Generally speaking, there are two viable strategies in the Shanghai burger meta. Restaurants can either focus on the core ingredients of the burger (meat and cheese) and let them shine or get creative with the toppings and “enHanCe tHe FlAvoR”. In this list, there are burgers on both ends of the spectrum and in between. Everyone has their preferences, so I’ll try to keep things objective. This list reflects multiple opinions as well as my own.
I can’t realistically list all the places selling burgers, but I can start with listing the most popular, the best ones and the hidden gems the city has to offer.
Burger Tier List
S
Beef & Liberty
A
Fat Cow • Shake Shack
B
Charlie's • UP • Cages • Habit Burger
C
5 Guys • Boxing Cat • Bubba Gump
D
Blue Frog
S Tier
Beef & Liberty
★★★★★
108 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu, Xuhui District
襄阳北路108号, 近淮海中路
If you ask most people in Shanghai where the best burgers are, it seems half will say Beef & Liberty and the other half will say Fat Cow. These rivals also opted for completely different strategies. Fat Cow focuses on a variety of unique burger toppings whereas Beef & Liberty focuses on the meat and cheese with more traditional toppings. Both of these place offer a different burger experience, but for the sake of being objective Beef & Liberty comes out on top due to it’s better consistency in dishing out great burgers every single time.
A Tier
Fat Cow
★★★★★
135 Yanping Lu, near Wuding Lu, Jing’an District
延平路135号, 近武定路
Shake Shack
★★★★
1515 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Tongren Lu
南京西路1515号, 近铜仁路
B Tier
Charlie's
★★★★
89 Changshu Lu, near Changle Lu, Jing’an District
常熟路89号, 近长乐路
UP
★★★★
2/F, 688 Shaanxi Bei Lu, near Kangding Lu, Jing’an District
陕西北路688号2楼, 近康定路
That’s right, UP the night club on Shaanxi Bei road is the hidden gem on this list. It’s a little known secret that UP has a terrace area that is open everyday before 10PM. There you can sit back and enjoy drinks, shisha, and food. One of these items is the Broadway Burger, a toasted brioche bun burger with truffle oil mayonnaise
