Ever since George Osborne uploaded a photo of him with a Byron Burger onto Twitter, the gourmet burger’s place in the modern food zeitgeist was clearly there for all to see, with restaurants like the Meat Liquor chain, Byron and American imports such as Five Guys causing traffic-stopping queues all over London. Naturally Leeds has not been too slow off the mark in introducing its own slew of gourmet/ hipster burger restaurants. As such LSi presents to you a run-down of the best and perhaps somewhat overrated places to eat a burger in Leeds.
To start off, the king of Leeds burger restaurants, The Cattle Grid. Nestled behind the corn exchange is a restaurant which Time Out rated so highly they placed it in their list of 10 best burger restaurants in the country (the only one in Leeds to make the cut). This is certainly for a good reason, with juicy, enormous and actually fairly reasonably priced burgers; there is essentially no reason to go anywhere else if you want a standard burger and chips (having said that they do offer a wide range of variation, harissa and mozzarella being particularly good).
Secondly is the new(ish) The Pit, as this has recently been reviewed in by our very own LSi Gastronaut, great detail is unnecessary, but rest assured Burger disciples, it’s worth a visit.
Thirdly, although technically it’s not actually a burger place, hot-dogs are a cuisine near enough to burgers to merit a mention. Primo’s in the corn exchange serves up a wide and delicious range of gourmet hot dogs, both pork and beef at fairly reasonable prices. It is however, advisable to make use of their 2-4-1 deals on Thursdays as that offer makes the dogs a true steal. This coupled with the pleasing array of American beers and soft drinks on offer makes Primo’s a must-visit.
Fourthly, BBQ joint REDs couldn’t quite escape a mention, however LSi must confess to being somewhat underwhelmed by their burgers, certainly the donut burger seeming more like a gimmick than anything else. However this was to some compensated by their exquisite pulled pork, yet it should be said, if you’re in that area you might as well walk an extra 20 metres and take a visit to the Cattle Grid.
Finally, for those on a tighter budget, The Original Oak in Headingley does a surprisingly good and reasonably priced Chorizo and Wild Boar burger, one which you can purchase with chips and a pint for less than £10.
And so concludes our LSi brief introduction to the world of Burgers in Leeds!
Read our Gastronaut review of The Pit here
Joseph James
Photo: Property of leedslist.com