Photo courtesy Southbound
1. Double Cheeseburger
$14 at Southbound
When Heritage opened in 2012, chef Joe Sparatta went against the fine-dining grain by offering a burger. The delicious decision lives on at Sparatta and Lee Gregory’s Southbound. Resist the 1980s Burger King jingle when ordering it their way — Seven Hills beef, American cheese, special sauce, shredded lettuce and house pickles.
2. Big Baby Butter Burger
$9 single, $13 double at Cobra Burger
Cobra Burger's Adam Musselman hails from Ohio, where deep-frying burgers in butter is a diner staple. The Church Hill patty shack’s Big Baby Butter Burger lets us sample the Midwest tradition, using locally sourced meat for the grind, minced sweet onions, ketchup, mustard, cheese and Cobra’s house-pickled dills.
3. Elvis Burger
$9.49 at Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint
This August marks the 45th anniversary of Elvis’ passing, and this wagyu beef burger is a fitting way to honor The King’s memory. In a decadent marriage of flavors on the grill, peanut butter is lathered onto the patty as it cooks, and then topped with applewood smoked bacon, mayo and oozy American cheese.
4. Beyond Smashburger
$12 at Smashed RVA
The vegan Beyond Meat patty is treated like any other protein at the smashburger pop-up: loaded with salt and pepper, griddled thin and flat, then smashed. The care extends past the patties to a vegan bun made by Flour Garden Bakery, along with a signature “Smash Sauce,” featuring vegan mayo, ketchup, pickled jalapenos, pickles and spices.
5. Something’s Fishy Burger
$12 at Manchester’s Table
Griddling the shrimp, crab and scallop cake in cast-iron gives this luxurious “burger” at Manchester Table a flaky but crisp top, adding a textural foil to its creamy, crabcake-like richness. Chef-owner Jannequin Bennett tops the summer sandwich with house slaw and a dill aioli she’s been perfecting over her 40-plus-year career.
