The best burgers in Austin, ranked.

The best burger in Austin, by the crowd’s vote, is JABS, which won the People’s Choice at Austin Monthly’s 2026 Burger Bash for a second straight year; its OG is a $10 double smash. Casino El Camino, open until 2am on East Sixth, charbroils three-quarter-pound burgers, Dirty Martin’s on Guadalupe dates to 1926, Patty Palace tops The Infatuation’s smashburger rankings, and Michelin-starred LeRoy and Lewis sells a $16 brisket-patty burger.

The best burgers in Austin split into three different things, and the argument only makes sense once you separate them: the dive-bar and drive-in classics, the smash counters, and a handful of destination burgers attached to kitchens that win awards for other food entirely. Fifteen picks below, each with its address, what the burger costs, and when it is open, read on the venue’s own site or ordering page on October 30, 2026, because the hardest part of a burger list is not the picks. It is turning up on a Tuesday to find the trailer dark. Where a venue publishes no price or no hours, the pick says so rather than borrowing a number from somewhere else.

Carissa Spisak

Writer, The Austin Newsletter

Updated October 2026

1. Rainey Street trailer, 75 Rainey St. · Fareground, 111 Congress Ave. · OG $10 · no hours published
   01

   JABS

   

   The crowd’s answer to the singular question. JABS took the People’s Choice at Austin Monthly’s Burger Bash in June 2026, the second year in a row it won that vote, while the judges’ prize went to Iron Burger. The OG is a double patty smashed with grilled onion and topped with American cheese, pickles, and secret sauce on a Martin’s potato roll, $10 on the Rainey Street trailer’s pickup menu, which also sells a single-patty version for $9 and The K.O., a triple, for $13. Fareground says the beef is Creekstone Farms. There are two ways in: the trailer at 75 Rainey Street, which takes pickup orders online, and a counter inside the Fareground food hall at 111 Congress Avenue, which is open 8am to 9pm daily with hours that vary by concept. JABS publishes no hours of its own for either, so check before you drive.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: JABS Rainey Street ordering page · JABS at Fareground · Fareground hours · Austin Monthly Burger Bash recap

2. East Sixth, 517 E. 6th St. · burgers $15.50-$19, tax included · daily 11:30am-2am
   02

   Casino El Camino

   

   The dive answer, the biggest-burger answer, and the 2am answer, all at one bar on East Sixth. Every burger is three quarters of a pound of charbroiled Angus in a handmade patty, cooked medium unless you say otherwise, which is worth knowing before it lands. The Amarillo at $15.50 is the first-visit order, with roasted serrano chiles, jalapeño jack, and cilantro mayo; the Madison at $19 adds beer-braised pork belly, a Shiner Bock gastrique, sautéed onions, and baconnaise. The menu says prices include sales tax, takeout adds a dollar an item, and everything is cooked to order, so be patient. It is open 11:30am to 2am every day, and happy hour runs from opening until 7pm.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Casino El Camino menu · Casino El Camino hours

3. South Austin, 5621 Emerald Forest Dr. · L&L Burger $16 · Sun-Mon and Wed-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat to 10pm, closed Tue
   03

   LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue

   

   The closest thing Austin has to a Michelin-starred burger, with the caveat that Michelin stars restaurants, not dishes: LeRoy and Lewis holds one star in the 2026 Texas guide, and the L&L Burger is on its menu. It is a smoked and seared half-pound brisket patty with American cheese, grilled onions, pickles, and special sauce on a potato bun, at $16. The lighter order is the Pork Smash Burger, a 4-ounce Peaceful Pork patty with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard, $11, or $2 more as a double. It is closed Tuesdays; Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday run 11am to 9pm, and Friday and Saturday to 10pm. Credit cards carry a surcharge of up to 3 percent; debit cards do not. The pits are the other reason to drive out here, and they sit near the top of our Austin barbecue ranking.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: LeRoy and Lewis menu · LeRoy and Lewis hours · Michelin Guide

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5. West Campus, 2808 Guadalupe St. · burgers from $7.60 · Sun-Wed 11am-9pm, Thu-Sat to 11pm
   04

   Dirty Martin’s Place

   

   The most iconic burger in Austin is a question with a 1926 answer. John Martin founded Martin’s Kum Bak Place that year, in what was then far north Austin, and the online menu still files the plainest burgers under the old name: a small Kumbak burger with mustard, onion, pickle, and tomato at $7.60, or $8 as a cheeseburger. The specials are the step up. The O.T. Special adds bacon, mayo, lettuce, and tomato, at $9.60 small and $12.60 large, and the D.H. Special puts two slices of American cheese, grilled onion, tomato, and pickle on toast, $8.70 small. It runs 11am to 9pm Sunday through Wednesday and to 11pm Thursday through Saturday.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Dirty Martin’s ordering menu · Dirty Martin’s story and hours

6. Crestview, 7525 Burnet Rd. · cheeseburger $6.99 · Mon-Thu and Sun 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat to 10pm · carhop
   05

   Top Notch Hamburgers

   

   The other half of the iconic question, and the one people recognize from a film. Ray and Frances Stanish founded Top Notch in 1971, the family ran it until new owners took over in 2010, and it still works as a carhop: pull up to the speaker and order from the car. Every burger is charcoal-grilled. The plain order is the cheeseburger at $6.99, with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, and mayo, and the Longhorn Special doubles the patty and swaps in special sauce for $9.29. The restaurant’s own story names its roles in Dazed and Confused and Varsity Blues. Hours on its site run 11am to 9pm Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and to 10pm on Friday and Saturday. The second Top Notch, in Hutto, is outside Austin and not the one meant here.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Top Notch menu · Top Notch story · Top Notch hours

7. St. Elmo Brewing (South Austin) and Zilker Brewing, 1701 E. 6th St. · single $8.99, double $11.49, vegan $9.99
   06

   Patty Palace

   

   The top of the city’s smash bracket, at least by The Infatuation’s Austin smashburger rankings of August 2026, which put Patty Palace first. The menu keeps it short: a smashburger with American cheese, pickles, sauce, mustard, and grilled onions, $8.99 single, $11.49 double, or $9.99 with a vegan patty. Two counters, two schedules, and this is the part people get wrong. The South Austin counter at St. Elmo Brewing runs every day, 11am to 9pm on Sunday and Monday and to 10pm Tuesday through Saturday. The East Austin counter at Zilker Brewing is closed Monday and Tuesday, opens at 11:30am on Wednesday and Saturday and at 1pm on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and closes at 8pm. More food from trailers and walk-up counters is in the food truck guide.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Patty Palace menu · Patty Palace hours · Zilker Brewing

8. Back to top ↑
9. Butler Pitch & Putt, 201 Lee Barton Dr. · truck daily noon-8pm, breakfast sandwiches Fri-Sun 8-11am · no prices published
   07

   Gimme Burger

   

   Second in those same smashburger rankings, and the most specific setting on this page: the on-site food truck at Butler Pitch & Putt, a nine-hole par-3 pitch-and-putt course at 201 Lee Barton Drive. The course’s own site calls Gimme Burger its permanent on-site food truck and lists a small free lot near the clubhouse, paid street parking on Lee Barton, and a dog-friendly setup. Its eat-and-drink page gives the truck’s hours as noon to 8pm daily, with breakfast sandwiches from 8 to 11am Friday through Sunday, and names cheeseburgers, crispy french fries, and fried okra on the menu. No prices are published there.

   Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Butler Pitch & Putt eat and drink · Butler Pitch & Putt

10. North Loop, 100 E. North Loop Blvd., Suite B · Bastrop Burger $13.75 with a side, tax included · daily 11am-midnight
    08

    Workhorse Bar

    

    The Austin Chronicle picked this one as the city’s best burger in July 2024, and the argument was mostly arithmetic. The Bastrop Burger is all-natural Angus beef from Goodstock by Nolan Ryan on a toasted white or wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion, $13.75 on the current menu, which says every price includes tax. It comes with a side rather than a separate line on the bill: parmesan fries, sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, jalapeño cream corn, or a side salad. It is open 11am to midnight every day, holidays included, and the kitchen closes at 11:45pm, which makes it one of the few dependable late answers on the north side.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Workhorse menu · Workhorse hours

11. North Loop, 5111 Airport Blvd. · Yenta $13, JewBoy Burger $11 · Tue-Thu and Sun 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat to 10pm, closed Mon
    09

    Jewboy Burgers

    

    The most specific thing on any Austin burger is a potato latke, and it sits on the Yenta here: a JewBoy burger with a latke of your choice placed right on top, $13. The kitchen describes its cooking as US-Mexico border culture meeting a Reform Jewish upbringing, on fresh, never-frozen 80/20 Angus, in a building that was originally a KFC. The JewBoy Burger is the other order, a third-pound smash patty with double cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, and pickles at $11, and latkes come as a $6 side if you would rather keep them off the bun. Closed Mondays. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday run 11am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday to 10pm.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Jewboy Burgers · Jewboy Burgers menu · Jewboy Burgers ordering page

12. East Riverside, 2538 Elmont Dr. · Little (OG) Burger $6 · daily noon-2am
    10

    Frazier’s Long & Low

    

    A six-dollar burger that placed third in The Infatuation’s Austin smashburger rankings, which should not be a sentence that works. The Little (OG) Burger is a smashed, grilled beef patty with cheese, onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard on a steamed Martin’s potato bun, and the menu pitches it as a McDonald’s cheeseburger made to order. The vegan Good Burger, a Beyond patty on a gluten-free vegan bun, is $11. The other thing it has is hours few places keep: noon to 2am every day, with brunch from noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. If the question is where to eat a real burger at 1am on a Tuesday, this is it.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Frazier’s menu · Frazier’s hours

13. Clarksville, 1208 W. 4th St. · Classic $8 single, $12 double · Mon 3-10pm, Tue-Fri 11am-11pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-10pm
    11

    Hold Out Brewing

    

    The brewery answer, a short way west of downtown. The Hold Out Classic is $8 single and $12 double: smashed patties, American cheese, shredded lettuce, comeback sauce, French’s yellow mustard, dill pickles, and diced onion. A Beyond patty makes it the Veggie Classic at $9, and a chicken bacon ranch burger sits on the board for anyone in the group with opinions. Better Half next door says it plainly on its own site: same culinary team, shared parking, so a wrong turn still lands you somewhere good. Monday it opens at 3pm; Tuesday through Friday it runs 11am to 11pm, Saturday 10am to 11pm, and Sunday 10am to 10pm. The weekday happy hour, 3pm to 6pm, pairs a single Classic, the chicken bacon ranch, or the Beyond Classic with a small fry for $10.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Hold Out food menu · Hold Out happy hour · Hold Out hours · Better Half

14. Cherrywood, 2406 Manor Rd. · Dry-Aged Longhorn Cheeseburger $26 · dinner Tue-Sat 5-10pm, Sun 5-9pm · brunch Fri-Sun 10am-3pm · closed Mon
    12

    Dai Due

    

    A Michelin Bib Gourmand butcher shop and restaurant that happens to put a serious burger on the menu. The sample dinner and brunch menus both list a Dry-Aged Longhorn Cheeseburger at $26, with house-made American cheese, shredded lettuce, onion, dill-pickled jalapeños, and burger sauce on a sesame Parker House bun, and the restaurant warns that its menu changes frequently, so treat the burger as likely rather than promised. The kitchen is seed-oil free and deep-fries in beef tallow as a stated policy, so the fries are part of the point. It no longer does to-go orders and recommends a reservation. It is closed Mondays. Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday, 5pm to 10pm, and Sunday to 9pm, while brunch is Friday through Sunday, 10am to 3pm.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Dai Due sample menus · Dai Due hours · Dai Due ingredients · Dai Due

15. Back to top ↑
16. Tarrytown, 2315 Lake Austin Blvd. · Loyal Forever $15, Deep End $19.50 · Mon-Thu noon-10pm, Fri-Sat to midnight, Sun to 9pm
    13

    Pool Burger

    

    The Lake Austin Boulevard answer, and it names its beef: natural, hormone- and antibiotic-free wagyu from Peeler Farms in Floresville, Texas, on freshly baked buns. The Loyal Forever is a double cheeseburger with pickled jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, and ranch at $15; the Deep End is a triple with Swiss, bacon, fresh jalapeños, and Dijonnaise at $19.50; and the Hippy Burger, a house-made veggie patty with Swiss, is $11.50. The plain quarter-pound Pool Burger is $10.50. Take the $9 pool chips with guacamole and jalapeño pimento over the crinkle-cut fries. It opens at noon every day and runs to 10pm Monday through Thursday, midnight Friday and Saturday, and 9pm Sunday. Happy hour runs 3pm to 5pm Monday through Friday, with the pool chips at half price, the same narrow window most Austin drink deals keep.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Pool Burger hours · Pool Burger menu (PDF)

17. Mueller, 1200 Barbara Jordan Blvd. #360 · Mission Burger $16.95 · daily 11am-11pm · all vegan
    14

    Mission Burger Co.

    

    The plant-based pick, and it is not a concession. Everything on the menu is vegan. The Mission Burger is two Impossible patties with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, and the house Mission sauce at $16.95, and the single-patty Jr Mission Burger is $12.95. Its double placed ninth in The Infatuation’s Austin smashburger rankings. The site lists two restaurants, this one in Mueller and one in Atlanta, both open 11am to 11pm every day.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Mission Burger Co. menu · Mission Burger Co. hours

18. South Lamar, 1201 S. Lamar Blvd. · aged wagyu burger $39 · dinner daily from 4:30pm · Resy, no takeout
    15

    Odd Duck

    

    Worth saying plainly: this is a $39 burger in a dinner-only restaurant, and it is a different product from everything else on this page. The current menu lists an aged wagyu burger with spicy tomato pork jam, fried beer cheese, and pickled squash, in a room that holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Service starts at 4:30pm daily, the last seating is 9pm Sunday through Wednesday and 9:30pm Thursday through Saturday, bookings run through Resy, and there is no takeout. Happy hour, 4:30 to 5:30pm Sunday through Thursday, takes 25 percent off selected food items. Odd Duck is one of fifteen Austin Bib Gourmands, and the seven starred rooms are in our guide to Austin’s Michelin-star restaurants.

    Checked October 30, 2026 at the official sources: Odd Duck menu and hours · Michelin Guide

Carissa.

Writer, The Austin Newsletter

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