Adelaide’s best new burger bars

Adelaide is experiencing a burger revival the likes of which haven’t been seen since the 2010s heyday (RIP Pearl’s Diner and Burger Theory), long before the city’s sandwich boom. Most of these newcomers are distinguished by their American-style smashed patties and dedication to simple, local ingredients, as opposed to the hefty burgers that “everything else” is known for. And all blur the line between burger joint and wine bar, with sleek, minimalistic fit-outs and top-notch drinks lists. Here are four new ones to try.

Newcomer Jumbo (from the teams at Pastel and Pinco Deli) specializes in Oklahoma smash burgers—a beef patty flattened on the grill with wafer-thin onions on top, resulting in an extra juicy, crispy, caramelized burger. They’re the star of former Mary’s chef Jimmy Garside’s menu, led by the Jumbo burger and a cheeseburger on milk buns. You can also get a fried fish sandwich, a Nashville-style spicy chicken burger with chili honey, and a vegetarian version with panko-crusted mushrooms. Plus, desserts like cherry sundaes and breakfast items like hotcakes and sausage-and-egg muffins. The space is more bar than burger joint, with an exposed ceiling, pink communal tables, and colorful light tubes that will change from a warm glow during the day to a fiery red when the place opens at night. There’s also an impressive range of drinks, including local wines, American spirits and cocktails like a mezcal Negroni and a rhubarb Gimlet.

The Good Gilbert team fuses the American diner with the Australian wine bar of Good Burger. The signature Good Burger is a twist on the classic cheeseburger, featuring two smashed beef patties, cheese, pickles, onions and “good sauce.” The slightly more refined Daw Park Cheeseburger swaps the pickles for gherkins, the onion for shallots and the regular cheese for raclette. A vegan number comes with a faux Buds Burger meat patty, peppers and French fries. The ingredients are largely local (the beef comes from Marino, the chicken from My Butcher) and are served in a Martin’s potato bun. The venue nods to its vino sibling with a reverse colour palette, a jumble of wine bar aesthetic prints on the wall, a heavy focus on service and an equal amount of attention to drinks. Think spicy sodas, large-format wild-fermented beers, pickleback sours, and premium half-bottle wines.

Before taking on the role of head chef at Hentley Farm, Kyle Johns was executive chef at The Louise and its casual bar 375, which quickly became a favourite with locals and visitors alike, particularly for its beloved burgers. Mikes, which he opened in Tanunda late last year with his wife, chef Kayley Johns, builds on that reputation with a range of locally-focused burgers, including smashed cheeseburgers (using grass-fed Aldos beef), a fish burger with fried King George whiting, a fried Ablesway chicken number, a slow-cooked brisket roll and more. There’s also a peri-peri chicken burger and bar-style snacks like biltong, inspired by Kyle’s South African and Portuguese heritage. Plus, loaded fries, mash and gravy, and Barossa beers on tap.

We’ve been hearing about Belles Hot Chicken Adelaide since Leigh Street Wine Room hosted a pop-up for the Melbourne-born restaurant in 2019. Five years later, it’s finally here, in this cosy street corner in the city’s West End. The menu features Belles’ signature fried chicken: tenders or wings cooked to your choice of heat and a side (fries, coleslaw, iceberg lettuce, potatoes and gravy or mac ‘n’ cheese). Plus, chicken and waffles are available for lunch on weekends. There are also sandwiches, including a Quinby’s Honey Hot number with tenders and coleslaw, which you can wash down with a boozy granita, a spicy cooler (lemonade, peach iced tea and Arnold Palmers) or a Pirate Life beer.