Great places to eat a burger in Ireland right now

Featherblade, 51b Dawson Street, Dublin 2

featherblade.ie

The house burger at Featherblade in Dublin is a menu standout, with a juicy beef patty, melting mature Cheddar cheese, and that famously thick slab of caramelised smoked bacon, topped with bright-pink pickled onions and black garlic mayo. The Dawson Street steak restaurant’s takeaway kit, available during the pandemic, earned a 9/10 score from Corinna Hardgrave, the Irish Times restaurant critic, who described the burgers as “stupendously good”, with “deep, savoury, meaty beefiness with a hint of smoke coming through”.

Bunsen, Dublin, Cork and Belfast

bunsen.ie

Bunsen’s buns are famously squishy and are based on a classic American hamburger bun. They are made daily, to the group’s recipe, in Tallaght, Co Dublin. The beef is Black Aberdeen Angus, sourced from FX Buckley, to which salt and pepper are the only additions before grilling. Read our review here.

Bujo, Sandymount, Dublin 4 and Terenure, Dublin 6

bujo.ie

Bujo is all about sustainability, as well as a great tasting burger. The company’s culinary director is chef, restaurateur and Irish Times columnist Gráinne O’Keefe. The beef is all grass fed, and the burgers are char grilled for better flavour. The menu features limited edition specials, and there are Beyond Meat vegetarian and vegan options too.

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Gourmet Burger Kitchen

gbk.ie

With five locations across Dublin: South William Street, South Anne Street, Temple Bar, Dundrum Shopping Centre and Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, there is a good spread of access to these grass fed and char grilled beef burgers across the capital. You can order a slightly smaller burger than standard, if you want to order additional items from the “bites” menu, and they have an option to go bunless and replace the carbs with salad.

Wowburger

wowburger.ie

With a 10 outlets now in Dublin and outposts in Waterford, Wicklow and even Doncaster, this chain owned by the Press Up Group has grown rapidly in popularity. It sticks primarily to a no-nonsense formula of affordable burgers (including chicken and vegetarian options) and chips. The bacon cheese burger is a mainstay and an array of toppings offered free, including jalapenos, grilled mushrooms and onions, is a nice touch.

Cluck Chicken, Walkinstown, Dublin 12

cluckchicken.ie

Why should it be all about the beef? Chef Ian Ussher’s Cluck Chicken burgers are buttermilk brined and topped with all sorts of interesting ingredients. The premium burger, The Incredible Cluck, has free range chicken, Parmesan mayo, truffle mac and cheese and dripping cheese sauce. The mobile unit in Walkinstown is joined this week by a bricks and mortar Cluck in The Square in Tallaght. Read our review here.

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Son of a Bun, Cork city

sonofabun.ie

Niall and Amanda O’Regan opened Son of a Bun on MacCurtain Street in Cork city in 2015 and have been winning awards ever since for their Aberdeen Angus beef burgers on brioche buns, with Crowe’s farm bacon and a choice of American, Cheddar or blue cheese. There’s a special burger of the month option too, and extra patties can be ordered in either 6oz or 3oz size.

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Handsome Burger, Galway, Athlone and Dublin airport

handsomeburger.com

Winners of the best burger in Ireland in 2019, this brand set up by friends Rory McCormack and Cathal O’Connor expanded from Dominick Street in Galway to a second branch at St Peter’s Port in Athlone. This summer, they opened an outlet at The Mezz in Dublin airport, terminal one. Read more here.

Coqbull, Limerick

coqbulllimerick.ie

There are two branches of Coqbull in Limerick, in Castletroy and at 50 Thomas Street, as well as one in Cork and one in London’s Spitalfields. Both “coq” and “bull” burgers are available (as well as plant-based). The smashburgers are served in a poppy and sesame seed brioche bun.