger
Gami Burger at its Carmichael location. (Denis Akbari)
Carmichael’s best new restaurant of 2025 was a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott Ostrander saw a buddy from his fine dining days making lockdown burgers at two-Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant Ever; if that chef could do it, Ostrander could too, he reasoned. The first pop-up at Ostrander and Paul DiPierro’s East Sacramento restaurant Origami Asian Grill sold out within an hour, and Gami Burger’s demand hasn’t slowed much since replacing community fixture Willie’s Burgers last June.
In the flagship Gami burger, it’s easy to see why. Gooey American cheese forms gentle skirts around two smash patties custom-made by San Francisco’s Bi-Rite Market (Gami also offers singles, triples and quadruples), with housemade sunomono pickles and secret sauce to break up the heaviness and Truckee Sourdough Co. brioche buns holding it all together. It’s the kind of burger to spur expansion: Seven months after making its Carmichael debut, Gami Burger opened a second location in Midtown Sacramento.
$11 | 5093 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael, and 2301 K St., Sacramento | Vegetarian option: no
Chapli kebab burger at House of Shah Afghan Urban Eats
House of Shah’s chapli kebab burger. (Benjy Egel)
One way to stand out in a sea of burgers: Start with something that’s not a burger. House of Shah’s chapli kebab patty tastes more like its namesake skewer than a simply salted ground beef puck. An aromatic mix of cumin, coriander, ground red pepper and cilantro in halal beef gives Selymon Shahsamand and Juliana Garcia Shahsamand’s Cali-Afghan restaurant a patty like no one else.
The burger’s housemade garlic-yogurt sauce and a tabbouleh-like salad offered in place of shoestring fries fold in additional Middle Eastern elements, while eggy brioche buns, crunchy iceberg lettuce and choice of American, Swiss or pepper jack cheese are more traditionally Californian.
$15.50 w/ fries or salad | 538 Main St., Woodland | Vegetarian option: no
Ngo burger at Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine
Kru’s Ngo burger. (Tyler Bastine)
Kru is the crème de la crème of Sacramento’s sushi scene. But ask owner Billy Ngo, a 2024 James Beard Award finalist for “Best Chef — California,” what restaurant dish he’d wish for on a desert island, and he’ll name the burger.
The Ngo Burger is the fast food-loving fine dining chef’s version of comfort food, a blend of chuck and A5 Wagyu topped with red leaf lettuce, an heirloom tomato slice (when in season), roe-infused aioli, pickles and American cheese on a Hokkaido-style milk bun. It’s relatively light and served without fries or a drink, keeping it at $20 even in Kru’s upscale East Sacramento dining room. Order one per two people as another shareable alongside your sushi, or keep the whole thing for yourself.
$20 | 3135 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento | Vegetarian option: no
Whitey’s special burger at Whitey’s Jolly Kone
Patrons at Whitey’s Jolly Kone. (Tyler Bastine)
Everything is more expensive today than in 1963, when Emile “Whitey” Boisclair opened his roadside burger stand along Jefferson Boulevard. But Whitey’s Jolly Kone’s signature burger remains one of the best deals around at $7.65, with an even more pared-down version available for a mere $4.50.
A pair of smashed patties, smoky bacon, mayo and American cheese smack the taste buds with nostalgic bliss, celebrated by the confetti of iceberg lettuce that’s impossible to keep in the paper wrapper. The founder’s grandkids and their spouses took the reins in 2023 but keep the modernity over at Emile’s Cafe, the West Sacramento coffeehouse they opened in July. Whitey’s is for classics — including this burger, ideally paired with the famous summer peach milkshake.
$7.65 | 1300 Jefferson Blvd., West Sacramento | Vegetarian option: yes
Flannery Beef burger at Historic Star Lounge
Historic Star Lounge’s Flannery Beef burger. (Benjy Egel)
With a dark, swanky hotel dining room and cocktail bar overlooking Sutter’s Fort, the Historic Star Lounge could have settled for a nice-but-forgettable burger on its menu. Instead, chef Galice Ryan reimagined French onion soup.
His rendition neatly packs 6 ounces of dry-aged Flannery Beef, caramelized onions cooked in veal jus and melted Gruyère cheese between potato buns, with two skewered cornichons rising out of the top and salty fries on the side. It’s soupy but not sloppy, a creative concept expertly executed by the former Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. chef. You’ll see it on the happy hour menu from 3-6 on weekdays, but it’s available off-menu during dinner as well.
$22 w/ fries | 2719 K St., Sacramento | Vegetarian option: no
Venison cafe burger at Flaming Grill Cafe
Flaming Grill Cafe’s venison burger. (Benjy Egel)
Country Club Plaza has been hollowed out and transformed, but Flaming Grill is still firing. Jose Silva’s sports bar has survived 18 years inside the old mall thanks to 1) a terrific tap list and 2) burgers made with out-there meats such as alligator tail, wild boar and frog legs. Some are mostly offered for shock-and-awe, but the venison burger can stand on its four hooves.
It’s gamey but not enough to drive away first-timers, simple but easily upgradable if one wants more than spring mix, tomato, onions, meat and a house pink sauce between brioche buns. Be warned, though: The more accoutrements one adds, the more difficult this deer is to taste.
$14 | 2380 Watt Ave., Suite 150, Sacramento | Vegetarian option: yes
Natomas burger at Monsoon Burger
Monsoon Burger’s mural. (Benjy Egel)
Half the credit for this burger can go to Monsoon’s cooks, who lather the patty in a Cajun rub, cook it to exact specified doneness on a lampshade-shaped rotating grill and slide it onto buttery buns toasted to a delicate crisp. The rest is up to the customer, who selects the cheese (pick cheddar or pepper jack for something mild, or the off-menu ghost pepper jack to amp up the spice even further) and all other condiments from a salad bar.
To my tongue, the ideal add-ons include hot pickle chips, lettuce, tomato, red onions and “kick sauce,” the North Natomas restaurant’s version of spicy mayo. I’m not mad at anyone who wants to add a glob of guacamole ($2 extra), though, or kimchi fermented by owner Jim Hsu’s father. You can also tack on half a hot link for another dollar, thus making it the NoLa Burger.
$13.50 (6-ounce patty) or $14.70 (8-ounce) w/ fries, carrot sticks or mixed greens | 4740 Natomas Blvd., Suite 130, Sacramento | Vegetarian option: yes
Peanut butter burger at The Chef’s Table
The Chef’s Table’s off-menu peanut butter burger. (Benjy Egel)
A relatively upscale restaurant in Rocklin West shopping center, The Chef’s Table rotates an ever-changing burger through its menu — sometimes made to mimic In-N-Out’s “animal style,” other times laden with Brie cheese, whole grain mustard and bacon fig jam. The off-menu peanut butter burger, though, is always available.
Liquified peanut butter is infused with Sriracha to create a Thai-like blend of flavors, then spread across torched buns with grape jelly, sharp cheddar and applewood-smoked bacon atop a brisket/short rib/chuck patty. A steak knife with half a dill pickle pierces the burger in a valiant effort to hold it together, but there’s no stopping a mess here. No wonder it comes with wet wipes.
$21 | 6843 Lonetree Blvd., Suite 103, Rocklin | Vegetarian option: no
Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.