Dallas has never needed an excuse to argue about burgers. The city has old-school drive-ins that haven’t changed a thing in decades, craft burger spots with rotating monthly specials, and a handful of proper restaurants where the beef program is serious enough to anchor an entire evening. What follows is a working list of the places worth knowing, organized roughly by part of town.
Design District / Market Center
Rodeo Goat at 1926 Market Center Boulevard is the flagship location of a Fort Worth-born concept that earned its DFW reputation the hard way — by winning the 2015 DFW.com Battle of the Burgers against serious competition. The menu runs deep with named creations: the Bodacious stacks cheddar, bacon, crispy onions, grilled jalapeños, pickles, and smoked jalapeño mayo. The Evan Grant stuffs the patty with brisket, French fried potato salad, and gouda. The Nanny Goat goes herb goat cheese, bibb lettuce, and garlic herb mayo. Build your own if none of those hit right. rodeogoat.com | (214) 741-4628
North Dallas / Preston
Renny’s at 11661 Preston Road, Suite 153 is the neighborhood American grill from the same team behind Maguire’s, and the happy hour cheeseburger is one of the better deals in North Dallas. Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m., it comes in at $10 — a properly built burger at a price that makes it easy to stay for another round. The full menu goes well beyond burgers, but the happy hour draw is real and the crowd shows up for it. rennysdallas.com | (972) 818-0068
Sky Rocket Burger runs two Dallas locations — 7877 Frankford Road in far north Dallas and 111 South Hall Street in Deep Ellum — and does one thing well: Angus beef burgers, textbook-perfect, with a long list of toppings and fries that hold up if you get them to go. No frills, no gimmicks. The Deep Ellum location runs seven days. skyrocketburger.com
Park Cities / Lovers Lane
Chip’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers has been in Dallas since 1981 and earned a spot in the Dallas Burger Joint Hall of Fame the old-fashioned way — one poppy seed bun at a time. The Lovers Lane location at 4530 Lovers Lane keeps things simple: a third- to half-pound patty, a choice of toppings running from caramelized onions and bacon to guacamole and fried green tomatoes, and Blue Bell milkshakes thick enough to slow down a straw. Texas Monthly has weighed in. So has every neighbor who’s been coming here for 30 years. A second open location is at 1605 North Beckley Avenue. | (214) 691-2447
Bar Sardine at 3511 Asbury Street in Snider Plaza is a French bistro where the burger became the most-ordered item almost by accident. Chef Eliott Azoulay is from Paris and his approach to the patty — cooked with the same care as everything else on the menu — makes it one of the more interesting burgers in Dallas. The seductive dining room, right next to Burger House, may be the funniest real estate pairing in the city. barsardinedallas.com
East Dallas / Lakewood / Casa Linda
Lakewood Landing at 5818 Live Oak Street is a Lakewood dive bar that happens to make a cheeseburger Dallas has been counting on for decades. It’s open until 2 a.m., which tells you something about who comes in and when. The burger is straightforward and exactly right — the kind you eat at midnight and then think about for three days. Cash and cards. No reservations necessary. (214) 827-2250
Rodeo Goat Casa Linda at 1200 North Buckner Boulevard brings the full Rodeo Goat menu to the east side with the same rotating specials and beer program as the flagship. If you live out this way, you already know. rodeogoat.com | (469) 966-4628
Deep Ellum
Son of a Butcher at 2026 Greenville Avenue (also with a Deep Ellum presence) built its reputation on consistency and community. The slider experience lets you work through multiple variations in one visit — a good way to figure out which one becomes your regular. The counter culture and the neighborhood crowd give it an energy that the bigger spots can’t replicate. sonofabutcher.com
Northwest Dallas / Love Field
Keller’s Drive-In has been doing carhop burgers in Dallas since 1950 and isn’t interested in updating the formula. The flagship location at 6537 East Northwest Highway is where you roll up, keep your blinkers on, order the Number 5 Special with the sauce, and eat in your car the way people did before anyone thought to complicate the whole thing. A second location runs at 10554 Harry Hines Boulevard. Fresh ground beef, poppy seed buns, tater tots that arrive burn-your-face hot. Anthony Bourdain would have approved. (214) 368-1209
Keller’s Hamburgers at 10226 Garland Road is the drive-thru sibling — same poppy seed bun philosophy, same no-frills approach, with a chili burger and BLT rounding out the short menu. The $2.45 cheeseburger remains one of the last honest prices in Dallas dining. (214) 319-6060
Oak Cliff
Encina at 1013 West Davis Street is chef Matt Balke’s Oak Cliff restaurant, where the daily burger is one of the best things on the menu on any given day. Add a sunny-side-up egg and hash browns on top and you’ve officially combined two meals into one. encinadallas.com
Richardson
Hamburgotti’s at 1057 South Sherman Street, Suite 120, Richardson is the newest name on this list, having opened a brick-and-mortar in December 2025 after brothers Mohamed and Morad Barghouti turned a passion for backyard burgers into a pop-up following. The smash burger uses fresh beef ground in-house, pressed Oklahoma-style with onions onto the flat-top until the edges are properly charred, then finished with cheese, pickles, ketchup, mayo, and mustard. Single, double, or triple. The fries are $5 a basket and feed at least two people. hamburgottis.com
Addison
Rodeo Goat Addison at the Cypress Waters development in Coppell covers the northern suburbs with the same menu and same craft beer depth as the other locations. Worth noting for the crowd that lives between 635 and 121. rodeogoat.com | (972) 440-1530
Deep Ellum
Twisted Root Burger Co. at 2615 Commerce Street is where the gourmet burger conversation in Dallas really started. Chefs Jason Boso and Quincy Hart — both alumni of The Four Seasons and Pappas Bros. — opened this Deep Ellum spot in 2006 before anyone was calling burgers gourmet. Guy Fieri showed up for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2009. The half-pound fresh-ground patties, the rotating game meat options, and the hand-battered onion strings are still the draw. You get a name called out when your order is ready — Jesse James is a good one. twistedrootburgerco.com | (214) 741-7668
Harvey B’s at 4506 Columbia Avenue, Suite 100 in Old East Dallas is a straightforward neighborhood burger joint that earns its following through consistency and value. The blue cheese and bacon burger is the move, the spiral fries hold up, and the prices haven’t chased anyone off yet. Daily specials — including a Tuesday grilled cheese for under $2 — keep the regulars showing up midweek. harveybs.com | (469) 334-0980
Uptown / McKinney Avenue
Hopdoddy Burger Bar at 3227 McKinney Avenue has been on McKinney since 2014 and holds its ground in a stretch that turns over constantly. Buns baked in-house, fries hand-cut from Chipperbec potatoes, a full bar with craft cocktails and boozy milkshakes, and a burger lineup that runs from the classic Primetime to the Diablo for anyone who wants heat. The Preston Center location at 6030 Luther Lane covers the Park Cities crowd. hopdoddy.com | McKinney (214) 871-2337 | Preston (214) 363-2337
East Dallas / Lakewood
Liberty Burger at 1904 Abrams Parkway is a family-owned Dallas original that built its reputation on sourcing local and keeping the menu honest. Four patty options — natural beef, grilled chicken, bison, or a vegetable patty — and a build-your-own format that gives you genuine control. The thick-cut onion rings and the frozen margaritas have their own fans. Additional locations at 5181 Keller Springs Road and 5211 Forest Lane. givemelibertyburger.com | (214) 887-9999
Snider Plaza
Burger House at 6913 Hillcrest Avenue in Snider Plaza has been in the same spot since 1951 and shows no interest in changing. It sits about 50 yards from Bar Sardine, which tells you everything about the range of Dallas burger culture. The Burger House cheeseburger is the kind of thing that requires no explanation — it just works, the same way it always has. Cash-friendly, no frills, a line at lunch that moves fast. Additional locations around the Metroplex. burgerhousedallas.com
East Dallas / Lake Highlands
Burger Schmurger at 718 North Buckner Boulevard, Suite 100 started as a backyard cookout during the pandemic, became a pop-up with a following, won Best Bite at the Chefs for Farmers Food and Wine Festival, and opened its permanent East Dallas location in 2025. Owner Dave Culwell smashes the patties Oklahoma-style with onions pressed into the beef on the flat-top, finishes with Schmurger Dills and housemade burger sauce, and keeps the focus narrow and consistent. Happy hour runs weekdays until 6 p.m. burgerschmurger.net | (214) 272-3343
Nick & Sam’s at 3008 Maple Avenue is best known as a steakhouse but the burger belongs on any serious Dallas list. The kitchen applies the same precision to the patty as everything else, and a burger at the bar here — particularly at happy hour — lands in a different category than most of what’s on this page. nick-sams.com | (214) 871-7444
Hillside Tavern at 6465 East Mockingbird Lane runs two worth knowing about. The Tate Farms Cheeseburger uses 100% grass-fed Wagyu beef from chef Nathan Tate’s family ranch in Rockwall County, finished with smoked cheddar, bourbon-bacon jam, garlic confit, and white truffle aioli. The Hillside Cheeseburger is a clean smash patty with American and provolone, dill pickles, creole mustard, and mayo. Happy hour drops wings to $.99 each and makes the bar side one of the better deals in East Dallas. dallashillsidetavern.com | (214) 888-0152
