There is no best burger in Seattle; the best burger lives in your heart.

by Megan Seling

I suppose it’s my own fault. A few weeks ago, in Slack, I asked my colleagues for their favorite burger and veggie burger recommendations. I was hoping to round out the food section of our city guide. I figured there’d be one runaway option—a burger to beat all burgers. 

I should’ve known better.

We here at The Stranger are passionate and opinionated. Even a topic as innocuous as “favorite burger” can devolve into a shouting match. (More than a few of us are former high school and college debate clubbers—old habits die hard!)

Things started friendly enough. Social media manager Christian Parroco praised Le Coin, saying, “Hear me out because it may seem bougie to go to a French restaurant just for a burger, but Le Coin in Fremont, hands down, serves the best burger I’ve had in Seattle. High-quality meat cooked to perfection, extremely pleasant mouth feel from the caramelized onions and Mimolette fondue, and the frites are easily a top-five french fry, which is really important to my burger experience.”

FONDUE?? ON A BURGER? Yes. I like where this is going.

Julianne Bell, our food and drink calendar editor, said, “I love the Pick-Quick Drive In burger!! Kinda a classic fast food burger like Dick’s but heaped with more veggies (lettuce, tomato, onion), not unlike In-N-Out. For a more bougie burger situation, I’m also fond of the secret menu burger at Bateau and Boat Bar, which is made with dry-aged beef.”

Indecisive and a vegetarian, I threw two options into the ring: Red Mill’s Red Onion Garden Burger and Lil Woody’s housemade black bean patty on the Pendleton, which is a messy, saucy beast stacked high with BBQ sauce, cheese, and a fat, deep-fried onion ring. 

Just as a few more polite votes for Red Mill and Loretta’s Northwesterner came in, our director of video production, Shane Wahlund, dropped a burger bomb: “I’m an Island Soul boy so I’m a big fan of their Soul Burger + Fries. Their beef is excellent—plus you get a fried egg, American cheese, a hot link, bacon, and the jerk mayo—all on a brioche bun. It’s a gut-buster not for the faint of heart.”

DOES THAT EVEN COUNT AS A BUGER?!!? Responses started flying in a little faster, people started doubling down on how their favorite could possibly stand up to a burger topped with pretty much an entire breakfast. Katie Phoenix came to Mean Sandwich’s defense, vegan Shannon Lubetich insisted no Seattle burger could top Juicy J’s Smoked Burgers in Poulsbo (fighting words if I’ve ever heard them), and then Evanne Hall, who previously claimed the Floozy Burger from Tin Table as her favorite, chided everyone for not thinking of Bait Shop’s burger sooner, with its In-N-Out double patty vibes and perfectly melted cheese. 

Once Caroline Dodge reminded everyone of Virginia Inn’s hand-cut fries, well, shit went off the rails. It stopped being about burgers and started being about mood, the time of day, hunger levels, and cost. Turns out, there is no best burger in Seattle; the best burger lives in our hearts.

The point? The Stranger loves burgers. All burgers. We love them so much that we teamed up with Jack Daniels and made a WHOLE FUCKING WEEK FOR THEM! Today through Sunday, June 16, 20 restaurants are offering specialty burgers for $12. This isn’t about finding the best burger in Seattle; this is about celebrating all a burger can be, from Angus beef to blackened salmon to spicy turkey to marinated tofu. See the full menu of innovative offerings here, then get out there and eat, eat, eat! (And remember to tip, tip, tip, too.)

Happy burger week! I’m never going to ask my colleagues for recommendations on anything ever again. (JK, yes I will, I’ve had a hankerin’ for a milkshake lately…)

The Stranger