San Francisco, verified September 20, 2026
The Best Burgers in San Francisco, Smash to Splurge
San Francisco does not have one best burger, it has four or five arguments about what a burger is supposed to be. A patty pressed thin on a griddle is not competing with a half-pound patty off an open volcanic-rock grill, and neither one is trying to be the dry-aged beef and lamb blend you order sitting down with a cocktail. So this guide is organized by the kind of night you are having, not by a ranking nobody would agree with anyway.
Four places, four styles: the critics' smashburger, the classic neighborhood counter, the bistro burger you can reserve a table for, and the bone marrow splurge that is really a night out with a burger in the middle of it. Each entry carries what we could verify and, just as importantly, what we could not.
1. Maillards - Outer Sunset Farmer's Market
Maillards is a smashburger pop-up run by chef-owner Max Ponzurick, best known for a weekly Sunday stall at the Outer Sunset Farmers Market and a Tuesday-night residency at Heritage Restaurant & Bar in the Richmond, with a permanent build-out inside Two Pitchers Brewing (Outer Sunset) announced but not yet open as of the most recent coverage.
1994 37th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA | $ | american, hamburger
If you only have one burger in you, the critics point here. Multiple write-ups call Maillards the best smashburger in San Francisco, praise the thin-pressed patties as the crispiest in the city, and tell you to order the double. The beef tallow fries are treated as a real part of the order rather than a side you tolerate. The Infatuation's current guide places the operation at a counter-service spot inside the Two Pitchers taproom in the Outer Sunset. You walk up, no reservation needed, so the only planning it asks of you is to go early. Sell-outs here are documented, not theoretical.
- Multiple Infatuation write-ups independently call the patties "the crispiest you'll find" in the city and single out the double as the version to get.
- Repeat placements on "Best Burgers" and "Best Smashburgers" lists through mid-2025.
- The fries, cooked in a beef tallow bath, get called out as a genuine complement rather than an afterthought.
- The Infatuation's current guide describes Maillards at "their counter-service spot inside the Two Pitchers taproom" in the Outer Sunset, and says "The patties (always go for the double) are the crispiest in the city."
This is a pop-up/stall-style operation with no confirmed indoor dining room, so it is not a sit-down destination. Burgers routinely sell out; arriving early in the service window is essential. Our live status check came back unverified, so confirm the current location and service days before heading out.
View on Google MapsNotes updated February 25, 2026
2. Mo's Grill
Mo's Grill is a small, unfussy North Beach burger-and-breakfast counter built around an open, rotating volcanic-rock grill: a neighborhood institution, not a destination restaurant. It draws locals, tourists off the Fisherman's Wharf/Chinatown corridor, and a loyal breakfast crowd who tolerate a genuinely small footprint for the food.
1322 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA | $$ | american, bar, hamburger
Mo's is the San Francisco burger counter in its most classic form: half-pound grass-fed patties off an open, rotating volcanic-rock grill in North Beach, open from breakfast through the evening. The numbers back up the neighborhood affection, with a 2025 Travelers' Choice award and a Tripadvisor ranking of eighth out of 5,093 restaurants in the city. Keep the party small and come expecting a line at peak hours: the footprint is genuinely small, and the regulars tolerate it for the food.
- Serves half-pound grass-fed burgers.
- Reviewers repeatedly single out the Belly Buster Burger, the volcano burger, Bacon Burger, Western Burger, and Aussie Burger for juicy, correctly-cooked patties, and several call the beef some of the best they've had in California.
- Tripadvisor 4.6 with a 2025 Travelers' Choice award and a #8-of-5,093 San Francisco restaurant ranking.
- Fries are called crispy and "rival In-N-Out," and the homemade mayo gets called out by name.
- Open daily 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM.
The room is genuinely small with limited seating that cannot comfortably absorb groups of 6 or more. Wait times of 10 to 30 minutes for ordering and food are structurally common. At $20 to $30 per person for counter service, some diners push back on value.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 3, 2026
3. Marlowe
Marlowe is a black-and-white, bistro-styled New American restaurant on the corner of Brannan and 4th in SoMa, open since 2010 and known above all for its burger and stiff cocktails. It relocated from its original SoMa spot into the former COCO500 space at 500 Brannan St in 2014 and has operated there since, currently under a management group led by co-owners James Nicholas and executive chef Jennifer Puccio after splitting from Big Night Restaurant Group in 2022.
500 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA | $$ | american, bar, brunch, californian, french
Marlowe is the easy reservation on this list, and the one where the burger anchors a full dinner rather than a quick counter stop. The SoMa bistro has been open since 2010 and is built around its signature burger: a dry-aged beef and lamb blend under caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, and horseradish aioli that reviewers call legendary. At the time of our check, OpenTable was showing multiple same-night tables, which makes it the reliable choice when the evening needs a room, a cocktail, and a seat.
- The Marlowe burger (dry-aged beef and lamb blend, caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, horseradish aioli) is the dish nearly every reviewer orders and the one the restaurant is built around; multiple reviewers call it "legendary" and the "menu's golden child."
- Reviews from the Brannan St. location as recently as 2024 to 2026 call the burger "excellent," "superb," and "brilliant."
- The Infatuation's current burger guide says of Marlowe: "You'll also see at least one burger on every table," describing a burger "packed with caramelized onions, cheddar, and bacon" with "a peppery kick from the horseradish aioli."
- Open at 500 Brannan St with current hours: Mon 5 to 9pm, Tue to Thu 11:30am to 9pm, Fri 11:30am to 10pm, Sat and Sun 10:30am to 9 or 10pm.
- OpenTable shows Marlowe rated 4.4 from 2961 reviews and lists it as a neighborhood gem with a lively atmosphere.
Quality control is inconsistent: a 2026 pickup order found the bun tasteless and the flavor lacking, even as other recent reviews rave. Price-to-value friction is recurring; one solo diner paid $75 for a burger, fries, tempura vegetables, and a coke. The room runs loud, and the SoMa corner gets little evening foot traffic.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 3, 2026
4. side a
Side A is a Mission District listening bar/restaurant, a vinyl-DJ dining room by night and a coffee-shop collaboration with The Coffee Movement by day, serving maximalist "midwestern Americana" bistro food from ex-Aphotic chef Parker Brown.
2814 19th St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA | $$$$
Side A is the splurge, and it behaves like one. The bone marrow cheeseburger from this tiny, loud Mission listening bar is finished with bone marrow drippings and charred goat cheese scraped onto the patty, and it is the richest burger in this field, rich enough that two people can reasonably split it. Come for a sceney night out rather than a casual bite, and plan well ahead: the reservation is the hardest part of the evening.
- Community consensus converges hard on the bone marrow cheeseburger: bone marrow drippings and charred goat cheese scraped onto the patty, rich enough to split two ways, known to sell out late in the night.
- Reservations open exactly two weeks in advance at midnight via SevenRooms, and the SF Standard independently calls it "the hottest restaurant reservation in the Mission."
- The Infatuation's current burger guide says: "The bone marrow cheeseburger from this Mission bistro is as rich as it gets," with staff instructing diners to scrape the bone's contents onto the patty.
Only one burger on the menu; this is a maximalist bistro, not a burger restaurant. The bone marrow cheeseburger is known to sell out late in the night. The space is tiny (about 20 seats), loud, and same-day cancellation fees plus stacked surcharges add friction. Our live status check came back unverified; our records show it open, but confirm before booking.
View on Google MapsNotes updated August 14, 2026
One more worth knowing about, though it sits outside the four above. Lovely's, the Oakland smashburger favorite, now runs a San Francisco outpost at 848 Cole St inside Woods Brewing in Cole Valley, and the Infatuation's current guide praises its crispy-edged smashburgers on squishy sesame rolls. It is not yet in our research files, so treat its hours and menu as worth confirming directly before you make the trip.
The short version: Maillards if you want the burger itself to be the event, Mo's if you want the counter and the neighborhood, Marlowe if the evening needs a table, and Side A if the burger is the excuse for the night rather than the point of it.