These North Carolina burger joints rank among nation’s best. Why fans can’t get enough
Whether you like your burgers oozing with cheese or stacked with toppings, you may just find your new favorite in North Carolina.
That’s because the state is home to five of the nation’s best burger joints, according to the restaurant review website Yelp. The website gave each of the beloved locations a spot on its recent list of “Top 100 Burgers in America.”
Here’s how the North Carolina restaurants fared:
- The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar in Charlotte at No. 6
Sister Liu’s Kitchen in Durham at No. 7
Living Kitchen in Charlotte at No. 32
Juicy Lucy’s Burger Bar and Grill in Asheville at No. 48
Blue Moon Beach Grill in Nags Head at No. 98
To create the list, Yelp said it studied U.S. restaurants that garnered several burger-related comments from customers over time. The website “ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews,” considering only the highest-ranking restaurant for businesses that have more than one location, according to results published in May.
Why customers love the burgers
Among the North Carolina restaurants that landed on the national list, The Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar in Charlotte ranked the highest at No. 6. The SouthPark dining spot was praised for serving more than a dozen “specialty burgers,” sushi and a combination called “burgushi,” CharlotteFive reported.
Yelp said one of the favorites is the All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi, which “includes classic hamburger ingredients (beef, cheddar, applewood bacon) wrapped in rice, soy paper, and potato strings, and then flash-fried and topped with ketchup, mustard, and chopped tomato and dill pickle.”
Also ranking toward the top of the list was Sister Liu’s Kitchen in Durham, which serves Chinese-style burgers. The takeout restaurant on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard said it fills them with beef, pork or vegan ingredients — and some Yelp users couldn’t get enough.
“These flavor-packed buns are a traditional staple of northeastern Chinese cuisine, lovingly replicated from a family recipe by co-owner and chef Culying Liu Blythe,” Yelp wrote. “Growing up, her mom fried the soft, spongy pockets to a crispy texture, then stuffed them with cooked veggies and spiced meat.”
Also making it onto the list of best burger joints was Living Kitchen in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood, which had Yelp users raving about its plant-based options.
The North Carolina restaurants that rounded out Yelp’s list included Juicy Lucy’s Burger Bar and Grill in the mountain town of Asheville — praised for serving patties stuffed with melting cheese. Also receiving a nod in the national rankings was Blue Moon Beach Grill, an Outer Banks spot where fans say burgers have a punch of flavor.
Overall, Yelp said the nation’s top place to go for burgers is Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q in Atlanta.
This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 11:04 AM with the headline "These North Carolina burger joints rank among nation’s best. Why fans can’t get enough."
