For the past six years or so, it seems like every new burger business in the Bay Area has been focused solely on smash burgers — the napkin-thin beef patties with the crispy edges that spill outside the buns. They’ve become so popular that even chefs hailing from esteemed kitchens have opened up their own smash burger concepts.
But in San Francisco, the trend seems to be changing back to something juicier.
Newer and very buzzy restaurants like Side A, Dingles Public House and RT Bistro, to name a few, are leaning back into thicker patties that erupt with burger juices. Whatever you want to call them — bistro burgers, tavern-style, pub burgers, thick boi burgers — these beefier, flavorful patties seem to be back en vogue.
Article continues below this ad
“In a sense it’s like fashion: Everyone was wearing skinny jeans and now the pants are baggy again,” George Dingle, chef and owner of his eponymous Hayes Valley restaurant, told SFGATE. “But I do feel like the world is gravitating more back to tradition because the world is moving too fast and everyone now is like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not smash these burgers any thinner.’”
Dingles Public House in San Francisco.
Kim P/Ethel R. via Yelp
There’s a longstanding tradition of excellent “traditional” burgers in San Francisco. Nopa is arguably the most famous with its almost ball-shaped patty the size of a fist. Zuni Cafe, while best known for its oven-roasted chicken, has on its lunch menu a hockey puck-shaped burger on rosemary focaccia with a house-made aioli. Spruce has a similarly thickset burger, except on an English muffin, which can only be ordered in the bar and lounge area. These are just a few of the longstanding city restaurants that did not give into the smash burger craze and stuck to the type of burgers we all grew up eating at backyard barbecues.
But these new restaurants, which are giving new life to the thick patties, were mostly inspired by other restaurants … or none at all.
Article continues below this ad
At Dingles Public House, an upscale British pub, the burger is arguably best enjoyed at the bar with the restaurant’s signature 007 vesper martini (right now my favorite martini in the city). Chef Dingle said his burger was heavily inspired by the one he used to cook at Monsieur Benjamin, the French restaurant from Benu’s Corey Lee that shuttered in 2024. But of course, chef Dingle riffed on it to make it his own.
“I think it’s just my preference that I just love that juicy patty that’s kind of messy,” Dingle said. “We just wanted to do a no-frills, unfussy kind of setup for the burger because it has lots of umami that we wanted to shine through.”
The burger at Dingles Public House in San Francisco.
Jesse Cudworth Photography
Messy was certainly correct as a pool of juices spread onto the plate after just one bite. No wonder the hand-cut and triple-cooked French fries were displayed like a bouquet of flowers in a metal French fry holder so they wouldn’t get soggy. But the burger was tremendous in its own right.
Article continues below this ad
Chef Dingle said the team renders down all of the trimmings from the New York strip steak on the menu and they throw a bunch of aromatics like garlic, thyme and rosemary into the fat before chilling it and adding it through the meat grinder with the burger chuck. When it all comes together with the house milk-bread-meets-brioche bun, American cheddar cheese and onions done two ways — grilled and raw — the end result is a classic burger flavor but with those extra hints of umami adding a bit of complexity.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I found myself in a trance during this recent dinner: a spiritual rotation of taking a bite of the burger, then a French fry, then a bite of the pickle spear served on the side before washing it all down with a gulp of the martini. It’s a mind state that I long for again already.
Madeleine H/Kim P. via Yelp
At Side A, the modern American bistro and vinyl listening bar with Midwestern influences in the Mission District, chef Parker Brown has created perhaps the most unique cheeseburger in the city. Brown, who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, was raised on pub-style burgers, he said.
Article continues below this ad
“We wanted to do a burger that was cooked to medium but that was over-the-top and hearty,” Brown said. “Our whole brand is that little subconscious nostalgia that you don’t realize until it clicks with a certain bite. But I didn’t have that nostalgia with a smash burger. So I did what I know best.”
Over-the-top is right. The Side A burger has all the components of a cheeseburger, but “taken to level 10,” Brown said. Instead of American or cheddar cheese, it’s the Kenne goat cheese from Tomales Farmstead Creamery. Peppery watercress replaces shredded iceberg lettuce because, as Brown put it, “We’ve all had burgers with too much lettuce.” Slices of house-brined dill pickles and a red onion jam add a necessary acidity to round it all out.
And then there’s the forearm-sized cow bone served on the side for patrons to scrape glutinous amounts of piping-hot bone marrow from. The bone marrow aspect was inspired by a trip back home, with chef de cuisine Manuel Quintero, where they went to the legendary bistro Au Cheval. Patrons are known to order the bone marrow and the cheeseburger and combine the two, Brown said.
Overall, it’s a divisive burger, Brown admitted, but it’s a decadent bite unlike any other in San Francisco. And it makes its return on May 1, after a seven-month hiatus, according to Brown.
Article continues below this ad
A decadent cheeseburger at Side A in San Francisco.
Courtesy of Side A
Then there’s the burger at RT Bistro, the latest concept from Sarah and Evan Rich, the power couple behind Rich Table. Evan admitted that he doesn’t eat many burgers around the city but does have a soft spot for In-N-Out, Peter Luger Steak House in New York City and the burger at Nopa. He and Sarah, like with all the food they make, were really just inspired by their own stomachs, he told SFGATE.
Interestingly enough, before Rich Table, Evan had never before worked at a restaurant that sold a burger.
“I’m not sure why but perhaps that’s why we put so much effort into this one: We did not have much of a reference point beyond just what we like to eat,” he said. “One of our go-to meals, when we have the night off together as a family, is to cook a delicious burger. So we really just tried to make it the way we like it.”
Article continues below this ad
As it turns out, the way they like it is also the way everyone likes it. Using a blend of beef chuck, brisket, short rib and dry-aged rib-eye cap from Olivier’s Butchery in Dogpatch, RT Bistro churns out an average of 53 thick bois a night, Evan said. The burger is a riff on the famed secret-menu burger at Rich Table, which they only made 12 of per night. After the pandemic, the duo decided they wanted to focus on the tasting menu at Rich Table, pushing the burger to the side. But when they opened RT Bistro, it was an opportunity to make it a centerpiece.
The menu at RT Bistro in San Francisco on Jan. 20, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The dining area at RT Bistro in San Francisco on Jan. 20, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The RT Bistro Burger with dill pickled onion, California cheddar, RT Bistro sauce and triple-cooked fries at RT Bistro in San Francisco on Jan. 20, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The burger blend, made special for them, is first seared on the griddle and topped with a mix of parmesan and cheddar cheeses. Then it’s finished in the wood fire oven for a distinctive smokiness, which is rounded out by dill pickled onions. That’s right. They couldn’t decide if they wanted dill pickles or onions on the burger, favoring simplicity to let the meat shine, so they combined the two, Evan said. It’s truly outstanding.
Article continues below this ad
“We try to focus on what we do and not pay too much attention to trends. We just want to make sure we are exceeding our guests’ expectations and focus on that,” he continued. “If you start following trends rather than doing what’s true to you, you will lose that authenticity that people love.”
Whether it’s a trend or not, hearty, fat burgers are making a comeback in San Francisco. I wouldn’t say that this is the end of the smash burger era, but there does seem to be room for all kinds of burgers. And our dining scene is better because of it.