Warlingham, Burgers, Etc Restaurant Guide

“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.

“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.

“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.

“Sinfully good” burgers are delivered with “quick and efficient service” – and “genius free soft serve ice cream” (which accompanies your bill) – at this independent group with a handful of outlets around London. Former nurse Liz Down and her husband Stew started out in 2016 with a stall on Broadway Market, inspired by working holidays in the Canadian Rockies. Top Tip – “indulge in the guilty pleasure of their dry-aged beef glazed in miso with double cheese”.

“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.

Giant nachos, a bucket of beer and a platter of jumbo shrimp – if that sounds, good head off to these “large and vibrant” US-style ‘Bar.B.Q & Crabshacks’, which have multiplied in recent years from their age-old Chelsea home to colonise Covent Garden, Canary Wharf and Westfield Stratford. They are the kind of places you can make a reservation for 20 and they won’t blink. Top Menu Tip – “great lunch and weekend deals”: e.g. “lobster, salad and chips with a glass of Prosecco for £15 in WC2 – what more could you ask for!”

Misha Zelman, Ilya Demichev & George Bukhov-Weinstein’s trio of NYC-style steakhouses offer a straightforward combination of top cuts of steak with “an extensive selection of wines – from the affordable to the ridiculous – both from old and new world to accompany the many meats on offer”; and “the non-steak options are surprisingly tasty” too. Oft-compared in years gone by with Hawksmoor, it is somewhat eclipsed by the latter nowadays and reports this year included one or two disappointing accounts, particularly when it came to the lacklustre ambience.

“No gimmicks and great flavours” is the recipe for a “semi-religious experience” at this small group (which also has three delivery-only outlets): for its many fans, “still the gold standard by which all burgers in the UK should be judged”. “Gloriously juicy meat with just the right amount of extras” all “comes together in the most mouth-watering way”. You “don’t come for the experience” though: they are “very cramped when busy”, if “still somehow cool”. In August 2024 they opened a new site not far from London Bridge.

“No gimmicks and great flavours” is the recipe for a “semi-religious experience” at this small group (which also has three delivery-only outlets): for its many fans, “still the gold standard by which all burgers in the UK should be judged”. “Gloriously juicy meat with just the right amount of extras” all “comes together in the most mouth-watering way”. You “don’t come for the experience” though: they are “very cramped when busy”, if “still somehow cool”. In August 2024 they opened a new site not far from London Bridge.

In the traditional heart of posh Chelsea, this Sloaney backstreet boozer is nowadays part of Butcombe Inns, whose four siblings in the capital likewise occupy nice properties in expensive postcodes. With its small garden and cute dining room with retractable roof, it wins solid ratings but nothing like the attention it once enjoyed, and is primarily recommendable as a relatively affordable fallback in this pricey bit of town.

“You just cannot beat” the “brilliantly cooked, juicy/sloppy burgers”, say fans of this indie group – “they’re worth the dirty fingers afterwards”. Founded by Joe Grossman in 2012, it now has seven outlets (plus two concessions) in London and another in Brighton, and after negotiating a tricky patch on home turf opened its first international branch in Dubai last year.

A “great concept, expertly delivered” – the two headline dishes are served up in posh, comfortable diner style at this nine-strong London group (with another dozen branches around the world). As a gimmick it doesn’t generate the buzz it once did, but both of the main dishes receive a good rep in feedback, in particular the “excellent and good-sized lobster” (and “for lobster it’s not that expensive”).

“Extremely disappointing all around, especially considering the price”… and that’s the most favourable feedback this year! – the infamous Knightsbridge outpost of Nusret Gökçe’s (Salt Bae) global empire (at the foot of a hotel near Harrods), whose famously pricey menu for prime cuts (including a Giant Tomahawk steak for £630 or baklava coated in 24-carat gold for £50) continues to inspire limited and poor feedback in our annual diners’ poll. But, it still dishes up easy meat for the tabloids, with numerous 2024 stories (e.g. June 2024 in The Daily Mail: “I flew to Turkey to eat at Salt Bae’s restaurant – because the flight and meal was less than the cheapest steak at his London venue”). To grab your own selfie, drop in for the relatively affordable set lunch, which prior to drinks and extras is £39 per person.

A “great concept, expertly delivered” – the two headline dishes are served up in posh, comfortable diner style at this nine-strong London group (with another dozen branches around the world). As a gimmick it doesn’t generate the buzz it once did, but both of the main dishes receive a good rep in feedback, in particular the “excellent and good-sized lobster” (and “for lobster it’s not that expensive”).

“No gimmicks and great flavours” is the recipe for a “semi-religious experience” at this small group (which also has three delivery-only outlets): for its many fans, “still the gold standard by which all burgers in the UK should be judged”. “Gloriously juicy meat with just the right amount of extras” all “comes together in the most mouth-watering way”. You “don’t come for the experience” though: they are “very cramped when busy”, if “still somehow cool”. In August 2024 they opened a new site not far from London Bridge.

A “great concept, expertly delivered” – the two headline dishes are served up in posh, comfortable diner style at this nine-strong London group (with another dozen branches around the world). As a gimmick it doesn’t generate the buzz it once did, but both of the main dishes receive a good rep in feedback, in particular the “excellent and good-sized lobster” (and “for lobster it’s not that expensive”).

A “great concept, expertly delivered” – the two headline dishes are served up in posh, comfortable diner style at this nine-strong London group (with another dozen branches around the world). As a gimmick it doesn’t generate the buzz it once did, but both of the main dishes receive a good rep in feedback, in particular the “excellent and good-sized lobster” (and “for lobster it’s not that expensive”).

A “great concept, expertly delivered” – the two headline dishes are served up in posh, comfortable diner style at this nine-strong London group (with another dozen branches around the world). As a gimmick it doesn’t generate the buzz it once did, but both of the main dishes receive a good rep in feedback, in particular the “excellent and good-sized lobster” (and “for lobster it’s not that expensive”).

Misha Zelman, Ilya Demichev & George Bukhov-Weinstein’s trio of NYC-style steakhouses offer a straightforward combination of top cuts of steak with “an extensive selection of wines – from the affordable to the ridiculous – both from old and new world to accompany the many meats on offer”; and “the non-steak options are surprisingly tasty” too. Oft-compared in years gone by with Hawksmoor, it is somewhat eclipsed by the latter nowadays and reports this year included one or two disappointing accounts, particularly when it came to the lacklustre ambience.