National Burger Day 2026: Five British restaurants where chefs take it seriously

27^th August is National Burger Day, and though it’s hardly a widely celebrated holiday, it does offer a very good excuse to honour the dish and its place in British food culture. Below are five places to go, where the burger is treated with respect and garnished with a touch of originality.

The options range from a £13 pub classic in West London to a £24.50 version overlooking the Camel Estuary, taking in a Michelin Guide-listed chicken specialist, a Shoreditch dining room from Richard Corrigan, and a North Yorkshire inn using beef reared a mile from the kitchen. Several are the work of chefs better known for tasting menus, applying the same sourcing to something considerably more casual. Others are simply doing the job well. Vegetarian options appear where they exist, as do details on what to drink alongside, and where to sit while doing so. What connects them all is their British provenance and intent. 

In London:

The Latimer in Notting Hill

Run by the Spiteri family, this neighbourhood pub in West London puts a Chilli Cheese Burger at the centre of its menu. Priced at £13, it is built around an aged beef patty and layered with pickled chillies, onion, cucumber pickles and American cheese, with sliced baby gem dressed in a house sauce adding crunch and acidity against the richness of the meat. It is a straightforward proposition rather than a reinvention, executed with the sort of components that reward attention to detail. The pub also has a sun-trap terrace with views over the surrounding streets, where a pint makes a natural accompaniment.

To book a table at The Latimer, 274 Latimer Road, London W10 6QW, visit the pub’s website here.

FOWL in St James

The team behind Fallow have channelled their nose-to-tail thinking into poultry at FOWL – currently the only chicken-focused restaurant in the UK to appear in the Michelin Guide. The burger list is short and to the point: the signature Fowl Burger comes with Alabama white sauce, cheese, lettuce and pickles (£15), while the Smoked Chilli Burger (£16) brings Nashville hot sauce and extra-hot pickles for those who want a bit of a kick. Vegetarians are catered for with a crispy aubergine version, served with glazed mushrooms, chilli mayo and pickles (£15). There’s a generous terrace, plus frozen margaritas and beer towers to go alongside.

To book a table at FOWL, 3 Norris Street, London SW1Y 4RJ, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Daffodil Mulligan in Shoreditch

Richard Corrigan’s Old Street restaurant has never shied away from richness, and its Forerib of Beef & Bone Marrow Cheeseburger (£20) makes the case plainly. The patty is straightforward enough – good beef, cooked properly – but it arrives buried under bone marrow and melted cheese, and encased in a brioche bun enriched with beef fat, with a substantial pile of chips alongside. It is not a burger for the faint-hearted, nor one that pretends otherwise. The kitchen’s Irish leanings extend to the bar, where a carefully poured pint of Guinness cuts through the fat with more success than most beers manage.

To book a table at Daffodil Mulligan, 70-74 City Road, London EC1Y 2BJ, visit the restaurant’s website here.

Further afield:

The Abbey Inn in Byland, North Yorkshire

Set directly opposite the ruins of Byland Abbey, Tommy Banks’s pub with rooms takes an unhurried approach to dining, with a kitchen garden supplying much of what appears on the plate. The Byland Burger (£21) is a smash burger built on Dexter beef reared at the Banks family farm a mile down the road, layered with cheese, pickles, bacon and chicory root jam, and a burger sauce made using beef garum and fermented chillies. It arrives with beef fat fries. A meat-free alternative, the Mushroom Burger (£20), pairs roast hen of the woods with Summerfield cheese and tomato and rosehip jam. Ice cream sundaes follow.

To book a table at The Abbey Inn, Byland, York YO61 4BD, visit the pub’s website here.

The Mariners in Rock, Cornwall

Perched above the Camel Estuary, Paul Ainsworth’s Cornish pub takes a considered approach to the pub burger. The Mariners Burger (£24.50) is built around a grilled aged beef patty from Philip Warren, the Launceston butcher supplying much of the county’s better kitchens, layered with smoked bacon, Cornish brie, pickles, lettuce and tomato, plus a tomato and Nigella seed relish. It arrives in a soft clotted cream bun with skinny fries. Those wanting to attempt something similarly inspired at home will find an alternative in Ainsworth’s cookbook For the Love of Food: a crab, prawn and ginger burger, intended for grilling over hot coals on the beach.

To book a table at The Mariners, Slipway, Rock, Wadebridge PL27 6LD, visit the pub’s website here.

Food Desk