If you’re into burgers, chances are you’re familiar with California-based In-N-Out Burger and its thin patties and not-so-secret menu. And chances are you wish you could try one of their burgers without jumping on an 11-hour flight to LAX. Thanks to Bun & Sum, an LA-style takeaway burger spot, you can have the next best thing in Mile End. The crispy smashpatties are stuffed between soft buns, and topped with everything from brisket or pastrami to a straightforward slice of American cheese.

With bright orange, neon signage, there’s no way you’ll miss this fried chicken spot in Brixton. Everything on the menu is great but the burgers are the reason you should come to the casual, pit stop spot. They’re the kind you can’t fit your whole mouth around and instead require nibbling away at, until you can take a perfect bite with a bit of everything. The juicy chicken, with craggy, crunchy edges, is the perfect shade of golden brown, and spills out of a soft, sturdy bun.

Burnt Smokehouse has the kind of BBQ platters that the Instagram algorithm feeds you in your hungriest moments. But the burger is our favourite thing to get here. It’s so juicy and buttery that by the final bite, your bottom bun will have all but disintegrated. Hunker down in the archway under Leytonstone Station and you’ll find yourself elbow-to-elbow on a too-small shared table with strangers, trying not to make eye contact as you stretch your jaw biting into your double smashburger patty.

This Hackney cafe’s fried chicken sandwiches are McDz-like in the best possible way. Soft buns, crisp, pounded chicken, and completely inhalable in under a minute. Flavours, be it a Nashville hot chicken or a spiced fish cutter, are above and beyond anything fast food-related, though. And for beef-lovers, the smashburger—a weekend-only menu highlight—is a perfectly done job, the kind that deserves a promotion.

For those who have never been big fans of the ultra-thick beef patty, a smashburger means finally having all the right ratios. And Buk’s special burger has a thin but substantial, flattened beef patty, a double portion of melted American cheese, plenty of creamy, chilli house sauce oozing over the patty, and sweet caramelised onion to top it all off. This burger laughs in the face of the Big Mac. And we laugh in the face of anyone who hasn’t been to this Camden burger spot and tried it.

Four Legs made their name at The Compton Arms where they helped create a delicious and fun kind of pub eating. At The Plimsoll, a boozer in Finsbury Park, Four Legs have taken their winning combination of one of London’s best burgers and floral crockery to the next level. The Dexter burger is an outstanding piece of beefy, buttery craftsmanship. It’s all meat, cheese, sauce, and gherkins. No lettuce. If you’re not into McDonald’s-style burgers, you may not like this. But the odds are, you will.

Arcade, a food hall near Tottenham Court Road station, is from the people behind Brigadiers and Hoppers, and it’s where you’ll find Manna and its perfectly formed smashburgers. Yes the Nashville hot chicken is delicious, but when you’re in the mood for a dressed-up quarter pounder, their smashburger is an excellent move. Heavy on the cheese, it’s also got plenty of pickles and some diced onion for good measure. Get a side of waffle fries as well, because… waffle fries.

We’d love to tell you how often we order Beer + Burger, but our doctor might be reading this and at our last check-up we said we’d try this thing called “moderation”. But we can tell you that, err, it’s a lot. Our go-to order is the cheeseburger. It’s slightly charred, a little moist, and sloppy in a deeply satisfying way. Honestly, we might just order one now from one of its locations—in King’s Cross, Willesden, and Dalston.

This American diner on the High Street in Uxbridge isn’t for those times when you could have a burger. It’s for those times when you want a burger that will result in unbuttoned jeans. Don’t let the hefty menu distract you. You want their signature Red Iron Burger. It’s got layers—yes, layers—of melted cheese, a juicy beef patty, house burger sauce, jalapeños, and it comes with a generous side of thick-cut chips. Count us in.