An excellent burger experience in New York City is unavoidable. With thousands of street food stalls peddling an unending spread of grilled delights, you will eventually stumble onto an incredibly delicious patty and bun. But, on your quest for the one burger to rule them all in New York City, you have to try these staples.

Five Napkin Burger

Conquering a 5 Napkin Burger requires the same physical strength as climbing a mountain. Anchored by 10 ounces of Angus beef, these mammoths pack oozing cheese, caramelised onions and aioli. Even armed with five napkins, you’ll end the meal spattered in all sorts of delicious ingredients.

Shake Shack

This is the rags to riches of New York’s burger scene. Back in 2004, Shake Shack was another innocuous food cart slinging street meat in Madison Square Garden. Now it’s an international chain with over 146 locations. The secret is their ShackSauce, the modern equivalent of McDonald’s special sauce, which tops what is already a mighty fine cheeseburger. Go double or go home.

Burger Joint

Tucked away in the rear of the Le Parker Meridien Hotel, burger joint has a genuine speakeasy vibe. I can only imagine this was initially a hipster haven back in the day, drawing crowds not for their burgers but for the prestige. Now the venue is often crammed with tourists lining up for a morsel. It’s still a solid cheeseburger, juicy, tender and cheesy in all the right places.

Minetta Tavern

Now you’ve sampled the rest, you have to try the best. Buried in the menu at Minetta Tavern is the Minetta Burger. While the atmosphere here is fancy French, the key to the king of New York burgers is simplicity. It is majority patty, with a tenderly fried hunk of exceptional quality beef topped only with a melty slice of cheddar and caramelised onions. That said, it is also enormous and you will almost certainly end up completely ignoring your side of pommes frites.