Who is in my top 10?

I Ate Apple Pan, BTC, Heavy Handed, Easy Street, The Win-Dow, Burger 3000, Irv’s Burgers, Hammy’s Smashburger, Mom’s List and More So You Don’t Have To

An unnecessarily dramatic ranking of LA’s most famous burgers, featuring broken diets, wounded egos, and one very greasy champion.

Looking for the best burger in Los Angeles? So was I. The problem is that everyone in Los Angeles claims to know where the best burger is. Food critics have their favorites. Influencers have theirs. Reddit has approximately 6,000 different opinions and at least three active burger-related civil wars.

Ask ten Angelenos for the best burger in Los Angeles and you’ll get twelve answers, three recommendations for a place that closed during the pandemic, and one person insisting you haven’t truly lived until you’ve driven 45 minutes across town for a smashburger.

Over the course of several months, I visited some of LA’s most talked-about burger spots, from legendary institutions to modern smashburger sensations. I consumed an irresponsible amount of beef, a concerning amount of cheese, and enough grilled onions to permanently alter my blood type.

My mission was simple: Find the best burger in Los Angeles.

The rankings below are based on flavor, value, consistency, uniqueness, and one very important scientific metric:

Would I willingly sit in Los Angeles traffic to eat it again?

The answer for every burger on this list is yes.

Some just made me drive farther.

So before the comments section informs me that I forgot your favorite neighborhood burger joint, let’s begin.

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#10 Burger 3000

Location: Los Angeles

The Double Oklahoma
Price: $13.89

Ingredients: Two Wagyu beef patties, grilled onions, melted American cheese, pickles, and a Hawaiian bun.

You’ll Probably See

A guy wearing selvedge denim, vintage sneakers, and a hat from a barbecue competition you’ve never heard of. He owns six cast-iron skillets and has strong opinions about onion-to-beef ratios.

Why It’s Delicious

The Oklahoma-style smashburger lets the onions melt directly into the beef, creating a rich, savory flavor bomb. The Hawaiian bun adds just enough sweetness to keep everything balanced. Every bite tastes like somebody cared a little too much—and that’s a compliment.

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#9 Irv’s Burgers

Location: West Hollywood, Malibu and additional locations

The Original Roadside Burger
Price: $9.25 (Double)

Ingredients: Pressed-to-order beef patty, toasted bun, American cheese, Irv’s sauce, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

You’ll Probably See

A screenwriter in sunglasses, a faded Dodgers hat, and a t-shirt older than most social media platforms. He’s been “very close” to selling a pilot for the last eight years.

Why It’s Delicious

Some burgers chase trends. Irv’s simply keeps making burgers.

The Original Roadside Burger isn’t trying to reinvent anything. It’s a straightforward combination of juicy beef, fresh vegetables, melty American cheese, and a perfectly balanced sauce.

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#8 The Win-Dow

Locations: Venice, Silver Lake, Hollywood and more

The Classic Double
Price: $7.75

Ingredients: Double hand-formed smash patties, grilled onions, American cheese, house sauce, pickles, and a toasted bun.

You’ll Probably See

Twenty-somethings in oversized hoodies, vintage tees, and expensive sneakers pretending they discovered the place before everyone else. Half are holding burgers. The other half are photographing them. Somehow everyone looks like they have a podcast.

Why It’s Delicious

At $7.75, The Win-Dow costs less than parking near some Los Angeles burger restaurants.

The patties develop beautifully crispy edges, the grilled onions provide sweetness, and the house sauce ties everything together.

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#7 Mom’s List

Location: Various locations and pop-ups

The OG
Price: $12.95

Ingredients: Organic grass-fed beef, organic mild cheddar, signature house sauce, organic house-made pickles, organic arugula, organic caramelized onions, organic bun, and house-made ketchup.

You’ll Probably See

Someone wearing Lululemon, carrying a reusable water bottle the size of a fire extinguisher, and somehow making “organic grass-fed beef” sound like a personality trait.

Why It’s Delicious

Built as a tribute to the founder’s mother and her handwritten recipes, every ingredient tastes intentional. It’s comfort food that went to private school.

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#6 Hammy’s Smashburger

Location: Los Angeles

Double Smash
Price: $11

Ingredients: Double smash patties, cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and special sauce.

You’ll Probably See

A group of friends who agreed they were only getting one burger each and are now staring at the menu wondering if a second round is socially acceptable.

Why It’s Delicious

Crispy edges, fresh toppings, and just enough sauce to make everything work. Simple. Effective. Dangerous.

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#5 The Melt

Locations: Multiple Southern California locations

The Double Melt Burger
Price: $13.49

Ingredients: One-third pound Angus and Wagyu beef blend, aged cheddar-jalapeño-pickle mix, Melt sauce, artisan bun.

You’ll Probably See

Someone wearing a white shirt who is about to make a very serious mistake.

Why It’s Delicious

The chopped and grilled Angus-Wagyu blend creates incredible texture while the cheddar-jalapeño-pickle mix delivers flavor from every direction.

Bring napkins.

Lots of napkins.

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#4 Easy Street

Location: Studio City

Double Cheeseburger
Price: $11.50

Ingredients: Paper-thin smash patties, cheese, pickles, grilled onions, and Easy Sauce.

You’ll Probably See

Former pop-up loyalists in vintage baseball caps and perfectly broken-in t-shirts reminding everyone they were eating Easy Street before it had walls.

Why It’s Delicious

Every bite delivers crispy beef, melted cheese, tangy pickles, grilled onions, and sauce in perfect proportion. This is smashburger engineering operating at a frighteningly high level.

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#3 Heavy Handed

Locations: Santa Monica and Studio City

Double Short Rib Burger
Price: $12

Ingredients: Double short-rib beef patties, caramelized onions, American cheese, house-made pickles, and Heavy Sauce.

You’ll Probably See

A Santa Monica local wearing a $220 hoodie while pretending to consider other menu options despite knowing exactly what they’re going to order (when there’s only burgers, grilled cheese, and fries on the menu).

Why It’s Delicious

The first thing you’ll notice is the beef. The second thing you’ll notice is the pickles. The third thing you’ll notice is that you’re already planning your next visit. The pickles alone deserve their own fan club.

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#2 BTC

Location: Los Angeles

Double Galbi Burger
Price: $13

Ingredients: Premium Galbi beef patties, grilled onions, cheese, pickles, special sauce, and a toasted milk bun.

You’ll Probably See

People introducing friends to Galbi burgers with the enthusiasm of someone recruiting for a very delicious cult. Expect lots of pointing, smiling, and “Trust me, just order it.”

Why It’s Delicious

Galbi burgers infuse ground beef with the sweet, savory, garlicky flavors of traditional Korean barbecue.

It’s familiar enough to be comforting. Different enough to be unforgettable. BTC isn’t trying to copy anyone else. That’s exactly why it works.

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#1 The Apple Pan

Location: West Los Angeles

The Steakburger
Price: $16 (Double)

Ingredients: Fresh ground beef, relish sauce, mayonnaise, pickles, lettuce, toasted bun. Add Tillamook cheddar for $1.

You’ll Probably See

Three generations of the same family sitting at the counter. A UCLA professor. A retired lawyer. At least one person who’s been ordering the exact same burger since the Reagan administration.

Why It’s Delicious

What can I say about a restaurant that’s been around longer than I’ve been alive?

The Apple Pan has survived the Great Depression, disco, low-fat diets, kale, NFTs, food influencers, and approximately 4,000 “Best Burger in LA” articles.

And after all these years, it’s still standing.

More importantly, it’s still serving the best burger in Los Angeles.

The Steakburger doesn’t need Wagyu.

It doesn’t need truffle aioli.

It doesn’t need a social media manager.

It simply works.

The beef is flavorful, the relish sauce is iconic, and every ingredient serves a purpose.

Could I write an entire dissertation about The Apple Pan?

Absolutely.

In fact, I probably will.

But after eating my way across Los Angeles one burger at a time, my conclusion is simple:

The best burger in Los Angeles is still The Steakburger at The Apple Pan.

Sometimes the old guy still wins.

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Did I Get This Ranking Right?

Probably not.

That’s the beauty of burger rankings.

Everyone has an opinion, and if you’re reading this in Los Angeles, you’ve probably already started disagreeing with me somewhere around #8.

Maybe you think HiHo belongs in the Top 10.

Maybe you think Heavy Handed should be #1.

Maybe you’re currently typing a 1,200-word defense of a burger spot that isn’t even on this list.

I respect that.

The truth is Los Angeles has an absurd number of great burgers, and ranking them is part food journalism, part personal preference, and part choosing chaos.

The only thing I’m completely certain about is this:

I’ll happily continue researching the subject one cheeseburger at a time.