These days we insist on knowing the name of the cow who provided the patties, and the artisan baker who made the brioche. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of burger artists working in grass-fed beef, home-made pickles, and locally-sourced cheese. Here are a few of the best burgers in Australia right now.

Burger Theory
8-10 Union Street,
Adelaide, SA

Once a roving food truck (and destined to be once again), Burger Theory has developed a cultish following in Adelaide. Their disciples were converted by a choice of two burgers: No. 1, with iceberg lettuce, tomato, American cheese and Truck sauce; or No. 2, with crispy pancetta, onion confit and Adelaide Blue cheese sauce. Both of em are made with Coorong Angus Beef ground that day and are served on a Breadtop bun.

The saucy A&C burger at Alfred and Constance.

Alfred and Constance
Corner Alfred & Constance Streets,
Fortitude Valley, QLD

Not everyone has a Josper Oven – the world’s hottest indoor wood-fired barbecue – but the guys at Brisbane gastro pub Alfred and Constance do. Perhaps even more importantly, they know how to put it to good use, charring up Killarney country beef patty for their A&C Burger, accompanied by bacon, tomato relish, melted aged cheddar, crispy onion on toasted brioche bun.

Carolina Kitchen
38 Macaulay Street,
Coorparoo, QLD

Yet another example that life’s pleasure’s need only be simple can be found in Brisbane’s Carolina Kitchen, which makes one of the city’s best cheeseburgers. It’s creator, Mike Perry, is actually from North Carolina, so these hamburgers have a genuine American heritage. Perry imports mustard and ketchup direct from the States to ensure his burgers taste like they do back home.

Mary’s Burger in Newtown features “trash-can bacon” on request. Source: Instagram

Mary’s
6 Mary Street,
Newtown, NSW 

Oh so hot right now is Mary’s Newtown. Head chef Luke Powell, who used to work in a little place named Tetsuya’s, is staking a legitimate claim on Sydney’s Best Burger. Simply named ‘Mary’s Burger,’ the title-holder uses a beef patty made of chuck, brisket and rump, and is served with melted cheese on a soft white bun. Hungry buggers can double-down with some ‘trash-can bacon,’ a rasher smoked exactly where it sounds like it’s smoked. Meanwhile, Mary’s probably has the best drinks list of any burger joint, with Young Henry’s and Resches on tap and world-class cocktails.

Hayes Creek Inn
55 Stuart Highway,
Hayes Creek, NT

If you’ve just emerged from a couple of weeks in Kakadu, you’ll be needing some additional vitamin b(urger). Thankfully, Hayes Creek Inn Roadhouse can provide you with that. We’ll admit that halfway between Katherine and Darwin, isn’t exactly a convenient location, but once you get your hands around their signature Buffalo Burger, made from 100 per cent Territorian Water Buffalo smothered in barbecue sauce, the journey will all make sense.

The Tassie Tempter – is everything the classic Aussie burger should be.

Burger Got Soul
160 Sandy Bay Road
Sandy Bay, TAS

If you’re in Hobart and you’re not eating wallaby or scallop pie, Burger Got Soul could be the ticket. Nominally a Tasmanian chain (there’s another store in Launceston), Burger Got Soul’s ‘Tassie Tempter’ – lean beef, tasty cheese, crispy trim bacon, a free-range egg, beetroot, salad, relish and home-made mayo – is everything the classic Aussie burger should be, but bettered by the natural wonder that is Tasmanian produce.

The ultimate Fat Bob burger can be found in an industrial estate.

Fat Bob’s
80a Cochranes Road
Moorabbin, VIC

An unashamed exercise in dude-food, American-style diner Fat Bob’s is one of Melbourne’s latest burger destinations. Although it’s in a slightly unusual location – a laneway in a Moorabbin industrial estate – the Fat Bob burger  is worthy of the name: 180g of grass-fed beef, beetroot, tomato, spanish onion, tasty cheese, bacon, pineapple, a fried egg, cos lettuce and tomato sauce.

The Raph burger at Beatbox Kitchen started a revolution.

Beatbox Kitchen
Various locations,
Melbourne, VIC

Over the past few years, diners all around the country have been walking out of restaurants and in to the streets – and Beatbox Kitchen was one of the main reasons why. This food truck shaped (you guessed it) like a ghetto blaster, travels the northern suburbs delivering burgers made from grass-fed Tasmanian beef ground by the Beatboxers themselves, a freshly-baked white bun, gouda cheese, iceberg lettuce, onion and their special ‘Stereo Sauce.’

Alfred’s Kitchen
98 James St, 
Guildford, WA

As a thoroughly international city, Perth has its share of gourmet burger joints. But who needs wagyu-foam and cheese infusions when you can have a classic from Alfred’s Kitchen? Originally established to cater for American G.I.’s, discerning burger-eaters have been frequenting Alfred’s since 1949. Though there’s 40 items on the menu, we advise you go straight for the Cram: a beef patty, steak, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and egg.

The Huxtaburger has become a Melbourne icon.

Huxtaburger
106 Smith Street
Collingwood, VIC

No doubt Melburnians will be sick of hearing it, but Huxtaburger make the best burger in the land. Inspired to create their ideal late-night treat after work one night, the boys behind Smith Street fine-diner, Huxtable, decided to open their ideal burger joint across the road. The Huxtaburger itself is a lesson in elegance: a slightly sweet sesame bun from an Asian baker, topped with Yankee mustard and home-made mayo, fresh iceberg lettuce, tomato, melted cheddar, home-made dill pickles and a freshly-grilled Wagyu beef patty delivered daily from Moondara in East Gippsland. Nothing fancy about perfection…