If you’re visiting Seattle and find yourself craving a hamburger, you’re in the right place. Yes, Seattle — the city better known for rain and coffee — has a strong burger culture. Aside from a small handful of McDonald’s locations, a Burger King or two, and a few Shake Shacks, national fast food burger joints are a rare sight within city limits. But burgers themselves are not. As someone who moved here in 2018 after living in Colorado and the East Coast, I had no idea “burger culture” was even a thing until I experienced it first-hand. A lot of restaurants (even fancy ones) proudly have burgers on the menu, but Seattle’s core burger culture revolves around smaller, locally based chains and mom-and-pop burger joints. And, while their menus all look similar on the surface, the burgers themselves vary so much in flavor and presentation.
Now having spent years on a slow but steady burger crawl around the city, I’ve compiled this list of can’t-miss places. I do have a separate lineup of go-to restaurants I take visitors to in Seattle, but I still try to loop in at least one of these burger joints. This list was admittedly pretty tough to narrow down because there are so many good places to choose from in every neighborhood (seriously, no matter where you are in Sea-Town, there’s a good chance you’ve got hamburgers nearby). But I’m standing by these as Seattle’s must-try burger joints for tasting what the local burger scene is all about.
If you’re going to try any Seattle burger, try Dick’s
I raised an eyebrow hard when someone asked me back during my first month of living here if I’d had Dick’s yet. But, as I soon learned, this is the burger chain in Seattle and has been since the 1950s. I’ve heard multiple people note Dick’s and the Space Needle in the same breath when talking about the city’s must-see attractions, and I get it. The locations even look like they’re straight out of the mid-20th century, with outdoor walk-up counters and old timey milkshake machines. Everyone I know agrees that these burgers aren’t actually the best in quality, but they are easily among the most affordable in the area and are pretty satisfying, especially if you eat them quickly after purchase (ideally on-premise, which is part of the whole Dick’s experience).
People also just love it for its simplicity. The menu here is pretty small and straightforward. Plus, it’s a “drive-in,” not a “drive-thru,” which tends to foster a sense of community while you’re standing there waiting for your order. The last time I dropped by one, I met a nice elderly man who said he used to work at Dick’s in his youth and that it hasn’t changed much…