Fitzrovia, Burgers, Etc Restaurant Guide

Founded in 2011 by four friends, this interesting concept hit ten sites in London in April 2025 with its debut in Kensington (replacing Street Burger on the high street) and also has a Brighton outpost as well as a handful of footholds in the Middle East and Asia. Fans are still in the majority and say its posh comfort food (the clue is in the name) is “a surprisingly good offering”. But while there are few harsh criticisms, its ratings have over the years slipped to a level that’s only “OK”.

“Wonderfully elevated ‘pub’ food in a glorious and comfortable setting” makes Michel Roux’s take on the British boozer – north of Oxford Circus, near the Beeb – the “perfect place for a quick meal in the West End” (including for business lunchers). As befits a chef of his grandeur, the food is “far fancier than your regular gastropub fare” – it’s closer really to “superb casual dining” – while the “beer is well kept” and there’s a “great range of non-alcoholic drinks”. Top Menu Tips – “you need to share the cheese toastie if you’re going to have room for the wonderfully fun masala scotch egg with dahl, or even the burger with grilled ox tongue... who knew how delicious this could be?”. “A good quick pitstop for some scotch eggs, salmon crumpets and exceptional chips”.

“When you want a hipster burger dripping in your beard, this place delivers!” – Scott Collins’s “buzzy, vibey” joints are notorious for their “really good dirty burgers” with memorable names (the ‘Dead Hippie’ and its veggie cousin the ‘Tempeh Tantrum’), plus “excellent buffalo wings with blue-cheese sauce”. In early 2025 he opened spinoff venture BLOODsports in a Covent Garden basement (see also), showing live sports and horror films on large-screen TVs.

Can the arrival of Richard Turner – Meatopia founder and consultant to Hawksmoor, Blacklock and Pitt Cue – help turn around this sagging chain of US smokehouses, launched in 2002 and with 6-7 outlets at its height? His new menu was launched in March 2025 across the remaining Soho, Covent Garden, Camden Town (an all-day diner) and Tower Hill branches, with the focus on US-scale platters of ribs, pulled pork and other meaty cuts.