While high rollers like Radius’s $19 “The Burger” and Craigie On Main’s $18 version that isn’t actually even on the menu anymore have dominated the more prestigious burger battles for some time now, other spots have opted to keep prices low. There’s no shortage of places—bars, delis, and out-and-out burger joints—that manage to put out delicious burgers that cost less than a Hamilton.
Flat Patties
As the name suggests, Flat Patties eschews the near meatball-shaped burgers of fancier establishments, opting instead to go for maximum surface area with its house-ground beef. You can grab a plain old quarter-pounder topped with lettuce, tomato and house sauce for $3.95 or spend a little bit more for one of the specialty burgers. Our vote’s for the $5.50 South of the Border burger, topped with jack cheese, avocado, jalapeno relish and cilantro aioli. Either way, stop by the condiment bar, where you can load up on classics like pickles and chopped onions as well as, of course, ketchup, mustard and relish. 33 Brattle Street, Cambridge (617-871-6871, flatpatties.com)
Four Burgers
Though it also peddles hot dogs, sides, milkshakes and beer, Four Burgers (appropriately) focuses its menu on just four burgers: beef, turkey, salmon, and vegetarian. What the Central Square joint lacks in entrée variety, it more than makes for up with its nearly countless burger toppings (43 in all; we recommend the mango BBQ). Despite the diner aesthetic and at-the-counter ordering, this is no greasy spoon—the beef is local, all-natural and grass-fed, and the staff will even ask how you’d like your burger cooked. With the burger checking in at just seven bucks, you can add an order of half & half fries—half French fries, half sweet potato fries—and still wind up stuffed for less than $10. 704 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge (617-441-5444, fourburgers.com)
Druid
This Inman Square pub may be known by most as a rare gem of a place that’s open until 2am, but we recommend you check out The Druid when you might actually remember it. Though they don’t even have it listed on the menu as an entrée, their Homemade Hamburger ($9) basically tastes like the burger you could make at home—if you really knew what you were doing. 1357 Cambridge St, Cambridge (617-497-0965, druidpub.com)
Eagle’s Deli
Family-owned Eagle’s Deli might be best known in the burger world for the Eagle’s Challenge—a $60 burger crafted from five pounds of beef topped twenty bacon strips, twenty pieces of cheese and served with five pounds of fries and one deli pickle—but more modest options are also available; you can grab the quarter-pound Kiddie burger for less than five bucks. If that’s not quite enough, opt for one of their specialty burgers: a half-pound Angus patty served with a side of fries. We recommend the Cowboy Burger ($8.99), which comes topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and BBQ sauce. 1918 Beacon Street, Brighton (617-731-3232, eaglesdeli.com)
Boston Burger Company
Boston Burger Company might be the only burger place in Boston with more varieties of burgers—twenty-four—than seats. With offerings like The King (peanut butter, bacon fried bananas; $8.75) and the Artery Clogger (deep fried, beer battered burger topped with bacon, cheese and BBQ sauce; $8.75), the Company can leave you dangerously close to a food coma. As if their (decidedly more than a) half-pound burgers wouldn’t leave you stuffed, each is accompanied by coleslaw and housemade chips.
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